Home charging speed

Faults and Technical chat for the Volkswagen ID.3
Mandarinfish
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Post by Mandarinfish »

Hi,
I have an EO Mini Pro 2 which appears to only charge my ID3 at 3.6 kw/h (a regular 14.4kw total on Octopus Go 00:30-04:30 -15 mph) at 16A.
While investigating the reasons for this with my installer, I just wanted to check that there is nowhere in the config of the car that could be set to 3.6 kw/h.
I’ve looked at the manual, and searched online to no avail, and was hoping the knowledge base on here might help?
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Utumno
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Post by Utumno »

Mandarinfish wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:23 pm Hi,
I have an EO Mini Pro 2 which appears to only charge my ID3 at 3.6 kw/h (a regular 14.4kw total on Octopus Go 00:30-04:30 -15 mph) at 16A.
While investigating the reasons for this with my installer, I just wanted to check that there is nowhere in the config of the car that could be set to 3.6 kw/h.
I’ve looked at the manual, and searched online to no avail, and was hoping the knowledge base on here might help?

There’s a “Reduced AC Current” setting in the car but i honestly don’t know whether that will drop to 16A or not. Worth checking if you have that option enabled in the car though.
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Post by Mandarinfish »

Thanks but that option is already off.
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Post by G43FAN »

Are you using the cars built in scheduling (Location)?
Mandarinfish
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Post by Mandarinfish »

G43FAN wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:39 pm Are you using the cars built in scheduling (Location)?
No as advised here and elsewhere, I schedule via the EO app and not the car.
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robgarth
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Post by robgarth »

If you have other items drawing electricity then load balancing may come in to play. It may also be AC reduction being selected in the car, check it's also not selected in the We Connect ID app settings. Try a free public charger e.g Tesco, the charging rate there will give you an indication as to the issue being car or charger. related.
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Post by Deleted User 192 »

Literally the only setting in the car is the "Reduced AC Current" - there's nothing else.

As you have that disabled, I think it's more likely to be a charger setting or limitation than a fault with the car.
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Utumno
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Post by Utumno »

The charger itself has a limiter that may be set, using a little rotary dial inside the box. If the little arrow on the rotary dial is pointing to F then the charger is set to 32A (7.4kW). If it’s pointing to 6 then the charger is set to 16A (3.6kW) maximum.

Source : https://www.eocharging.com/s/EO-Mini-MK ... e-w6tr.pdf

You could check this yourself I think if you isolated the charger at the CU and cracked open the charger box if you wanted to verify what your installer is telling you.
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Post by Mandarinfish »

I have charged the vehicle at peak rate as a comparison with my off-peak charge last night.

Off-Peak

16A
c 15 mph
14.51 kwh for 4 hours (Octopus Go Off-peak) = 3.625 kw/h
(car data from Tronity says 13.09 kwh)

Peak Rate

32A
c 28 mph (have seen 31 mph when warmer)
3.72 kwh for 1/2 hour (Octopus Go Peak rate) = 7.44 kw/h
(car data from Tronity says 3.08 kwh)

Therefore, my conclusion is thus:

Its not the car: no setting of which I’m aware that can control anything (reduced AC is off) - and I have touched nothing between both charges - am I correct?.

It's not the cable: it can pull 32A during the day.

It’s not the EO Unit as it can pull 7.44 kw/h with 32A feed during the day.

Nothing is running/being used during off-peak in the house, bar stuff on standby/just plugged in.

So my conclusion is that its either the meter (being controlled/set to 16A at off-peak periods for some reason), or my supply - does this make sense or have I missed something?

Anyone else ran into this issue?

