How to get faster charging?

[rembrant]

How can I increase the amount of kWh charging on the 350 kWh electrify America fast charger? When I used them on my trip it only charged at 12-34 kWh. Why would it not charge any higher? It seems that if the charging station is capable of 350 kWh then it should charge at that rate. I don’t want to wait for 45 minutes to charge when they advertise the charging stations charge for 15 minutes for 80 % charge.
Does anyone know how to increase the charging rate?

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[LazyLightningATX]

truck is only capable of 150ish. you might see 170 or so briefly early in a session when at low state of charge. would be nice if they could do higher, but here we are.

 

[flyin525]

How can I increase the amount of kWh charging on the 350 kWh electrify America fast charger? When I used them on my trip it only charged at 12-34 kWh. Why would it not charge any higher? It seems that if the charging station is capable of 350 kWh then it should charge at that rate. I don’t want to wait for 45 minutes to charge when they advertise the charging stations charge for 15 minutes for 80 % charge.
Does anyone know how to increase the charging rate?

As stated above, the best you will see is 170ish for about 10 minutes, BUT you should get over 100 unless you are at a high state of charge (over 80%). if you are getting 12-34 at a low state of charge, it has to be SUPER cold or hot, otherwise something isnt right.

But also never assume Electrify America's equipment is functioning properly. Many times it isnt, hence why every owner wants to charge at Tesla.

 

[potato]

How can I increase the amount of kWh charging on the 350 kWh electrify America fast charger? When I used them on my trip it only charged at 12-34 kWh. Why would it not charge any higher? It seems that if the charging station is capable of 350 kWh then it should charge at that rate. I don’t want to wait for 45 minutes to charge when they advertise the charging stations charge for 15 minutes for 80 % charge.
Does anyone know how to increase the charging rate?

kWh is a quantity. kW is a rate. They are not interchangeable.

EA chargers have active cooling on the cables. If that fails so the cables have no cooling, they drop down to 35ish kW maximum as a fail safe. Sounds like that's what happened to you. Maybe a different charger at the same location would have run at full speed.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Why would it not charge any higher?

WHY?

Because the Ford system isn't designed to draw the maximum capacity of the DCFC, other vehicles might have that ability, but not Ford's.

Looking forward to Gen2 Lightnings abilities!

 

[21st Century Truck]

The actual "charger" i.e. the charging speed regulator is inside every EV. The "charging point" whether it's a DC Fast station like Electrify America, or our Ford portable EVSE cords with its built-in brick, or a house hard-mounted EVSE, are all actually more akin to "spigots".

The "spigot" can only pass a given electricity amount in response to electricity requests from the vehicle's charger, up to the spigot's maximum design capacity. And of course, the in-vehicle charger is factory-preset to request electricity only IAW the technical parameters of the vehicle it's mounted in.

Hope this info is helpful.

 

[Grease Lightning]

kWh is a quantity. kW is a rate. They are not interchangeable.

As my “Alpha” son likes to say, if you understood me enough to correct me, you know what I meant.

Educating someone is always a good thing, when you know them, they want it, and it is import.

For the charger discussion, you are absolutely correct, but to a point kWh is also correct because EA does not deliver 350 kW instantaneously, rather magically over a duration of time (basically an hour for us) my capacity of my Lightning would increase to 131 kW. Given the time factor, it is very easy for people to cross the two.

I remember the early days on this forum where everyone wanted to correct people on the “charger” to “EVSE” front, so thankfully that died out.

 

[Grumpy2]

Isn't the key to faster charging, higher voltage of the vehicle? Higher voltage, less amps for same watts.

 

[Mashedtators]

A lightning with an 800v system would be awesome

 

[hturnerfamily]

the new GM Denali EV TRUCK will be able to pull up to the 350kw at EA stations, since it has the higher voltage battery architecture, but will still only see 150-200 at Tesla Superchargers, since their infrastructure is not like EA, for the faster voltages...

My sons Chevy BOLTS only can draw up to 50kw, even at EA 350kw stations, so, it doesn't really matter 'where' they charge, since that's all they'll ever see, regardless

for our LIGHTNINGS, in their current battery voltage design, the EA 150kw units are just fine, and at the maximums our trucks will be able to pull.... the 350kw units are just fluff for us...
I've seen up to 170kw...

now, my wife's new KIA EV9 can draw MUCH faster at the EA stations - we've seen up to 250-280kw... higher voltage battery pack.

 

[hturnerfamily]

'advertising' 350kw from ElectrifyAmerica confuses many because they 'CAN' provide that speed, at times, for the VERY FEW electric vehicles that can manage that - but, not for the rest of us...

Advertising is that way. Sad as it seems.

 

[MaintGrl]

WHY?

Because the Ford system isn't designed to draw the maximum capacity of the DCFC, other vehicles might have that ability, but not Ford's.

Looking forward to Gen2 Lightnings abilities!

Gen 2 Lightnings may have it, but I'll be stuck with what I got . . I'm not willing to lose a boatload of $$$ to get the new and improved . . To this point having my XLT for nearly a year, I have not had to use a DCFC charger yet

 

[TaxmanHog]

Gen 2 Lightnings may have it, but I'll be stuck with what I got . . I'm not willing to lose a boatload of $$$ to get the new and improved . . To this point having my XLT for nearly a year, I have not had to use a DCFC charger yet

I'm hoping to go 10+ years on my 22, maybe Gen 3 Lightning will be out by then !

 

[hturnerfamily]

watching KYLE on his newest GM Denali EV TRUCK(similar to the Lightning PLATINUM version, at $$99,0000000000000)... it has the 800v battery charging architecture, and can charge 'faster', yes...

but, remember, too...

while the truck can charge 'faster', it also has a 200kwh battery pack, meaning that charging to the same 'percentage' will take MUCH LONGER for this truck... especially if NO ElectrifyAmerican or EVgo, etc station with a 350kw is available, and IF all other temperatures and battery conditioning are in place, as well... Kyle only saw in the 200kw range when he charged his borrowed GM truck... even at the EA 350kw unit.

Yes, these newer trucks, like the GM Denali, and even the Hummer, will be able to charge faster, they then HAVE to be parked at a 350kw unit, which is NOT Tesla Superchargers, and is NOT most of the charging speeds at most any other option, such as Chargepoint, etc. I know of VERY FEW 800v charging stations.

 

[potato]

I remember the early days on this forum where everyone wanted to correct people on the “charger” to “EVSE” front, so thankfully that died out.

LOL someone posted that while you were typing your reply

Anyway, bottom line, 1) the Lightning will never get anywhere near the 350 kW advertised by EA because it's limited by charging current and low battery voltage, and 2) there was something wrong with the station for the OP I think.

Lightning charging isn't great but it's "good enough" in my opinion. Everything is a compromise.

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