Am I doing something wrong?

[Sgt Beavis]

So I’m sitting here at an Electrify America charger. It started of charging at 150kW but quickly dropped to 37-39kW.
This is the 2nd time I’ve done this. A different charger at the same location gave me a similar charge rate. Is there anything i can do to help the situation?

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[kurtlikevonnegut]

So I’m sitting here at an Electrify America charger. It started of charging at 150kW but quickly dropped to 37-39kW.
This is the 2nd time I’ve done this. A different charger at the same location gave me a similar charge rate. Is there anything i can do to help the situation?

What's your starting SoC and did you use nav to go to the charging station so that it would precondition? Is the charger saying the vehicle is limiting the charge rate and/or is the truck saying the charger is limiting charge rate?

 

[Budman]

Is it hot out? Has the truck been driven hard just before charging? the truck could be slowing the charge rate to protect the battery.

 

[bhopkins]

Unfortunately, that is sometimes the way EA chargers behave. Is the outside temp high? Did you use the in-truck navigation to get to the charger?

I’ve found that if the outside temp is high, EA chargers tend to rate limit. If you didn’t navigate to the charger with the nav system, truck wouldn’t have prepared the battery for fast charging (heated or cooled as appropriate) and you may get rate limited until/if the battery gets to the proper temp.

Sometimes, there’s no reason known to us mere users why they behave that way. The best you can do is get enough charge to get to another charger. You can also review the station on PlugShare and see what other users have experienced.

 

[Dirty_B]

Welcome to Rivian, DCFC, and EA. I couldn't get more than 53kW at a 200 kW dispenser with 20percent SOC. Obviously something wrong with mine. Yours I hope it's EA, not your truck.

 

[Dirty_B]

The preconditioning is a red herring if you ask me. It'll help by reducing charge time by about 15%, per Rivian, on this most recent update.

 

[sacramentoelectric]

But the EA network is awesome and I drove from x to y and I never had a problem so what are you complaining about? </s>

Sorry, doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong. Many of these stations just don't work very well. They might not leave your stranded but they will waste a bunch of your time. RAN can't come s00n enough.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

What's your starting SoC and did you use nav to go to the charging station so that it would precondition? Is the charger saying the vehicle is limiting the charge rate and/or is the truck saying the charger is limiting charge rate?

Is it hot out? Has the truck been driven hard just before charging? the truck could be slowing the charge rate to protect the battery.

I was at 34% SOC and and finished with 85% (after 92 minutes). I even stopped charging and reset the truck, then restarted. Same result of 37-38kW. The R1T is saying that the EA charger is limiting the charge. I think there was something on the EA charger pretty much stating the same.

Outside temp was 64F (evening just north of Denver). I had driven the truck up a mountain road earlier in the day but it had 2 hours to sit at the house before I drove to the EA charger (4 miles away). So I think the battery was fairly cool.. Also, I charged at this group of chargers (different actual charger) earlier in the day and it was the same story.

I can’t wait for Tesla’s network to open up.

Also, good news, my charger was delivered after my original post. It’ll be wired up on Monday, so that’s really problem solved.

 

[RivnSoon]

When I took delivery I asked the two Rivian guys about preconditioning of the battery without using the native navigation, ie driving to a known charging station vs navigating to it. I admit, both seemed perplexed about my question, but said in this case make sure you are in Conserve mode. I have never used a public DCFC yet, yep that's right, so can't confirm what conserve mode can do on this situation

 

[rohobono]

Also, I charged at this group of chargers (different actual charger) earlier in the day and it was the same story.

Were there other people charging at the same time? I'm not sure how EA stations are set up but most of the tesla superchargers are paired off so if someone is charging on station 1a and 1b is open then 1a gets the full 150 kwh but if someone else is using 1b then they split the 150kw and each only get about half but usually less. If there were other people charging at the same time maybe something similar was happening.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

Were there other people charging at the same time? I'm not sure how EA stations are set up but most of the tesla superchargers are paired off so if someone is charging on station 1a and 1b is open then 1a gets the full 150 kwh but if someone else is using 1b then they split the 150kw and each only get about half but usually less. If there were other people charging at the same time maybe something similar was happening.

When I started charging last night, there were two others. However, after they left I rebooted my truck and started over. Same result.

 

[ajdelange]

Were there other people charging at the same time? I'm not sure how EA stations are set up but most of the tesla superchargers are paired off so if someone is charging on station 1a and 1b is open then 1a gets the full 150 kwh but if someone else is using 1b then they split the 150kw and each only get about half but usually less.

No, the guy that was there first gets the ion's share and the new guy gets perhaps 60 kW until the first guy goes into taper (which happens pretty early with Tesla). Also note that this is only the case with the older Tesla SC (150 kW). The newer ones are not paired.

... If there were other people charging at the same time maybe something similar was happening.

The CCS standard requires that the whole station be capable of limiting peak demand (in order to avaid punitive "demand charges" imposed by the utility) so if there are many cars charging at a station the current available to each may indeed be limited.

What OP is experiencing seems like a "normal" interaction with an EA charger. Read the checkin comments on PlugShare. Try to avoid stations with low scores and always have a backup plan.

 

[manitou202]

37kW is the limit EA uses when there is a cooling issue with their charger / cables. My guess is the station was limiting the charge for some reason.

I would find another EA or other brand site to test again relatively soon just to make sure it isn't your R1T. My sure to check recent PlugShare comments for that site to see if other people have had the same issue.

 

[svet-am]

Knowing whereabouts you are located, try the stations in n Superior near Costco/Target. They have been good to me in the past there is also a pretty good station in Westminster at 92nd/Sheridan.

 

[MoreTrout]

Sounds like an EA station issue. My 1/1 experience with an EA site was much better. My only gripe was that it is listed as a trailer capable site. It wasn't.

Look on the bright side. If you are anything like me, asking your wife the same question as your thread title would have resulted in a reply measured in days or weeks, not an hour or two of slow charging.

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