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Very frustrated with software limited charging

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qwk

P130DL
Dec 19, 2008
3,024
858
After 2 years of ownership, I have had it. The latest FW causes the car to stop charging every 5 minutes, and I have to unplug and start again. I was wanting to go on a trip, but I guess the usability of the car went to zero.

I just wish that Tesla's software engineers would just stop mucking with stuff that works, and instead focus on things that Tesla promised years ago. What a joke.

This is coming from a guy that absolutely adored the car, up until now. Sad.
 
Yes, they are going to pull the logs. This has something to do with the current limit from 40A to 30A when there are voltage fluctuations. They mucked with the algorhythm again. I'm so pissed right now!
 
Not really. This is simply a FW engineering issue, done by choice. After a huge pushback from owners after the same 5.8.4 debacle, I can't believe they were stupid enough to do it again.
 
Has this happened when charging at more than one location? With J1772 or supercharger not just with your UMC or HPWC? You've probably thought of this but it's the first step in isolating the problem as it hasn't been reported here before.
 
Has this happened when charging at more than one location? With J1772 or supercharger not just with your UMC or HPWC? You've probably thought of this but it's the first step in isolating the problem as it hasn't been reported here before.
I live in the middle of nowhere. Nearest Supercharger is about 300 miles away. J1772 or other EV's for that matter, don't exist here. My house only has 120V charging, so I charge on a overbuilt 14-50 at the office. I have put 10MW of power through that outlet into the Model S. Until the latest FW....
 
Have you tried anything to fix this? I had something similar happen after 6.0 upgrade, car would charge for 5 mins then stop. But it turned out I just had to give it the old Nintendo fix (blow dust out of the port and connector). Maybe charge port or connector needs to be cleaned. Worth a shot if you haven't tried it already.
 
Have you tried anything to fix this? I had something similar happen after 6.0 upgrade, car would charge for 5 mins then stop. But it turned out I just had to give it the old Nintendo fix (blow dust out of the port and connector). Maybe charge port or connector needs to be cleaned. Worth a shot if you haven't tried it already.
Good idea, though it would be a total coincidence that this happened right after new FW.
 
I feel your pain. So far it's just been a software fluke that caused my car to go into "protective Mode" when inserting the j1772 connector, requiring a tow to the service center. The next morning, it released the connector and went back to normal like nothing happened. This was 2 or 3 days after going to 6.1. And last night, after sucking down 30 miles worth of power to travel 12 miles with no heat, I had to stop at a public station to get enough to make it 2 more miles home (I arrived at the station below charge now), the charge port was not cooperating and locked and unlicked the J1772 adapter about 20 times before accepting it. And this was a paid station, somehow I got billed each time the car locked and unlocked the adapter (started and stopped charging) at a rate of $2.50.... but a phone call corrected that problem.
 
FWIW, the power in my area isn't the best (it's really worse than that, but this is a family forum). If I charge at 40 amps it almost always drops to 30. This started with the first release that lowered the amps automatically.

However, if the amps are set to 33, there's never a problem, and the charging speed isn't so different that it's noticeably longer than the 40 amp setting (assuming it completes at 40 amps). This works for RV parks too. (Note: I haven't tried anything higher than 33, it could be that 38 is the magic number.)
 
I suspect many of these one off problems people see right when they complete a firmware install are more likely firmware upgrade *process* related, rather than wide release (everyone) bugs or individual car hardware issues.
In which case a firmware roll back option / process might even just compound the problem...

Oh no, I certainly sympathize with you on this.

It's a great opportunity for Tesla to add a backup feature, so that you can rollback the software if anything goes awry with the new version.
 
Which 6.1 variant are you seeing this behavior on?
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FWIW, the power in my area isn't the best (it's really worse than that, but this is a family forum). If I charge at 40 amps it almost always drops to 30. This started with the first release that lowered the amps automatically.

However, if the amps are set to 33, there's never a problem, and the charging speed isn't so different that it's noticeably longer than the 40 amp setting (assuming it completes at 40 amps). This works for RV parks too. (Note: I haven't tried anything higher than 33, it could be that 38 is the magic number.)
The thing is, I paid for 10kw charging, and received it. Now they are taking it back. Not cool.

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Yeah, try reducing the amps by 5 and then try charging. If still stops reduce by 5 more and try again. You might be able to find a balance between electrical quality and what the car can deal with.
The car dealt with 10kw charging for hours on end on that outlet , for a period of two years just fine. There is no need to find any fine spot. Tesla's choice to limit charging current after the fact is the entire problem.

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Oh no, I certainly sympathize with you on this.

It's a great opportunity for Tesla to add a backup feature, so that you can rollback the software if anything goes awry with the new version.
Yep. I tried and tried to stay on FW5.8 FOREVER, but Tesla would not allow it. That was the most stable firmware I had. Now, with the new FW releases, I get some fluff, but the car is unusable(There is no way in hell I would have bought a Tesla with a 6kw charger).

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I suspect many of these one off problems people see right when they complete a firmware install are more likely firmware upgrade *process* related, rather than wide release (everyone) bugs or individual car hardware issues.
In which case a firmware roll back option / process might even just compound the problem...
There are certainly problems with new firmware(even when only pinged and not loaded), but the issue here is something totally different.
 
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The car dealt with 10kw charging for hours on end on that outlet , for a period of two years just fine. There is no need to find any fine spot. Tesla's choice to limit charging current after the fact is the entire problem.
I don't understand why you are assuming that Tesla chose to limit current or that Tesla did anything or is taking something back. There is a problem with your one car (or perhaps your UMC) that is not generalized over the tens of thousands of cars on 6.1. In fact there are reports that with the latest builds of 6.1 the reduction of current when the car senses a voltage drop is no longer permanent for that session, but rather the car tries to increase the current again.

Something of yours is broken, whether it was caused by 6.1 in your specific car or the timing was just a coincidence, but there is certainly no evidence of a change in 6.1 that impairs charging.