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Sunday, November 27th, 2022 11:55 PM

Charging Ports and Charging Speeds

I own a Tesla Model 3, other than at home i have only used the Tesla charging stations. I am wondering if all other EV's have the same charging port, and if not how is this managed at the charging stations? What is the maximum charge rate at non-Tesla charging stations

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52 Messages

2 years ago

Short version: Your Model 3 uses the bog-standard plug, and you don't have to worry about this.

Long version: There are numerous plug standards in Australia, for AC and DC charging.

AC Plugs

* Mennekes (Type 2): This is on your Model 3. It's the bog-standard European plug - for countries whose AC power grid uses three-phase (1-3 hot pins).

* J1772 (Type 1): This is the US/Canada/Japan standard - for countries whose AC power grid uses split-phase (1-2 hot pins)

DC Plugs

* CCS Type 2: This is on your Model 3. It's the bog-standard European plug up top, with all but 3 pins removed, and 2 big DC pins underneath to help shift huge amounts of power. Almost every DC Rapid Charger in Australia uses this (exceptions being a few in SW WA, and one permanently faulty charger in Fairy Meadow (Wollongong).

* CCS Type 1: This is on some old BMW i3's from a decade ago. It's the US/Canada standard AC plug up top, with all but 3 pins removed, and 2 big DC pins underneath. There are only a tiny handful of chargers in Australia that ever had this plug. Most are now faulty or gone.

* CHAdeMO: This one is on Nissans and Mitsubishis, who utterly refuse to step away from the Japanese standard despite it being ancient history everywhere outside of Japan. Probably because the name is a pun in Japanese (would you like some tea?) even though it's actually an abbreviation in French (Charge de Move). Almost every DC Rapid Charger in Australia uses this, not counting Tesla of course. Funnily enough, Tesla actually uses CHAdeMO with a weird adapter for some older cars - but that's irrelevant for your Model 3

* Tesla Modified Mennekes: This one is used on the older Tesla Model S and Model X cars sold in Australia. It's the European plug with a hack that lets 2 of its hot pins carry DC power if the charger (read: a Tesla v2 Supercharger with dual cables) supplies it, whereas those same pins will carry AC power on any other charger. Just pretend this doesn't exist.

* Tesla NACS (North American Charging Standard): This doesn't exist in Australia - at all - so I shouldn't mention it, except to say that it's irrelevant here. Tesla here just rolls with the European standard, as they should, but you'll see lots of references online to Tesla having a proprietary plug, that you should simply ignore.

Bronze user

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52 Messages

2 years ago

As for charging speed, here's how it goes

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AC Charging

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The AC charger is called an 'EVSE' (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment). It's little more than a power point, but with some basic smarts around knowing its supply limit and whether it's in a ventilated area. Oh, and it has fancy LEDs. It has to have fancy LEDs. Anyway, the EVSE announces to the car whether it's got power, how much power is available, and whether it's in a ventilated area. The car listens, and says "OK, I'd like power". The car then looks at the available AC power, and if it likes what it sees, it runs that power into your car's onboard inverter, which turns it into DC power, which it feeds into the car's battery.

Best you're going to get with a Model 3 is 16 amps 3-phase (11kW) or 32 amps single-phase (7kW), as that's the limit of the car's onboard inverter. Despite that, always buy the 22kW cable, as you want the cable to support 32 amps OR 3-phase at various chargers, even though the car can't do both at the same time.

In Australia the grid is supposed to supply 230 volts (it used to be 240 volts, and in many suburbs your transformers are still set up to try and deliver 240 volts). Your bog-standard home setup will be 32 amps. 230 x 32 = 7.36kW. Though at home I currently charge on 12 amps, which is 2.76kW. YMMV.

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DC Charging

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The DC charger takes AC power from the grid and converts it into DC power. It can vary volts and amps as needed. The charger announces its capabilities to the car. The car announces what it'd like. The charger says OK, goes click, and then the two talk constantly about what's being delivered, what the charger can continue supplying, and what the car would like from the charger next. Generally speaking the car will ramp up for a moment, then it'll ask the charger for low volts at very high amps (to get max power right now!), and it'll progressively ask the charger to wean down the amps while ramping up the volts (to slowly squeeze in those last few electrons).

Model 3 charging voltages vary wildly but it's somewhere between 300 and 400 volts. Assume 350.

Charger amperage limits vary but if you look at the plate on the side you'll see what it is. Your fancy Tritium PK350 chargers at a Chargefox or Evie site can supply 500 amps (= 175kW). Those overhyped AmpCharge chargers are only 200 amps (=70kW). So even though those are advertised as 350kW and 150kW respectively, your car will never attain that, courtesy of its 400 volt architecture. But that's OK. They deliver what the plate on the side says they can, up to whatever limit your car specifies - in real time - and that's all you can ever ask of them.

(edited)

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