You were almost certainly pulling 500A, in both cases (162kW vs 167kW was probably due to two slightly different battery pack voltages during the max charging power part of the charge curve). Only with 500A are you going to see 160kW+ charge rates; it’s all about the current!
There’s a bit of a learning curve, especially for people who avoided high school physics and never learned basics like watts=volts x amps, or that kW is a measure of power, while kWh are the units of stored/consumed electricity (kW and kWh are not interchangeable).Hey I had no idea there was a difference until I read these forums. If I weren't a forum-reading kind of person I would just pull up and charge at an open bay without a second thought. EVs unfortunately don't come with a DCFC instruction manual, and the only etiquette hint is the idle fee.
I've had my truck less than a month but already learned the hard way about broken EA stations and Bolts camping at a charger.
I've been driving EVs for 2.5 years. I'd say about 25% of the drivers charging at a 350 with a BOLT to 100% do in fact mean to be discourteous. The other 75%, when explained they can't charge more than around 45kW, appreciate the knowledge. Like the guy with his girlfriend renting one and she said "ooh, we should move to the Hyper-Fast!". I explained that they shouldn't, and why, and they were very appreciative. But the Uber/Lyft drivers charging to 100%, no matter what vehicle they are in, don't give a rat's ass.
The same thing happened to us last night in our 2023 ER lariat, 194kw for several minutes. Freaked me the hell out and I stopped the charging station and switched chargers, which then started at 180kw and tapered to 125 or so. I called EA support and they were typically no help, “oh that sounds perfectly normal to me, the truck won’t take more power than it can handle”I hit 195kw yesterday at the EA station in Indiana....right before the truck was like "nope" and shut it down.
Longest sustainable rate I have ever had was 182-185kw at the new EA stations at Meijer's in Kankakee IL and Sams Club in Rockford IL.
Typically, I am low 170s like other on here. I have a 2022 ER.
Yeah, right, I would not believe EA on that one! My truck also freaked out like you did and cut it off ASAP! I would say it was a minute or less for my truck.
I would have expected that Uber/Lyft drivers, of all people, would know what their $time is worth, unplug when they see charging slow down to a glacial pace, and go grab another fare….instead of sitting there in top-charge Purgatory.
I don’t see how- 210kW would require like 600+amps, and there isn’t a known DCFC, including the new Mercedes units, that outputs over 500amps (charger cables can’t handle more than that, typically). Since the new Mercedes 400kW chargers are apparently limited to 500A, so it will be just like charging at an EA 350kW (500A output). Our trucks throttle down the current as the pack charges up, but maximum charge rates on Lightnings depend on only one thing: the current output from the charger. 400kW would be possible only with 800V battery architecture, if current is limited to 500A (would never happen on a mid-300V Lightning). Power ratings on chargers are pretty much irrelevant for charging Lightnings; it’s all about the current (amps), with 500A being the highest presently available (EA 350s, Mercedes 400s, and Superchargers- though it remains to be seen whether non-Teslas will be allowed to receive that much current).
They recline their seats and sleep, or watch videos.
I should have purchased Uber stock last year when I noticed a huge influx of ride sharing BEVs
. Stock up 116% past year. Uber needs their own charging hubs at this point.
