Timing a Charge

Faults and Technical chat for the Volkswagen ID.3
CarterHounslow
Posts: 216
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:01 pm

Post by CarterHounslow »

I don't have to worry about off peak as I worked out it was pretty pointless going to one of those tariffs, or it would save very little. However it seems I'm having the same problem with timed charge, even during the day.

I needed to charge the car today, so I thought I would test out the timed charge to have 80% by 7.15 this evening. Charging at a normal speed I get at home, this should take around 2 hours and 20 minutes from the level of charge that I had. It kicked on the charger half an hour early, charging at only 7-8mph (not the 29 I normally get). Sat here an hour later, still the same.

I'm really not impressed by this as I don't want to sit with 100% battery all night, and sometimes I need to drive to London and back in the same day, and I was hoping to time a charge to 100% and precondition the car, seems like it's buggy.

UPDATE:

It was still charging after 19:15, so there was an issue. I've done it again, telling it to go for 21:30 and put it in the second slot. My car is now charging at 25 mph.

Interesting.

CarterHounslow
Posts: 216
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:01 pm

Post by CarterHounslow »

Tested it again twice. 9 mph last night and then 24mph this morning.

So in short I've tried 4 timed charges in 24 hours.

1) only charged at 8mph
2) charged at 24mph but was done straight after the first one.
3) only charged at 8mph
4) charged St 24mph

Can't find any reason why it's doing this.
Deleted User 192

Post by Deleted User 192 »

In case you missed it: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=647
CarterHounslow
Posts: 216
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:01 pm

Post by CarterHounslow »

scott28tt wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:41 am In case you missed it: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=647
Yes I've just seen this, thanks. Good job I have a pod point charger then!

Although if I don't want the car sat on the driveway just sat at 100% for hours and trashing the battery (as occasionally I will need to put it on at night and take it to 100%) you need to work out yourself how many minutes you need to charge the car for.

I have edited this post as I asked if anyone had worked out how long it takes per percent as MPH is not very useful when timing a charge, however I just did the maths.

7.4kw charger, in theory should be 4 minutes and 43 seconds per 1 percent of battery (or 283 seconds if you prefer it written like that)

Therefore if I wanted to add only 40% of battery overnight, that's 40 x 283 Seconds = 11,320 seconds. That's 188 minutes and 40 Seconds. Or 3 hours, 8 minutes and 40 seconds.

Therefore 10% is 47 minutes and 10 seconds roughly.

If you're only charging to 80% or whatever, that's fine.

I think this feature will benefit most the off peak chargers if I'm honest. It's not ideal for what I want to do as I want to be able to precondition the battery etc. Maybe if I time the air conditioning only it might work?
Deleted User 192

Post by Deleted User 192 »

I'm MUCH more bothered about off-peak charging or charging to a set level by a set time and knowing that it is actually going to work than I am about pre-heating the cabin and battery - so charger-based timing will be my weapon of choice.

For others who have the opposite priority, let's hope that VW can get the on-car timing working reliably for all.
CarterHounslow
Posts: 216
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:01 pm

Post by CarterHounslow »

I spoke to my dealer about this today "first I've heard of this." I said that multiple people have had the same issue on this forum so I'm amazed this is the first anyone at that dealership has heard about it. He said " I know it slows down towards 100% but yours seems to be premature."

Is he talking out of his arse? Does it reduce ac current even on a 7.4kw charger when it approaches 100%? I've never charged it to 100%
Deleted User 314

Post by Deleted User 314 »

Overnight I timed for a departure of 7am, I pay 3c per Kwh from 01:00 - 07:00, Maximum charge was set to 80%.

The charging started in the middle of the night, but the car only managed to get to 70%.

I'll give it a few more days to "learn" and see what happens.

