Why do public DC chargers not deliver rated KW?

[MM in SouthTX]

I have had my Lightning less than a week, and all I have at home is 120V charging so far. I took a trip around south central Texas, including Houston, and found that every station I went to delivered far less energy than advertised. For instance:

EA station in Columbus, the two 350 KW stations delivered 36 and 43 KW. The 150KW station delivered 135 for a short while then stopped, like 4 times.

EA stations on 59 south of Houston (Stafford, Sugarland) were not working.

EVgo at Cracker Barrel on I-10, 50KW station delivered 25KW.

EVgo at Whole Foods on 59 50KW station delivered about 44KW.

Here in Corpus Christi the two Charge Point stations are 62KW but deliver 27KW.

Am I doing something wrong, or is this a common experience? I should have the house set up to charge soon, but road trips are definitely not in the near future around here.

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[Tony Burgh]

I’ve experienced slightly lower (140kW for 10 minutes on 150kW EA then drop to 110kW) but until over 80% SoC nothing as low as what you saw. Could be high ambient temperatures in TX.

 

[sotek2345]

The very low rates at the 350 and 150 stations were a result of a cooling fault in the station. Those are the fall back rates (equivalent to 100A). The other stations I am not sure, but those could have been shared stations (if someone else is plugged in you only get half power) or theal throttling (either your battery or the station is too hot).

 

[MM in SouthTX]

The very low rates at the 350 and 150 stations were a result of a cooling fault in the station. Those are the fall back rates (equivalent to 100A). The other stations I am not sure, but those could have been shared stations (if someone else is plugged in you only get half power) or theal throttling (either your battery or the station is too hot).

No heat issues today.
So stations not delivering as advertised is to be expected?

 

[DroopyHippo]

No heat issues today.
So stations not delivering as advertised is to be expected?

Pretty much. Plug share helps reduce the odds you pick a bad one from the reviews given.

 

[Photon]

My experience with EA and other DC fast chargers have been good during my 1200 mile road trip. However, I still don’t trust it like I trust the Tesla Supercharging network.

 

[AZT9]

My experience with EA and other DC fast chargers have been good during my 1200 mile road trip. However, I still don’t trust it like I trust the Tesla Supercharging network.

What he said!!

 

[duncanmaio]

Here in Corpus Christi the two Charge Point stations are 62KW but deliver 27KW.

I ran into a Rivian mobile service technician at the Chargepoint station in Barrington, RI last night. He said he uses Chargepoint a lot and they NEVER provide the published charge rate, even if he is the only truck at a multi-charger location - and it's worse if others are charging.

I thought maybe it was the "125 kw" chargers at that location - which never put out more than 70 - but apparently it's a Chargepoint thing. Rivian guy said EA is generally much better.

Also, I think he was jealous of the frunk.

 

[hturnerfamily]

in over 5,000 miles throughout GA, AL, and FL... I've seen NO Chargepoint stations EVER give me more than 67kw, even if all of those stations say they 'share' 125kw, and with no one else EVER plugged in at the same time. I've seen one in Dothan AL give only 25kw, which tells me that there is a fault with the unit. The other one next to it gave me 50kw, although THAT is also LOW, even for chargepoint. I suspect either the units are derated by the local hosting utility, Dothan Utilities, or they have issues. But, with only a charge of 7 1/2cents per kwh, I was o.k. with it : )

EA stations are different. I don't run into them as often, and I know that they have several different 'speeds' available. Recently, in Kennesaw GA, at a 10 dual-unit station, I got 15 mintues of continuous 125-135kw speeds at the 350kw unit. It dropped later to 99kw even before 75% battery level, but I was o.k. with the initial speed, and even 99kw was almost twice as fast as Chargepoint units. This was also my first time using my Ford Pass rewards 'free' charging - 50kwh of charge. My balance is now 200.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I have had my Lightning less than a week, and all I have at home is 120V charging so far. I took a trip around south central Texas, including Houston, and found that every station I went to delivered far less energy than advertised. For instance:

EA station in Columbus, the two 350 KW stations delivered 36 and 43 KW. The 150KW station delivered 135 for a short while then stopped, like 4 times.

EA stations on 59 south of Houston (Stafford, Sugarland) were not working.

EVgo at Cracker Barrel on I-10, 50KW station delivered 25KW.

EVgo at Whole Foods on 59 50KW station delivered about 44KW.

Here in Corpus Christi the two Charge Point stations are 62KW but deliver 27KW.

Am I doing something wrong, or is this a common experience? I should have the house set up to charge soon, but road trips are definitely not in the near future around here.

What is the beginning SOC on the truck?

 

[RickLightning]

I have had my Lightning less than a week, and all I have at home is 120V charging so far. I took a trip around south central Texas, including Houston, and found that every station I went to delivered far less energy than advertised. For instance:

EA station in Columbus, the two 350 KW stations delivered 36 and 43 KW. The 150KW station delivered 135 for a short while then stopped, like 4 times.

EA stations on 59 south of Houston (Stafford, Sugarland) were not working.

EVgo at Cracker Barrel on I-10, 50KW station delivered 25KW.

EVgo at Whole Foods on 59 50KW station delivered about 44KW.

Here in Corpus Christi the two Charge Point stations are 62KW but deliver 27KW.

Am I doing something wrong, or is this a common experience? I should have the house set up to charge soon, but road trips are definitely not in the near future around here.

As @TaxmanHog noted, this is all pretty meaningless without knowing the SOC of the truck at each session. There is a charging curve, and your SOC matters. If I pull in with 60%, I will get a slower rate of charge than if I pull in with 20%.

For example, 43kW would be right on for EA over 80% on a Mach-E. 44% is the number I get.

On a 50kW station, 44 would be right on.

EA with issues is mid-30s.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

What is the beginning SOC on the truck?

All data points noted in OP started at less than 20% charge. Struggled to keep going last weekend. I knew that taking it on the road the day after I got it was risky but I just HAD to! I spent probably 15 hours of my 4-day weekend in the pursuit of a charge. At least I didn’t get stranded.

 

[jimfigler]

Watch the YouTube guy "State of Charge" he goes in-depth on the charging rate of both the SR and ER trucks. He notes that when using a 150kw station it is all about the charging curve dictated by the truck not the charger

 

[RickLightning]

@MM in SouthTX you need to start using PlugShare.

At the Columbus, Texas location, it seems to be a new location. If you read the comments, many people have had issues. https://www.plugshare.com/location/176748

Corpus Christi - https://www.plugshare.com/location/361639

 

[MM in SouthTX]

@MM in SouthTX you need to start using PlugShare.

At the Columbus, Texas location, it seems to be a new location. If you read the comments, many people have had issues. https://www.plugshare.com/location/176748

Corpus Christi - https://www.plugshare.com/location/361639

Yeah, some of those posts on PlugShare are mine. I was on PlugShare before I started the weekend. Still could not find chargers that function properly.

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