Model 3 Charging Issues

[mitchell82]

I purchased my Model 3 about 3 weeks ago. I installed a level 2 Tesla charger at my home (this works perfectly, 7kW charge rate). I am fortunate enough to have an employer that has charging stations at work. At the campus I work at, there are about 20 charging stations (half ChargePoint, half Clipper Creek), all rated at 7.2kW, but use the J1772 charging plug. The first week that I had my car, I was receiving 6kW at these charging stations, using the J1772 adaptor. The charge stations do share electrical in pairs, so if both are in use I only get 3kW, which I am aware of this limitation but is not my issue.

After the first week, something happened where I am now only getting 3kW charge rate at any of the 20 stations. I confirmed my home charger still gave me 7kW charge rate, so I initially suspected an issue with my adaptor. I then drove my car to another campus that my employer has additional Clipper Creek charging stations, and I am able to get the full 6kW charge rate using my adaptor at these locations.

I spoke with a few other people that have EV's at my primary location, and came to find out the other Tesla drivers are having the same issue that I am, however the Kia and Chevy users at these locations were still getting 6kW charge rate.

I have opened up a support case with our facilities department, who reached out to both ChargePoint and Clipper Creek, but we are not arriving at any solutions. Has anyone else experienced this and have any recommendations? I have asked facilities if they can check to see if there are any firmware updates available, which they are looking into, but seems odd that both brands of chargers are having the same issue if its software related, however also odd that I can get full charge rate at another location using the same style charger, and non-teslas get full charge rate at my primary location.

 

[mitchell82]

Additional info that may help, When connected to the troublesome chargers, it does not start charging very fast either. There is a period of about 5-10 minutes where it sits at 0kW charge rate, and then climbs up to 3kW, and displays 16/32 amp. It seems like there is an issue with the negotiation between the chargers and the vehicle.

 

[ucmndd]

Additional info that may help, When connected to the troublesome chargers, it does not start charging very fast either. There is a period of about 5-10 minutes where it sits at 0kW charge rate, and then climbs up to 3kW, and displays 16/32 amp. It seems like there is an issue with the negotiation between the chargers and the vehicle.

Can you manually raise the amps beyond 16 in the car or the app?

What does the car show for voltage when charging?

Some pics of the screen when the car is charging would help.

 

[mitchell82]

Can you manually raise the amps beyond 16 in the car or the app?

What does the car show for voltage when charging?

Some pics of the screen when the car is charging would help.

Here's a screenshot of the app after it Funaki starts charging, which takes about 10+ minutes to start. I'm curious if there are any technical logs that can be accessed that night give some hints on what the issue is?

 

[KGM3RWD]

It's a lower voltage, and I assume the tesla doesn't like the lower voltage and it lowers charge rate. 208V (208V is commonly seen in 3 phase Y transformers). I'd bet the other stations have a Delta transformer, and use 240V. I'd guess 220v would be minimum for 6KW. (a lower voltage would need more amps to charge at 6KW)

 

[mitchell82]

It's a lower voltage, and I assume the tesla doesn't like the lower voltage and it lowers charge rate. 208V (208V is commonly seen in 3 phase Y transformers). I'd bet the other stations have a Delta transformer, and use 240V. I'd guess 220v would be minimum for 6KW. (a lower voltage would need more amps to charge at 6KW)

The interesting part is that I was charging at 6kW the first week I had the car at these chargers. I'll reach out to facilities and see if I can get some details on the power setup to these, and possibly the charge stats from one of the non teslas that charge at 6kW here.

 

[KGM3RWD]

It would depend on the car being happy with the higher current. Higher current produces more heat. It may have been cooler when it charged at 6kw at 208v. It's only 28 AMPS but the added heat and higher current, may upset the tesla. lol

 

[ucmndd]

It's a lower voltage, and I assume the tesla doesn't like the lower voltage and it lowers charge rate. 208V (208V is commonly seen in 3 phase Y transformers). I'd bet the other stations have a Delta transformer, and use 240V. I'd guess 220v would be minimum for 6KW. (a lower voltage would need more amps to charge at 6KW)

Teslas will happily charge all day long from a 208v supply, so it’s not that.

 

[Park2670]

Teslas will happily charge all day long from a 208v supply, so it’s not that.

Agreed. My work charging voltage sags all the way to 190v sometimes, and it charges at 5kW all day long.

 

[voldar]

Additional info that may help, When connected to the troublesome chargers, it does not start charging very fast either. There is a period of about 5-10 minutes where it sits at 0kW charge rate, and then climbs up to 3kW, and displays 16/32 amp. It seems like there is an issue with the negotiation between the chargers and the vehicle.

I charge my Tesla model 3 (2 months old) on a Clipper Creek LCS-20 that I bought 9 years ago for my Volt at the time. I am using the adapter for J1772 and works great. Yes, my EVSE is an old one, it is on a 20A breaker and the Tesla shows 15A on the screen, but I don't need more for the type of driving I am doing. It charges @ a speed of 4 kW. I did get the mobile EVSE from Tesla and maybe someday in the future I'll just add a 40A breaker to use it. But for 100 - 160 km a day, the charging speed I have now is enough to have a "full" battery in the morning - well, I mean 75% battery.

