Charging Profile at Tesla Supercharger with NACS adapter

[rio]

I finally had the chance to try out my NACS adapter (provided by Ford) during a road trip. I had 5 charging sessions (at 4 different superchargers) and they all had very similar profiles: It initially ramped up to near 160kW, held that for about 18-20 kWh delivered, then progressively ramped down until, after 50kWh delivered or so, the charge rate was down to around 90kW.

This is on a SR battery, outside temps were ideal, around 70 degrees.

In 4 out of the 5 cases, my battery temp was above the center mark post charging. Maybe up to like 65%. Still in the green zone.

Last summer I had a Powertrain Malfunction issue, where my battery temp would get pretty high during DCFC, which would cause the charge rate to get throttled way down and the truck would throw a Service light. My dealer did some repairs and everything seemed to be working fine since. I've had DCFC sessions at EA where peak rate of 150+kW was held for most of the charge session.

Can others here (who have been using their NACS adapter) comment on your full charge profiles at Tesla SC? I'm trying to figure out if this is still an issue with my truck's battery thermal management system, or whether my experiences at Tesla are about normal. I've been meaning to go try this on an EA station but haven't gotten around to it yet.

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[AZT9]

I’ve done no less the 50 sessions using an A2Z adaptor as my FORD™️ adaptor seems to keep being delayed. Anyway. I pull a pretty consistent 168kw for a large portion of the pack. It doesn’t really taper until about 70%. The! To 50kw @ 80%soc. Had a Tesla service rep approach one day asking how my charging experience was as he had not seen a Ford on the supercharger network yet. He monitored my trucks charge and said it was doing great. Didn’t tell him I wasn’t using the “official” adaptor. So far all is good

 

[Jimbalf]

I used my Ford NACS adaptor about a dozen times on my last 3500 mile road trip. At about 5 different Tesla sites I started off at about 165KW but quickly dropped to 100KW after a few minutes. The first time that happened I switchEd chargers and was able to get 120KW up to 80 %. Other times I just waited it out. Temps were not hot, so I’m not sure why some chargers dropped to 100 And others stayed above 125 or so.

 

[Ffxdude]

All my experiences have been normal. Peak above 160, hold for a while and trail off. Each one has been above 100 until hitting 80% then it throttles down as expected.

I presume your coolant level is in the normal range?

 

[TheBigBezo]

I believe, from what I remember, our trucks will surge charging to 165+kW for 5ish minutes before it drops down to 120kW and tapers to 100kW gradually until 80%. I actually consider this if I want to sprint to a destination, I only charge when I can take advantage of the charging surge. It takes a lot more stops but theoretically shorten the overall trip.

 

[Newton]

This is from charging at the Magic Dock in Forks, WA on a 2023 ER Lariat. There are some odd spikes, car scanner pro seems to do wonky things when you start arranging the screens while it is recording.

 

[Newton]

As a side note, wouldn't it be nice if we could see information like that on the truck's screen without having to attach aftermarket parts and use aftermarket software?

 

[TomB985]

All of the above posts make sense from what I’ve seen. The Lightning has a unique “boost” during the first ten minutes where it can pull 450A, then it throttles down to 350-375A until 80% as long as the battery isn’t too hot.. That means 160-170 kW for the first ten minutes, then as high as 140 for the remainder until 80%. Mine seems to throttle down when battery temps exceed 92º F, so I only saw ~100 kW after that boost period for most of my charges during my latest trip.

Superchargers seem to provide the same charging curve that I see with properly functioning EA 350 kW units. The big difference is consistency…I’m much more likely to pull up to a working Supercharger than an EA unit that’s operating at rated performance. My truck has the ER pack, so my numbers may be different than the OP’s.

 

[rio]

Thanks for the responses! Sounds like my experiences are not unlike others'. I was really expecting that the charge rate would hold near 150kW for a larger SoC range. I've had EA sessions where that has been the case. Does the supercharger have access to the truck's battery temp? I wonder if it can decide to preemptively throttle charge based on battery temp (as opposed to simply supplying what the vehicle requests).

Can't complain about the reliability of SC, that's for sure! It's also nice to pull up to 12 available stalls. Don't even have to feel guilty about taking up 2 of them.

