2017 e-Golf - Slow charging at some L3 Chargers

Can37 said:

I am having an issue with my 2017 where I only get 20kW charging at some stations - so far all the EVGo ones I have tried (NY, NJ and VT), a Royal Farms unit in MD and one Electric Circuit in St Jean QC. I get normal 40kW charges everywhere else I have tried. I have an open ticket with VW Canada and they seem to be hoping it is an issue with the chargers, but I see no evidence of this happening with 2016 or 2015 cars. The tech who looked at the car had 36 "Quick Charger Init Errors in the logs

If you have seen this issue, please reply here,

Thanks

Matthew

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2019 eGolf SE here. I’ve had the car for less than a month, and I’m on my way back from Vegas to LA. Stuck at the EVGO charger for more than 3 hours to get 100%... And yes, I did alternate DC and AC charging. Last charge was overnight L2 at the hotel in Vegas.
I planned on having 2 30-60 min hour stops each leg, but this EVGo DCFC station is failing me. I tried multiple chargers, same result.

That stinks - assuming you arrived with 20% SoC, it took 3 hours to replace ~ 26 kWh. That's an average rate of about 9 kW. You got 9 kW on a DC Fast charger? Did you call EVgo? Was it super hot outside (over 100 degrees F) ?

I have used a DCFC a handful of times since I got the car. Other than getting only 15 kW from a ~21 kW Chargepoint station in the super hot central valley (car was charging in direct sunlight and ambient temp was ~95 F), I have gotten 39 kW. I don't know if the 15 kW was caused by a station limitation or car limitation, as the specs on the 21 kW Chargepoint DCFC list a reduced charge rate at high temps.

Kzaoaai said:

2019 eGolf SE here. I’ve had the car for less than a month, and I’m on my way back from Vegas to LA. Stuck at the EVGO charger for more than 3 hours to get 100%... And yes, I did alternate DC and AC charging. Last charge was overnight L2 at the hotel in Vegas.
I planned on having 2 30-60 min hour stops each leg, but this EVGo DCFC station is failing me. I tried multiple chargers, same result.

Click to expand...

Don't charge to 100% on DCFC unless you absolutely need the energy to make it to the next charger. By 90% it's probably slower than AC charging. So, for the last little bit, it's faster to just move on, even if you need to plug into a L2 station to make it to the next DCFC.

Kzaoaai said:

Can37 said:

I am having an issue with my 2017 where I only get 20kW charging at some stations - so far all the EVGo ones I have tried (NY, NJ and VT), a Royal Farms unit in MD and one Electric Circuit in St Jean QC. I get normal 40kW charges everywhere else I have tried. I have an open ticket with VW Canada and they seem to be hoping it is an issue with the chargers, but I see no evidence of this happening with 2016 or 2015 cars. The tech who looked at the car had 36 "Quick Charger Init Errors in the logs

If you have seen this issue, please reply here,

Thanks

Matthew

Click to expand...

2019 eGolf SE here. I’ve had the car for less than a month, and I’m on my way back from Vegas to LA. Stuck at the EVGO charger for more than 3 hours to get 100%... And yes, I did alternate DC and AC charging. Last charge was overnight L2 at the hotel in Vegas.
I planned on having 2 30-60 min hour stops each leg, but this EVGo DCFC station is failing me. I tried multiple chargers, same result.

Click to expand...

I bet you blasted up from Stateline to Mountain Pass with a 4000 ft vertical gain doing same speed as everyone else, 70 plus, in 100 F + heat? Really good for the battery in your new e-Golf. Not!

You need a VW TDI Golf if driving from So CAL to Vegas in the summer. A passive cooled battery in that desert heat won't charge fast, at all. Live and learn about the limitations of electric VW's, it's a steep learning curve.

Everyone hates me for calling my e-Golf an urban city crawler. Thanks for verifying my opinion for me.