I am one of those people who like to charge slower my battery while at home, because it helps a lot during winter/summer time - at least it did for 4.5 years of a Bolt ownership. The conditioning of the battery in the Bolt EV takes place at a more aggressive rate when the Bolt is charging, not when sitting plugged in. I didn't have the winter experience with the Tesla yet, but I hope it is the same. I hope Tesla was smart enough that if you let the car for 2-3 days outside in the glacial cold (-20C), plugged, it will warm the battery as needed. The most impact on range during cold weather is because of a cold battery. That's why pre-conditioning your car 30-45 minutes before leaving is important. And that's why I chose to charge in the morning 5% more on top of the 75% (for a total of 80%) so that the battery is warm before I leave home.

 

[zoomer0056]

I'm curious if there are any technical logs that can be accessed that night give some hints on what the issue is?

You can view power, current and voltage graphs with the Tessie app.

 

[mitchell82]

You can view power, current and voltage graphs with the Tessie app.

I am not seeing that, where would I find that at?

 

[zoomer0056]

I am not seeing that, where would I find that at?

Go to Activity and choose a time frame. Scroll down to bottom of page. You'll see this

 

[mitchell82]

Go to Activity and choose a time frame. Scroll down to bottom of page. You'll see this View attachment 965163

Hrmm. Not seeing activity anywhere. Here are the menu items I have, and my best guess would have been charging stats, so he 2nd screenshot is what that gives me

 

[zoomer0056]

Hrmm. Not seeing activity anywhere. Here are the menu items I have, and my best guess would have been charging stats, so he 2nd screenshot is what that gives me

Oh, I said Tessie app, not Tesla. It's free to try.

 

[Dave[N]]

It's a lower voltage, and I assume the tesla doesn't like the lower voltage and it lowers charge rate. 208V (208V is commonly seen in 3 phase Y transformers). I'd bet the other stations have a Delta transformer, and use 240V. I'd guess 220v would be minimum for 6KW.

Not that its your solution, but kW = V * A / 1000, so 208V * 32A is 6.656 kW.
Your screen shot shows its charging at 208V, which is not a problem per se, and might be Voltage drop on a long cable from the electrical box to the EVSE.
It shows it is set to charge up to 32A, and is only charging at 16A, so ~3.3 kW.
If you watch your charging at home, you should see that it starts at a low Amp value and will step up several times to the limit, when all is working well.
That is done to protect you and your Tesla, and I believe it has temp sensors in multiple places, such as if the charging cable / connector is getting warm, which might happen if the cable from the electrical panel to the EVSE wasn't rated to sustain that current for that distance.
I am NOT saying that this was the problem, but when I got my Wall Connector, it was recommended to go with AWG 6 cable for 48A.
Not sure what AWG rating is recommended for 32A EVSE, but higher AWG not only support lower Amperage, but have higher resistance which will cause them to warm up, and to have Voltage drop.

 

[rpiotro]

I charge my Tesla model 3 (2 months old) on a Clipper Creek LCS-20 that I bought 9 years ago for my Volt at the time. I am using the adapter for J1772 and works great. Yes, my EVSE is an old one, it is on a 20A breaker and the Tesla shows 15A on the screen, but I don't need more for the type of driving I am doing. It charges @ a speed of 4 kW. I did get the mobile EVSE from Tesla and maybe someday in the future I'll just add a 40A breaker to use it. But for 100 - 160 km a day, the charging speed I have now is enough to have a "full" battery in the morning - well, I mean 75% battery.

I am one of those people who like to charge slower my battery while at home, because it helps a lot during winter/summer time - at least it did for 4.5 years of a Bolt ownership. The conditioning of the battery in the Bolt EV takes place at a more aggressive rate when the Bolt is charging, not when sitting plugged in. I didn't have the winter experience with the Tesla yet, but I hope it is the same. I hope Tesla was smart enough that if you let the car for 2-3 days outside in the glacial cold (-20C), plugged, it will warm the battery as needed. The most impact on range during cold weather is because of a cold battery. That's why pre-conditioning your car 30-45 minutes before leaving is important. And that's why I chose to charge in the morning 5% more on top of the 75% (for a total of 80%) so that the battery is warm before I leave home.

Do not! I repeat, do not simply replace the 20 amp breaker with a 40 unless the wiring is of the correct gauge. Unless you want to burn the house down to collect the insurance. In which case you will probably be arrested for fraud when they discover what you have done.

 

[zoomer0056]

do not simply replace the 20 amp breaker with a 40

Good thing OP said "add", did not say replace.

 

[voldar]

Do not! I repeat, do not simply replace the 20 amp breaker with a 40 unless the wiring is of the correct gauge.

I said I’ll add a 40A breaker. But thank you for your concern.

 

[rpiotro]

I said I’ll add a 40A breaker. But thank you for your concern.

You're welcome.

It was confusing. Perhaps you should have said "add a 40 amp circuit"? Language matters. Adding a 40 amp breaker to your box alone does nothing without wiring and a receptacle. Yes?