Max charging amps

[user 1485]

Any reason I would ever mess with this setting? I use 120V at home, 240V at work (most of the my charging is at work).

 

[f1geek]

If you don't use a dedicated circuit, you could trip the breaker when someone turns on the coffee maker, etc. on the same circuit. Also, if you want to generate less heat in the battery pack and can afford the extra charge time, drop the amps. I charge my car at 13A, 240 most of the time to get a low C rate.

 

[user 1485]

Ah okay, good to know. I feel dumb for having it on max before, but at only 700 miles hopefully it didn't do any damage or anything. I watched the tutorial on the e-Manager settings, so now I set all charging and e-Manager profiles to max amps of 3, and max capacity of 90%.

Question on the max capacity, it looks like the only way to set that is to have an e-Manager profile actively running? I'm hoping to take good care of this battery, although part of me wonders if hitting that 70% threshold right before warranty expiration time might be the way to go...

Thanks for the help!

 

[f1geek]

I doubt you did any damage. Also, I am trying to make the pack last for 10-15 years with as little deg as possible, so I'm being ultra conservative in my charging habits. I am also keeping the pack in the 20-80% SOC routinely. With only about 3000 miles, I have yet to take a trip that requires a 100% charge.

Yes, I believe the car needs to be set to a programmed profile to charge to less than 100% SOC.

I think if you keep the battery from getting too hot (above 35C) and don't routinely charge to 100%, then I think the car will have more than 70% at the warranty expiration. But, we'll see.....

 

[Verkehr]

Charging at the full 7.2 kW is only 0.2C on a 2017; I would not worry about damaging the battery at that rate. DC fast charging is well in excess of 1C and will certainly heat the pack.

Since the 8 year warranty only promises to repair the battery to 70% capacity (i.e. if it's at 65% they replace just enough cells to make it hit 70%), I wouldn't worry about wearing it too little, either.

 

[RonDawg]

If you don't use a dedicated circuit, you could trip the breaker when someone turns on the coffee maker, etc. on the same circuit.

I believe this feature is due to the car's European roots. Europe (like most of the world) is already on 240 volts (technically 230 in the case of western Europe) so electric car owners are already charging at "L2." But unlike with 240 volt circuits in the US, they are shared circuits just like our 120 volts here, so the amperage limit is to prevent breakers/fuses from tripping/popping.

FYI I noticed an unexpected downside when charging at a lower amperage. It seems to affect DCFC as well; when I had it at 10 amps, DCFC took MUCH longer than normal. I have since gone back to "MAX" and DCFC takes the typical 30 minutes or less.

 

[YeGolf]

If you don't use a dedicated circuit, you could trip the breaker when someone turns on the coffee maker, etc. on the same circuit. Also, if you want to generate less heat in the battery pack and can afford the extra charge time, drop the amps. I charge my car at 13A, 240 most of the time to get a low C rate.

So the best for battery will be L1?
I'm charging at work on L1 during all day about 8-10 hours. And it's still not enough for my daily commute in 60 miles. And I also trying to keep in 30-80%SOC. Ones a week I need to charge on L2 to have some extra charge. I'm planing to buy L2 in order to fully charge at work. Is L1 better than L2 for battery life ?

 

[f1geek]

Yes, L1 charging is probably best for the battery as the heat generation will be the lowest, but it's also the most inconvenient. You should charge at L2 if you can't get enough range on L1.

That being said, if you live somewhere where the ambient temperature doesn't get too high, then the additional heat generation (and temperature rise) caused by charging at an increased power may not matter. Of course, if the e-Golf had active thermal management, this discussion would be moot.

I usually charge at L2 but only at 13 amps (3.1 kW). My garage can get hot during the day in the summer (around 80-90F), so that's part of the reason why I prefer to limit the power input. One of these days when I finish insulating my garage ceiling, the temps will be much lower.

 

[JoulesThief]

I run the full 7.2 kWh my e-Motorwerks Juicebox 40 pro is capable of on my 2015 SEL. A charge might take me from 2 hours to just over 3 hours, if it's really really low in charge. I try to recharge in the morning, when the garage is the coolest. I tend to think that VW knows what they are doing and a 7.2 kWh charger on board is just fine, and not damaging to the battery in any way. Moreso with the larger capacity 35.6 kWh battery in the newer 2017 e-Golfs.