Big trip

[Dshirt]

Did Sheffield to Newcastle yesterday in BEV ( 130 miles) All very frustrating . Initially went up a1 but ecotricity at Wetherby services wouldn't work using higher wattage AC ( even though they said it would) . Then had to go to York to use charge master at Toyota Garage and got stared at by sales man. Then on to Stockton where bmw gave us top up. Total journey time about 6 hours! Really wish id got fast dc charge option now.

 

[i3cam]

Sorry to hear that... I would really like to know the full story with i3 and the ecotricity L2 EVSE, there have been reports of 'incompatibilities'. I'd love to understand the issue, and is it likely to be fixed soon? Has anyone had any success charging at ecotricity?

[of course the bmw i3 will only charge at 5-7kW due to being single phase and the KLE reduced charge rate]

 

[jackt]

I have never had any problem with the Medium charge points that ecotricity have.

But I have never used the rapid chargers, simply because A) I don't want to block somebody who actually has a rapid charge capable car. B) the charge port isn't designed to hold the weight of a cable that carries 43kW. I think much of the communication issues reported are down to B.

I would probably use the rapid if I had no other choice, but I have a rex...

 

[Dshirt]

Yes got ecotricity medium charger to work in past but ecotriciry not installing them now on main routes - just high charge one. When plugged into higher one just refused to start charging session - tried trick of holding the plug in whilst starting session having read other posts about this issue but just refused to work. Wondering if not an issue with weight of cable but more protocols in charging station or the car itself.

 

[jackt]

Sounds like a comms issue, all charging stations and plug-types use the same initialisation protocol (even tesla superchargers).

 

[Bunter]

I have never had any problem with the Medium charge points that ecotricity have.

But I have never used the rapid chargers, simply because A) I don't want to block somebody who actually has a rapid charge capable car. B) the charge port isn't designed to hold the weight of a cable that carries 43kW. I think much of the communication issues reported are down to B.

I would probably use the rapid if I had no other choice, but I have a rex...

+1, especially part A

Bill

 

[Dshirt]

5 hours coming back - charging at hospital news Darlington and asda in Leeds

 

[BoMW]

Did Sheffield to Newcastle yesterday in BEV ( 130 miles) All very frustrating . Initially went up a1 but ecotricity at Wetherby services wouldn't work using higher wattage AC ( even though they said it would) . Then had to go to York to use charge master at Toyota Garage and got stared at by sales man. Then on to Stockton where bmw gave us top up. Total journey time about 6 hours! Really wish id got fast dc charge option now.

How long we're you planning to stay at Wetherby if it did work?
Yesterday I used ecotricity AC station at Woodall services. First attempt failed even though I was holding the cable firm. Second attempt worked, held it even firmer and very gently released the weight of the cable. Not sure if I had fast or medium but in 20 mins I received 10 miles extra range.
Sometimes when I've opened or shut the doors this has cancelled the charging process.

Last week I had a card failure, ecotricity card not recognised by the station and neither did 2 other "source" cards. After ringing the helpline (surprisingly open on early Sunday) I was informed that the charging station had lost its connection to the control centre and a red cross should be seen over the antenna logo, which it was.
Anyway 10 minutes later a Nissan leaf arrived. After explaining to the driver what ecotricity told me he would still have a go and of course, it worked without any issues.

 

[i3MK]

The fact these rapid chargers (manufactured by DBT/CEV) work fine with Nissan but not reliably with the German brands, provides a hint to the problem. These points are also heavily branded (maybe even part funded by Nissan according to reports) suggests a dirty game being played for market share.

 

[Bunter]

The fact these rapid chargers (manufactured by DBT/CEV) work fine with Nissan but not reliably with the German brands, provides a hint to the problem. These points are also heavily branded (maybe even part funded by Nissan according to reports) suggests a dirty game being played for market share.

Seriously?

i3s try using a level 3, 3 phase rapid AC charger with which it is not compatible and fails, the other side of which is a Chademo DC charger which subsequently works with a Nissan and this is evidence of dirty tricks???