I'll take 5 minutes at a fuel pump to add 10 to 13 gallons of diesel fuel, and wash the windows, instead, every single time, if I need to go 250 or more miles each way, through the desert heat, instead of sitting around waiting for a battery to recharge. What's your time worth?

2019 eGolf SE here.
I get about 30kW charging at EvGo stations (119 Promenade Bld, Bridgewater NJ 08807) in NJ whereas there is no other car charging.
I was expecting 40kW....

Used an EVGo last night. 14.910kW added in a session lasting 28min, 36 seconds. = 31.2kW/h

The low charge rates people are posting is a bit strange. Here is what you should be getting:

https://support.fastned.nl/hc/en-gb/articles/205205168-Charging-with-a-Volkswagen-e-Golf-e-up-?utm_source=WebEN-Car&utm_campaign=Klant-support&utm_medium=Hyper1

Of course, higher battery pack temperatures may slow the charge rate, but outside of high temperatures, the 36 kWh e-Golf should be getting a sustained 39 kW up to about 70% SoC and then the rate will taper, but still not get down to 9 kW until very near 100% SoC. Moving to a L2 station will NOT provide faster charging even if the battery is hot because 7 kW is not guaranteed even on L2 if the BMS decides the battery can only accept 3 kW at high temps.

While my particular experience was due to a heated battery (I was averaging 8~9 kW on the DCFC, and 6.6~7.2 kW on the L2), I wasn't able to get more than 30 kW (SoC below 80%) the day before with a relatively cool battery on the EVGOs.

What do you mean by "relatively cool"? Without a temp gauge, it is hard to know the pack temp (unless you have OBDEleven or similar tech). I suspect even your "relatively cool" battery pack was hot. Nothing to be done - VW decided few people would be making drives to Las Vegas in the summer.

f1geek said:

What do you mean by "relatively cool"? Without a temp gauge, it is hard to know the pack temp (unless you have OBDEleven or similar tech). I suspect even your "relatively cool" battery pack was hot. Nothing to be done - VW decided few people would be making drives to Las Vegas in the summer.

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I was coming off of a 77 miles drive at <65 mph (4.4 mi/kWh) drive in 88F weather. It’s not exactly a coasting trip in the middle of March, but I would expect the car to not limit charging current after it.
I will test a different EVGo in LA this weekend in 75-80F weather and report back.

JoulesThief said:

I bet you blasted up from Stateline to Mountain Pass with a 4000 ft vertical gain doing same speed as everyone else, 70 plus, in 100 F + heat? Really good for the battery in your new e-Golf. Not!

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I actually stayed in the "slow vehicles/truck lane" keeping a max of 65 mph whenever going up and then let the car coast whenever possible. It was also a 1200 ft vertical drop overall from LV to Baker. It was really hot out though, with the AC consistently on at 78.

JoulesThief said:

You need a VW TDI Golf if driving from So CAL to Vegas in the summer. A passive cooled battery in that desert heat won't charge fast, at all. Live and learn about the limitations of electric VW's, it's a steep learning curve.

Everyone hates me for calling my e-Golf an urban city crawler. Thanks for verifying my opinion for me.

I'll take 5 minutes at a fuel pump to add 10 to 13 gallons of diesel fuel, and wash the windows, instead, every single time, if I need to go 250 or more miles each way, through the desert heat, instead of sitting around waiting for a battery to recharge. What's your time worth?

Click to expand...

I know that this type of trip is not the eGolf's forte. I definitely knew this when I opted not to take my GLC350e instead. But this is exactly what this trip was about for me, experimenting and getting to know the car better. Was it the longest Vegas trip I ever took? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably, but only if it's below 85F along the road.

This was not the worst part, I am creating a new post with more trip/charge details maybe everyone can learn something from my experience. I know I definitely did and got an adventure out of it. :roll:

Kzaoaai, I was recently given the direct link to ignore JoulesThief, and just in case you too would like to avoid being talked down to, I’m going to post it here too. http://www.myvwegolf.com/forum/ucp.php?i=zebra&mode=foes&add=JoulesThief