Advice re charging for newbie to the EV world

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FionaJJ
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:33 pm

Post by FionaJJ »

I picked up my iD3 yesterday and managed to drive to Bournemouth (a journey that should have only taken 90 minutes but ended up taking over 3 hours one way) but it drained the battery quite rapidly. On the return journey, I did a quick stop to charge back to 50% so I could get home and then smugly plugged my car to charge to 80% overnight as advised by the dealer, thinking i had this EV World cracked.

I have just looked at the battery and it says it's only at 30% (that's over 12 hours of charging). Have I don't something wrong? I don't have a charging unit (am moving home so am waiting till I'm in my next house to install one) so it was using the basic 3pin charger. Any advice on how to make sure my car is always at 80% the next morning would be greatly appreciated. I assumed i could plug it in overnight and it would be up to 80% by morning.

simonmaskell
Posts: 118
Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2021 2:54 pm

Post by simonmaskell »

I think the charging cable plugged in to a standard 3 pin home socket will take about 30 hours to charge the vehicle as you are only getting 3.6kw for that source

Simon
robgarth
Posts: 82
Joined: Wed May 26, 2021 2:42 pm
Location: Wiltshire

Post by robgarth »

You will want to check if your new home is on a lopped supply. I found my house is, as many others are, it creates problems getting a charger installed. There is plenty on line if you Google it. I've been waiting 5 weeks to hear from the local power network about a solution, I'm not expecting anything soon. I am lucky to have several BP pulse chargers within a mile of home that give free charge through the county council, check what is available near you. The downside is it takes about 3hrs so I do it on an evening or early weekend mornings while out for a walk. I only use the 3pin cable to occasionally top up. Good luck.
Rob
Business Pro, 62KWh, 150KW, 2.1. White metallic. Wiltshire.
monkeyhanger
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Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2021 1:33 pm

Post by monkeyhanger »

simonmaskell wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 2:30 pm I think the charging cable plugged in to a standard 3 pin home socket will take about 30 hours to charge the vehicle as you are only getting 3.6kw for that source

Simon
You'll find that the 3 pin granny lead only charges at 10A or 2.4 kWh.

As Rob Garth suggests - looped supply might be the cause. Pretty much every house built before 1985 has a looped supply and a Max 60A supply yo the house as a whole. You'll need your house unlooping from you neighbours if you do have a looped supply.
Cupra Born V2 e-boost 230ps Aurora Blue, replaced ID3 PP Family

Audi S3 - because I hate rapid charging for long distance driving.

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Deleted User 192

Post by Deleted User 192 »

If your 3-pin charge speed is 2.4kW and your car has a 58kWh battery, you’re adding just over 4% per hour, so to get from say 50%-80% would take about 12 hours.

If your start level is less than 50% you won’t get to 80% unless you leave it plugged in for longer.

Once you have a proper home charge point, you get pretty much triple the charge rate, then you would get from 0%-80% in under 7 hours.
hungerdunger
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Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2020 8:28 pm
Location: Carmarthen, West Wales

Post by hungerdunger »

It might be worth looking at the charge screen when you plug it in next so you can guage when the charge will be completed. If it doesn't show up automatically, tap on Vehicle, then Charging. This will show you, among other things, the rate of charge (hopefully around 7 - 8 mph) and the estimated time for the end of charge. Also check that you haven't selected "Reduced AC charging current" on the Charging screen, as this will slow things down further.

Is your granny charger the VW one or from a third party?
ID.3 1st Edition - Manganese Grey - purchased 15/12/20.
CarterHounslow
Posts: 216
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:01 pm

Post by CarterHounslow »

When you say drained the battery quite rapidly on the journey, on the charging screen, under data, what is your miles per kW? On a motorway with the air conditioning on, I would expect somewhere between 3 and 4. If you drive sensibly around 65-70 mph you can get nearly 4. If you drive at 80mph it will be closer to 3 (trust me, I've tested the hell out of this). Just to warn you, when it gets down to cold temperatures, if you drive at 80mph, that will be more like 2.4 miles per kW. Heating is worse than air conditioning.

Moral of the story, don't go over 70mph if you want good range.

In terms of the charging, everyone has already replied to this. But on the screen when you are charging it, it will say the miles per hour of charge you are putting into the car. If you were on my charger at home in this weather it would be between 28 and 30mph.

Normally on a 3 pin plug, this would be around 9-10 miles per hour of charge. If you are getting less than this, have you got the option "Reduced A/C current" turned on? If you do, that will reduce it to around 3-4 miles per hour of charge, so turn that off.
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