Bill

 

[jadnashuanh]

I've not had a chance to use a DC fast charger (none near me, yet). But, I wonder if part of the issue is the design of the actual plug on the cord and how it attaches to the vehicle. North America uses a different design plug and, so far, I've never had an issue making a reliable connection. The locking hook at the top of the connector seems to act as a pivot point, ensuring that the connector weight and cord are not an issue getting proper contact http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772 verses the plug in this link http://www.plugincars.com/european-commission-wants-act-help-evs-126265.html

The DC pins on the larger plug fit on the bottom of the plug and looks like this in the J1772 incarnation. http://rema-ev.com/dc-fast-charge/

The US took awhile to make the decision to go with this design...so far, it seems to be working.

 

[BoMW]

We have two points raised in this topic now, a) the unreliable connection on predominantly AC cables and occasionally DC connectors and b) supposedly dirty tricks favouring Nissan cars.
Maybe b) needs to have its own debate. I for one found it strange that after being told that the station was out of order, the Nissan was able to charge up.

 

[jadnashuanh]

I have not looked into the exact protocol of the EV charging as implemented in Europe verses the USA other than that we in the USA use a different plug. But, it's my understanding that the i3 uses the latest full specification. It may be that the Leaf does not, and can charge without all of the control signals that the i3 uses. This could prevent the i3 from charging, where a Leaf might not care.

 

[jackt]

The protocols are identical for US and EU, the plugs are different.

There are no dirty tricks going on here, the Leaf cannot even use the AC side of the Ecotricity Rapid Chargers, they can only use the DC Chademo side.

Simply the i3 was never designed for 3 phase AC, so it doesn't work reliably. The medium chargers i.e. 7kw work fine.

It is true that some leafs use a slightly older signalling protocol, but the standard enforces backwards and forward compatibility, so you can plug a "new" car into a old station and it will still work - obviously if the new protocol introduces some fancy feature you might not get that but the principle is you can still charge.

 

[noakey]

The protocols are identical for US and EU, the plugs are different.

There are no dirty tricks going on here, the Leaf cannot even use the AC side of the Ecotricity Rapid Chargers, they can only use the DC Chademo side.

Simply the i3 was never designed for 3 phase AC, so it doesn't work reliably. The medium chargers i.e. 7kw work fine.

It is true that some leafs use a slightly older signalling protocol, but the standard enforces backwards and forward compatibility, so you can plug a "new" car into a old station and it will still work - obviously if the new protocol introduces some fancy feature you might not get that but the principle is you can still charge.

Suffice to say that the 7KW capability has been reduced in software to 5.2KW in the i3.

 

[BoMW]

I have not looked into the exact protocol of the EV charging as implemented in Europe verses the USA other than that we in the USA use a different plug. But, it's my understanding that the i3 uses the latest full specification. It may be that the Leaf does not, and can charge without all of the control signals that the i3 uses. This could prevent the i3 from charging, where a Leaf might not care.

But this was not the issue at the charging station. The station owner, ecotricity explained that the station was out of order, not connected to the the main control centre as clearly shown by the red cross on the screen and 3 of my mebership cards were showing "not valid". the leaf however parked up, swiped his card and started to charge!

 

[jadnashuanh]

Suffice to say that the 7KW capability has been reduced in software to 5.2KW in the i3.

Only if you are outside of the temperature limits, then it reduces things to protect itself. As things cool off this fall, most people may never notice any changes until the 'fix' is available.

 

[noakey]

Suffice to say that the 7KW capability has been reduced in software to 5.2KW in the i3.

Only if you are outside of the temperature limits, then it reduces things to protect itself. As things cool off this fall, most people may never notice any changes until the 'fix' is available.

Not sure as I watch the house consumption during the off peak charge and it never draws more than 5.4kW. . Then settles at 5.2KW to about 80%.. then slows down on a nice dope until full... maybe when the weather cools it will start faster.

According to UK customer service there is no fix... just a temperature driven charge rate ...

 

[Dshirt]

The strange thing is that ecotricity and bmw say should work even though 3 phase. I've emailed them again .

 

[Chrisn]

Only if you are outside of the temperature limits, then it reduces things to protect itself. As things cool off this fall, most people may never notice any changes until the 'fix' is available.

Not true. Never ever goes over ~5.7kW for me.