[Scrapula]

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I was at 30% and decided to use Electrify America. All chargers at the local Target are 350kw and all are functional. My son and I watched Throttle House on YouTube while charging. The we used backup assistant which is so much fun. I never back up fast on my own but it’s fun to romp on it a little with the car doing the backing up.

[syslakm]

Originally Posted by Scrapula

I was at 30% and decided to use Electrify America. All chargers at the local Target are 350kw and all are functional. My son and I watched Throttle House on YouTube while charging. The we used backup assistant which is so much fun. I never back up fast on my own but it’s fun to romp on it a little with the car doing the backing up.

Just watched that Throttlehouse episode on the Cybertruck yesterday. It was very entertaining!

[agorski]

My first EA DC fast charge was Friday just to try it out and confirm the charge without using an app would work. Started at around 48% and it got to my 70% limit in 13 minutes. Nice.

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by agorski

My first EA DC fast charge was Friday just to try it out and confirm the charge without using an app would work. Started at around 48% and it got to my 70% limit in 13 minutes. Nice.

Did you notice what the maximum power was during that time? Did it ever get close to the 205 kW, or did it stay a little lower since you were already at 48% when you started?

Thanks for sharing!

[Scrapula]

Originally Posted by SkykingUSA

Did you notice what the maximum power was during that time? Did it ever get close to the 205 kW, or did it stay a little lower since you were already at 48% when you started?

Thanks for sharing!

I went from 30% to 80% and mine maxed at 99kw

[RichardInCA]

I got real close to that the last time I used an EA charger

[Trevor G]

I have done several fast charges with EA. The car limits how much power to take in order to get you at your target in 30 minutes. It will not always charge at max kw.

[Scrapula]

Originally Posted by Trevor G

I have done several fast charges with EA. The car limits how much power to take in order to get you at your target in 30 minutes. It will not always charge at max kw.

Thanks, that makes sense since we are limited to 30 minutes a day. I bet if I used a different charging network, it would ramp up.

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by Scrapula

Thanks, that makes sense since we are limited to 30 minutes a day. I bet if I used a different charging network, it would ramp up.

You're definitely not limited to 30 minutes of charging per day. It's 30 minutes per session. There is a published one hour "waiting period" before you can start another session, but in practice this has not been enforced. The car does not know anything about the 30 minute limit, and it could definitely not reach your target within 30 minutes. If you haven't hit your target yet and are approaching 30 minutes, you can unplug to end the session and then start another one.

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by Trevor G

I have done several fast charges with EA. The car limits how much power to take in order to get you at your target in 30 minutes. It will not always charge at max kw.

The maximum charge rate is also sometimes limited by the charger - especially if there are other cars charging at the same time.

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by Trevor G

I have done several fast charges with EA. The car limits how much power to take in order to get you at your target in 30 minutes. It will not always charge at max kw.

I don't know if this is exactly correct. I routinely do not hit my target within the 30 minutes. There are settings in the car that will determine the DC charge rate (e.g., battery cooling fan speed), and the charger itself may throttle the charge for various reasons. If you're at 20% you will typically (hopefully) get very close to the maximal KW rating of the charger initially, and then it will gradually taper down as you get close to 80% (or whatever you set as your target).

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by LVBMW

I don't know if this is exactly correct. I routinely do not hit my target within the 30 minutes. There are settings in the car that will determine the DC charge rate (e.g., battery cooling fan speed), and the charger itself may throttle the charge for various reasons. If you're at 20% you will typically (hopefully) get very close to the maximal KW rating of the charger initially, and then it will gradually taper down as you get close to 80% (or whatever you set as your target).

Yup - see the charging curve I posted above

[Trevor G]

For me it has always been 28 to 30 minutes regardless of 150 or 350 kw charger. 30 to 80 or 60 to 80. The battery management is definitely sticking its fingers in there to limit my charge rate to match the 30 charge time.

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by Trevor G

For me it has always been 28 to 30 minutes regardless of 150 or 350 kw charger. 30 to 80 or 60 to 80. The battery management is definitely sticking its fingers in there to limit my charge rate to match the 30 charge time.

I think this is a coincidence. I don’t think the car has a clue about the free 30 minute charging offer (which is not offered in all countries). Why would the car limit the charging rate to get exactly 30 minutes or close to it? It took me about 42 minutes to go 20 to 80 at EA last week. Since we have essentially unlimited 30 minute charging sessions there is no reason for the car to limit the charge rate. It’ll pull power at whatever the charger can deliver based on the charging curve with the few tweaks you can make such as battery cooling fan settings.

[Trevor G]

Gonna change my target to 90 tomorrow and try again. 350 kw on the way home. Will post results.

[Scrapula]

Originally Posted by Trevor G

Gonna change my target to 90 tomorrow and try again. 350 kw on the way home. Will post results.

I was at a 350 kw and didn’t get above 100, so I am curious.

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by Scrapula

I was at a 350 kw and didn’t get above 100, so I am curious.

Various reasons this could happen but mostly on the charger/infrastructure side vs the car side.

[RichardInCA]

I went to the same 350kW charger for three session - one is the session above where it touches close to the 205kW limit, another time I hit ~150kW and another time 120kW. It could have been the starting SoC but also use of chargers by other cars etc. etc

I completely agree with LVBMW there’s lots of reasons for not hitting the theoretical charge rate for the charger or the car

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

I went to the same 350kW charger for three session - one is the session above where it touches close to the 205kW limit, another time I hit ~150kW and another time 120kW. It could have been the starting SoC but also use of chargers by other cars etc. etc

I completely agree with LVBMW there’s lots of reasons for not hitting the theoretical charge rate for the charger or the car

Thanks. And I don’t think the car would ever pull less than it’s capable of (and that the charger is willing to deliver) just so it takes almost exactly 30 minutes to reach the set target.

[Scrapula]

Originally Posted by LVBMW

Various reasons this could happen but mostly on the charger/infrastructure side vs the car side.

There were 4 chargers, all 350 kw. There were 3 of us charging, so I wonder if they power share with wiring underground.

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by Scrapula

There were 4 chargers, all 350 kw. There were 3 of us charging, so I wonder if they power share with wiring underground.

This is very common at EA. If many stations are charging they often don’t deliver the max rated KWH. Remember you can unplug and plug in again to start a new free session if you haven’t hit your target within the 30 minutes.

[alewifebp]

I have been exclusively using the charging network, primarily due to the complimentary EA charging. I have a few in my area that I rotate through, with the one I go to the most being at a Target, which is convenient to do some quick shopping while charging.

Definitely with EA, no matter if it is 150 or 350 Kwh, I get no where near the max 205. I might spike at something high, then usually hover well below 100 for the majority of the charge. I've used some other charging networks too, including EVgo, and had a similar experience, but not anything conclusive. There have been some rumors of EA throttling power output since they have partnered with many manufacturers to offer complimentary charging. Even Porsche gives you 1 year. However, I have not seen anyone do any kind of side by side comparison and it has all been anecdotal evidence.

With the iX, I read BMW released a software upgrade that unlocked some faster charging. I suspect that they were waiting for more data from warranty claims and internal software monitoring where they felt that they could increase the charge speed without any impact on safety or reliability. The car is definitely doing some management and is being very cautious. Add in local grid demands, and demand at the charging station itself as factors that affect your charging speed. As they say, YMMV.