How to get faster charging?

[Ragman]

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?

Short answer - go to Tesla

Long answer - I was told by the Manager of one of charging networks that EA and the F150 don’t play nice and in her reports she can see the chargers consistently only give Lightnings 50% power. I used a 150/180 kw EA last night and got 70kw. I plug into Tesla I get 160 kw (loaned out my adapter and screwed myself lol).

Your battery temp is also important, if it’s not at charging temp the truck itself will limit you to 40 kw.

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[Grease Lightning]

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

Totally agree. Outside of some SOC issues currently I love my lightning.

If I was always needing to charge on the road, it might matter more but so far I have always been able to just plan either shorter stops for people to use the facilities and do multiple or have one longer one planned around a meal.

 

[RickLightning]

Short answer - go to Tesla

Long answer - I was told by the Manager of one of charging networks that EA and the F150 don’t play nice and in her reports she can see the chargers consistently only give Lightnings 50% power. I used a 150/180 kw EA last night and got 70kw. I plug into Tesla I get 160 kw (loaned out my adapter and screwed myself lol).

Your battery temp is also important, if it’s not at charging temp the truck itself will limit you to 40 kw.

Have no idea who you spoke to, but that's simply a bullshit statement. If you want to know, simply get an OBD adapter and Car Scanner. You can see what the vehicle requests, and what the charger offers. You can then prove that she's full of crap.

I never heard of a 150/180 EA. They have 150 and 350s. I always try for the 350s with my truck, and take the 150s with the Mach-E if they're open.

Drove our Lightning to California and back in Spring. I saw EA speeds exceeding 170kW all the time.

 

[shelnian]

Not sure why they rate DCFC chargers in KW when they are actually max current chargers. I.E. the cables and hardware are rated for a maximum current. A 350KW charger will charger an 800VDC battery at 435A max (350000/800). So at 435A maximum it will only charge our 400VDC batteries at 175KW max (435x400).

 

[Mach Turtle]

Not sure why they rate DCFC chargers in KW when they are actually max current chargers. I.E. the cables and hardware are rated for a maximum current. A 350KW charger will charge an 800VDC battery at 435A max (350000/800). So at 435A maximum it will only charge our 400VDC batteries at 175KW max (435x400).

Good points, to which I'd add that as the battery voltage changes, a constant current charger will be pumping more power at higher voltage; however, lithium battery management systems (NMC at least) ask for less power at higher states of charge to preserve battery life.

As for why they rate chargers in kW, I think it's because even that level of complexity (kW vs. kWh) is about as much as most people are willing to learn. It's a bit like some CF and LED light bulb makers stating their energy use in units of "kWh per hour." They might have done something similar with charging ("this one does 150kWh per hour!") but then customers would be understandably flummoxed by the constantly changing charging rates.

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