 

[TomB985]

Thanks for the responses! Sounds like my experiences are not unlike others'. I was really expecting that the charge rate would hold near 150kW for a larger SoC range. I've had EA sessions where that has been the case. Does the supercharger have access to the truck's battery temp? I wonder if it can decide to preemptively throttle charge based on battery temp (as opposed to simply supplying what the vehicle requests).

The truck determines charging curve within the charger’s available range. To put it another way, the truck determines the best way to charge the battery, and the charger does what it’s told. If you got a better rate with an EA station, your battery may have been cooler which permitted a higher power rating.

I keep an eye on current requested and delivered through my OBD scanner, and I’ve never seen the charger deliver lower than what the truck asks for.

 

[detansinn]

It should be noted that until the Superchargers become available in the navigation, the truck isn’t doing any preconditioning before arrival at the charger.

If you’re coming off of the highway after traveling a couple hundred miles, this isn’t a big deal, because you’re all warmed up anyway. However, if it’s very cold and/or you’re not coming off running at speed, you might not see the same charging curve performance that would experience from an EA station that you entered into your navigation.

When we get our OTA that includes Supercharger stations in the navigation and Ford’s charge planning, everything will work the same.

 

[RickLightning]

The truck determines charging curve within the charger’s available range. To put it another way, the truck determines the best way to charge the battery, and the charger does what it’s told. If you got a better rate with an EA station, your battery may have been cooler which permitted a higher power rating.

I keep an eye on current requested and delivered through my OBD scanner, and I’ve never seen the charger deliver lower than what the truck asks for.

Really? Happens at EA a lot. Tesla is closer to requested.

Tesla charge:

Here is EA:

 

[Bills R Electric]

Love my Lightning....but wish it had a faster charging speed since I do have to use DCFCs from time to time.

Maybe the 2026 version of the Lightning will have a faster charger speed?
Can you imagine if you could get 250 KwH for a large part of the charging curve?

 

[spadesaspade]

I finally had the chance to try out my NACS adapter (provided by Ford) during a road trip. I had 5 charging sessions (at 4 different superchargers) and they all had very similar profiles: It initially ramped up to near 160kW, held that for about 18-20 kWh delivered, then progressively ramped down until, after 50kWh delivered or so, the charge rate was down to around 90kW.

This is on a SR battery, outside temps were ideal, around 70 degrees.

In 4 out of the 5 cases, my battery temp was above the center mark post charging. Maybe up to like 65%. Still in the green zone.

Last summer I had a Powertrain Malfunction issue, where my battery temp would get pretty high during DCFC, which would cause the charge rate to get throttled way down and the truck would throw a Service light. My dealer did some repairs and everything seemed to be working fine since. I've had DCFC sessions at EA where peak rate of 150+kW was held for most of the charge session.

Can others here (who have been using their NACS adapter) comment on your full charge profiles at Tesla SC? I'm trying to figure out if this is still an issue with my truck's battery thermal management system, or whether my experiences at Tesla are about normal. I've been meaning to go try this on an EA station but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Charged 4 times this past weekend. Charging speeds were between 140-150kW until 50%, 95-103kW between 50-80%, then drops to 44kW and I usually leave at this point. Used the Tesla app to initiate charge and am using the Ford adapter. External temps between 60F-75F. Same as you, SR battery. Each session lasted between 20-35 minutes. The longest one being 70kW in 34 minutes.

Chargers are great. The Tesla owners, not so much. A couple of times people just left rude comments saying I was using 2 spots (not that I had an option). I showed them why and they said I shouldn't be using a Tesla charger if that is the case. There were empty charging spots, like 5 of them out of 12. A Mach-E owner mentioned the same experience at another charger. We need longer charging cables at these chargers before things get out of hand with more EVs getting access.

 

[TaxmanHog]

The Tesla owners, not so much. A couple of times people just left rude comments saying I was using 2 spots (not that I had an option). I showed them why and they said I shouldn't be using a Tesla charger if that is the case.

The best we can do is be diplomatic, reminding them that Musk and Tesla have agreed to open access to the network, we'll do our best to optimize inefficiencies by using parking slots to the right of the array.

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