Is it ok to full-charge with a 23kw rate on a EVSE??

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CSW

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 17, 2015
Messages
198
Location
Sacramento,CA
I have noticed some public chargers showing up around N. California that are 23kw chargers. They use the quick-charge port, but only charge 23kw as opposed to the usual 44kw rate on the DC quick-chargers. So is it ok to go to full 100% charge on the 23kw chargers? Or still good to go to only 80% like the 44kw ones? The only reason I would think it is OK is that the 44kw charger drops to "medium" level after it reaches 80% and it is about a 23kw rate..... but I am not positive....
 
I never saw it stated that you're supposed to hover at your car and stop the DCFC at 80%.
I know when I use the local 50kW DCFC's at some point after the 80% SOC point it slows to 23kW.
It may taper off the charge rate even more than that as it gets closer to 100%.
I haven't watched for that, because I sometimes wonder off for coffee or a walk and wait for my phone to tell me "Sparky is done !".
Typically my DCFC'd are just 10 minute pit stops and that brings me above 80% SOC.
 
CSW said:
I have noticed some public chargers showing up around N. California that are 23kw chargers. They use the quick-charge port, but only charge 23kw as opposed to the usual 44kw rate on the DC quick-chargers. So is it ok to go to full 100% charge on the 23kw chargers? Or still good to go to only 80% like the 44kw ones? The only reason I would think it is OK is that the 44kw charger drops to "medium" level after it reaches 80% and it is about a 23kw rate..... but I am not positive....

I use DCFC often and usually push my DCFC charging to 90 - 99% depending if someone is waiting or not. If I do push to 99%, that last 5% goes very slowly and, cost wise, is not really worth it if you are paying by the minute and do not need every mile you can put back into the battery.

Rather than stand around waiting for the fountain of electrons to refresh Sparkie, I usually just go get a soft drink or something to eat and relax. Sometimes there are people asking questions about my EV or another EV pilot and I share stories. I recently had a nice discussion with a new Leaf owner.
 
You can plug into as high of a power source as you want to as high of an SOC as you want. The car will automatically limit the incoming current to what it has been designed for. In the case of my 2014 Spark EV, that means it will accept about 50 kW up to 80%, then power ramps down fairly linearly to 6 kW at 99%. The only difference you'll experience with a maximum of 20 kW (rather than 50 kW) available from the charger is that the maximum of 20 kW will make the time to 80% take a little more than double the time to get to 80%.

There's no need to worry about using different chargers different ways as far as the car is concerned. Plug in and get all the energy you want or need, the car takes care of the rest. Our cars are designed to take the fast charging power well, unlike other cars you may have heard having issues.

Bryce
 
Yes should be ok. There is one nearby I've used a few times. Takes twice as long but it's still 7 times faster than level 2 or 30 times faster than 8amp@120v.
 
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