Using an Elli charger at a max rate of 11Kwh.
Deleted User 192

Post by Deleted User 192 »

CarterHounslow wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:43 am Does it reduce ac current even on a 7.4kw charger when it approaches 100%? I've never charged it to 100%

I don't think so, I've only gone to 100% once at home but from the data I can see the delivery seems to have been at the same rate throughout.
Deleted User 314

Post by Deleted User 314 »

Here's some tracking of our consumption data yesterday when I tested the timing charge for a 7am departure.

Pretty much got up there, although not to 11Kwh which it can deliver. Looks like it's charging at around 7 or 8, which is still fine IMO.

Screenshot 2021-04-15 110633.png

Deleted User 192

Post by Deleted User 192 »

What % did you want the car to get to by 7am and what did it actually get to?
Deleted User 314

Post by Deleted User 314 »

first night, set to 80% and got 70%
2nd night, set to 90% and got 78%
pbaptista
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:43 am

Post by pbaptista »

Anduain wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:48 am first night, set to 80% and got 70%
2nd night, set to 90% and got 78%
And what is the initial soc?

Is your charger smart? In other words, adjust the output power according to the remaining consumption?
ID.3 Tour - Glacier White 0783, from 12 February 2021, upgrade to 0792 in 15 April 2021
Deleted User 314

Post by Deleted User 314 »

pbaptista wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:25 am
Anduain wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:48 am first night, set to 80% and got 70%
2nd night, set to 90% and got 78%
And what is the initial soc?

Is your charger smart? In other words, adjust the output power according to the remaining consumption?
initial SOC is around 50% for both days.

I have the Eilli charger, jury is out regarding its intelligence, I'd say it's dumb right now as the only control you have is if it is activated through RFID or not. No app and when you connect to its webserver there's nothing to fiddle with other than connectivity, language or password.
pbaptista
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:43 am

Post by pbaptista »

I assume you already have 2.1, that problem was supposed to be solved already.
At 16 hours I will pick up my car with the upgrade completed, then I test this situation, since it was the only most annoying problem I had, in version 2.0.
ID.3 Tour - Glacier White 0783, from 12 February 2021, upgrade to 0792 in 15 April 2021
Deleted User 314

Post by Deleted User 314 »

Yep, 2.1 installed. Let me know what you discover.
Deleted User 314

Post by Deleted User 314 »

Curiously, same last night, set to 90% and it went to 78% again. Can’t be a coincidence.
CarterHounslow
Posts: 216
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:01 pm

Post by CarterHounslow »

Spoke to my dealer today about this and he has discussed it with VW. He said that VW have acknowledged it's a known issue, it is random (so won't happen every time). It's one of the things they are looking to fix for the next update.
pbaptista
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:43 am

Post by pbaptista »

Mine also failed, at the time and in the value of the charge, 80% is the target and have 78%.
ID.3 Tour - Glacier White 0783, from 12 February 2021, upgrade to 0792 in 15 April 2021
Deleted User 314

Post by Deleted User 314 »

2 more tests:

Monday night it was low on battery (really have no idea how we're driving so much under lockdown, but we do live at the top of 6km of hill) - was on 39%, did the scheduled charging, 1am to 7am, 90%, charged to 51%, wife threw a wobbler as she had to drive 150km to check on her parents.

Then I did another test last night, this time using the granny charger instead of the 11Kwh wall charger.

Same settings (1am to 7am, 90%), checked at 07:45, 88% charge, still charging. checked at 08:15 - 90% charge and had stopped charging.

Some pretty naff software going on here :)
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kaiz
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Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:34 pm
Location: Estonia

Post by kaiz »

I've put the departure time same as cheap time.
Eg. leaving in 8.00, cheap time ends 7, then I put leaving also 7 and without air conditioning (it cools down anyway).
Of course, if I charge to 80%. 100% needs immediate leaving.
Sometimes it looks for cheap time interval, sometimes not.
Life Pro Performance, Manganese gray, Heat pump, Tow bar, 0792 / 2.1.
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