ChargePoint continues charging ($)

[SimAntic]

Recently wanted to test using ChargePoint at work. It is an hourly rate and is supposed have no idle fees. I did this on the weekend so I was the only one charging. Had set for 80% charge in the Tesla. Once it reached 80%, the charger dropped to near zero but still showing a level of kw so it continued to charge ($) the full hourly rate.

Is this common? Was this a fault of the charger or the Tesla? I know the Tesla seems like it is always running, especially when I connect in my garage. Is there anything I can set in the Tesla so when charging completes at these 3rd party charging stations it disconnects?

If you are able to see the image below, I did try to unlock the charger from the app which seemed to fully drop it to zero. The spike back up may have been when I tried to unplug the charger. When I pressed the release button and released it without removing the plug, I believe it may have reconnected again.

 

[srs5694]

Teslas can draw power when not charging for a number of reasons. A couple of common ones are Sentry Mode and climate control (cabin overheat protection, Dog Mode, etc.). That said, the last time I checked, the car would typically draw power only sporadically with Sentry Mode (once every few hours); it would run on battery power until the battery drain reached a percent or two, then charge up. I think that climate control will draw directly from the AC inlet when plugged in, but I'm not 100% positive of that.

 

[swaltner]

That's not how it looks when I charge my Model 3 at work on our ChargePoint stations. They don't (currently) charge us for the electricity, so it's not a problem for me even if the session stayed active, but it definitely closes out the session when the battery reaches the set point. I've got solar panels at home and have a net excess electricity, so I rarely use the stations at work leaving them for others.

When my 3 hits the charge limit that I have selected, I get an automated text message from ChargePoint along the lines of, "it looks like you're still connected, but drawing no power. You should move your vehicle". After receiving that message, the charging session closes out on the ChargePoint station. If I try to pre-heat/cool the vehicle after the session has closed, it is done strictly on the battery. I would need to reauthenticate on the ChargePoint station to start a new charging session for heating and cooling the cabin when I'm ready to leave work.

I have sentry mode running on my vehicle, but I have the Cabin Overheat Protection mode set to off. Are you by chance using the Cabin Overheat Protection mode? Also, did you turn on the climate control from the phone app before the charging session completed? As @srs5694 mentioned, this would draw power from the charging station, not letting the charging session close out (if the climate control was activated before the charging session completed).

 

[RTPEV]

It's not uncommon for my car to draw power from a charging station when plugged in, even while not actively charging. Probably the most likely culprit in your case is cabin overheat protection running, which is a high power draw, but even at the end of a charging session, there may be things like cell balancing or battery thermal management that continues to draw a small amount of power at the end of the charge session.

AFAIK, there is nothing you can set in the car to prevent this. Your best bet would be to monitor your charging status from the Tesla app, and when you get the charging complete notification, use your ChargePoint app to terminate the session. That will cut off the power from the EVSE side.

That said, a note about etiquette. I know you said you tested this over the weekend, but during normal hours, idle fees or not, proper etiquette would be for you to move your vehicle once charging is complete to open up the resource for other users. That of course will solve your problem.

 

[SimAntic]

That said, a note about etiquette. I know you said you tested this over the weekend, but during normal hours, idle fees or not, proper etiquette would be for you to move your vehicle once charging is complete to open up the resource for other users. That of course will solve your problem.

Well aware of the etiquette. That is why I wanted to test the system on the weekend. Of course, after 8 am during the week there is nowhere else to park. If I decide to use ChargePoint again during the week, I will probably park normally then move to a charger at lunch. Assuming others are following the etiquette.

Price wise, it is only about $0.01 savings versus charging at home. Except of course in this case where I essentially doubled the rate. The savings will be a bit more in the summer when home rates increase. Probably not worth the hassle though. I will probably only use it if I am planning to leave on a trip from work.