Thoughts appreciated. TIA
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Daveion
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Post by Daveion »

I dont know anything about EO unit but could it possibly have an off peak current limitation setting?
Can a meter be externally controlled to limit current draw if for instance the suppliers cheap quota was running low?
The latter seems unlikely!
In the thread is it only on EO home chargers?
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Mandarinfish
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Post by Mandarinfish »

Daveion wrote: Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:08 am I dont know anything about EO unit but could it possibly have an off peak current limitation setting?
Can a meter be externally controlled to limit current draw if for instance the suppliers cheap quota was running low?
The latter seems unlikely!
In the thread is it only on EO home chargers?
Dave
Food for thought! Thanks
Frankly I think the make of charger is irrelevant, and the answer lies with the meter/supply, but I will chat to EO just to rule the charger out.
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Post by Utumno »

I’ve seen similar things on my Dad’s supply, where the DNO is balancing the network overnight and isn’t making enough power available as a result. Bear in mind though that my Dad probably draws far more than you - he has two EV’s and a household battery to fill totalling 17-18kWh’s when they all sucking electrons at full capacity and his air source heat pump and everything else then has to fit inside his 100A main fuse!
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Post by Daveion »

Doesn't that then confirm that the current draw can be limited by the supplier via the smart meter? I thought that unlikely.
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Post by MotMot »

Is the charger getting hot? Mine (SyncEV) throttles back from a blistering 7.8kw to 6.5/7 after 30-60 min - especially during the daytime and even more so in afternoon as the box comes into direct sunlight.

Afaik the only way your electricity supply can limit itself is with the voltage… and if you’re dropping to 16 amps (3.5kw) then that’s 120v!!

As Dave said… got to be in the charger.
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Utumno
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Post by Utumno »

Daveion wrote: Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:38 am Doesn't that then confirm that the current draw can be limited by the supplier via the smart meter? I thought that unlikely.

Depends what you mean by “supplier”. If you mean Octopus etc (who have the billing and meter relationship) then yes it’s possible but they require your consent and a tariff explicitly allowing this (they’re called Demand Side Response tariffs). There are very few of these around and you’d know if you were on one.

However every electricity customer in the UK has a “hidden” supplier, the DNO. The DNO can do whatever the hell it likes to your electricity supply basically, whenever it likes, as long as basic service is maintained and it’s very usual to have amperage and voltage changes seemingly at random on any consumer supply.
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Post by Daveion »

Thats the thought process I took. The supply voltage has to be stable at 230 else other things in your property would stop. In Utumno's example can the charger be instructed to reduce current from the DNO. I knew that its possible that chargers could stop/start dependent on overall network consumption but not to reduce current!
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Daveion
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Post by Daveion »

Daveion wrote: Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:51 am Thats the thought process I took. The supply voltage has to be stable at 230 else other things in your property would stop. In Utumno's example can the charger be instructed to reduce current from the DNO. I knew that its possible that chargers could stop/start dependent on overall network consumption but not to reduce current!
Utumno. Missed your post before typing.
I think the DNO has a legal obligation to maintain supplies to a given voltage + or - a small percentage and that is within the operating range of all appliances I have ever come accross.
Thats not to say if an 11kv tranformer goes bang or roadworks accidentally dig up a cable the network system load sheds and there is some disruption to supplies but I do believe they do their best to maintain supplies. Its something that can happen I guess. It was a common occurrence in my time in the City square mile.
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Post by Utumno »

As it was described to me (and please remember I am no expert on these things!) voltage and amperage are two different measures of current. The DNO doesn’t futz much with voltage for all the reasons you’ve laid out, but it can and does futz with amperage.

As amperage is what EV’s place pressure on, not voltage, then it can cause these kinds of issues when it’s reduced because stuff charges slower.

Most households use hardly any amperage I was then informed, so most don’t notice the futzing particularly overnight in off-peak times. EV charger though have an obviously more noticeable pattern.

If it helps I had it described to me in terms of water pipes, with voltage described as “water pressure” and amperage described as “pipe size”. With a narrower water pipe but the same back pressure, less water comes through the pipe.

Again I’m very happy to be corrected!
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Post by Daveion »

That is the accepted analogy for voltage and and current. However voltage and amperage are not both measures of current. As you say voltage is pressure and amperage is current.
Watts (work) = volts x amps. So the DNO can only limit amps by reducing voltage as its the terminal device that dictates the current draw.
In the hose analogy the pressure is present but the tap turned off. Turn the tap on and water (current) flows. If there is a fault in the network the voltage collapses, load shedding to other network transformers and loops then takes place within seconds to re-establish supplies but it can still be subject to a reduced voltage as the network finds a balance. Lots of appliances drop out and load reduces on the network and voltage may then increase.
Its a fully automated system.
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Utumno
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Post by Utumno »

Fascinating, thanks Daveion. Always happy to learn 😀
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