How often do you DC Fast Charge?

Discussion in 'Hyundai Kona Electric' started by Jamas, Sep 1, 2019.

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  1. I’ve heard that fast charging too often is not good for the battery. How often would you say is it safe to fast charge?
     
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  3. FloridaSun

    FloridaSun Well-Known Member

    I fast charge once or twice per month..
     
  4. I’m in the process of doing my first fast charge at a free ChargePoint station. However, only getting 11kW. I was expecting it to be faster. I guess this is what you get for free.
     
  5. If you always fast charge it's definitely not the best for the battery, however, that's what the BMS (battery management system) is there for. The most important thing is to not let it sit with a full battery or empty battery for extended periods of time.

    If you drive a lot x-country, you'll definitely use fast charging more. I wouldn't use it if you don't have to.

    For example, don't fast charge if you can achieve the same range with your level 2 charger at home.

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  6. Depends of the capability of the charger and the state of your car.

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  8. FloridaSun

    FloridaSun Well-Known Member

    We have only 2 free DC Fast chargers within 60 mile radius.. one at the city of Largo, Pinellas Country FL which is a 50 Kwh Greenlots unit and one at Harley Davidson of Brandon, FL at 24kwh speed.
     
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  10. SkookumPete

    SkookumPete Well-Known Member

    "Note that prolonged and continuous use of DC fast charging may reduce the long term life of the EV battery. Usage of a DC fast charger should be minimized when possible in order to help prolong the life of the EV battery." That's all the manual has to say.

    "Should be minimized when possible" could mean never do it unless you have to, but at least one study found only a small increase in degradation in Leaf batteries that were regularly fast-charged. With the Kona's superior battery management, I just don't see it as a big issue.
     
  11. Running LEAFSPY I was able to read cell temperatures of 120 degrees on a regular basis doing 1 or more fast charges (50kW) on both my Leafs Degradation was about 5% per year, different chemistry and cell type (laminated vs pouch etc). Have not seen anything close to that on Kona- with TMS cutting in around the high 90's (as demonstrated by Esprit1st) and other posts on DCFC charging temps ( KiwiMe I believe).
     
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  13. victor_2019

    victor_2019 Active Member

    what was the charge state of the battery? the kona drops to about ~20 kw around 80% and even lower around 90%, maybe earlier (there is a graphs somewhere on this forum).

    if your battery was already above 80% that 11 kw might be normal. otherwise definitely not. the chargepoint fast DC chargers are at least 50 kW
     
  14. FloridaSun

    FloridaSun Well-Known Member

    The Chargepoint DC fast at Harley Davidson are all rated 24kw..
    I once charged at another Chargepoint DC Fast at a Jaguar Dealership and it was also rated 24kw.
    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.chargepoint.com/products/commercial/cpe100/&ved=2ahUKEwiNvNGmqbLkAhVoiOAKHf53CEQQFjABegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw2VDVlVTiOtpaEU6-kB-0jW
     
  15. I was at 55% so I don’t think the SOC was the limiting factor. In looking at the online comments for that charger, looks like other people were also complaining about how slow it was for them as well. Don’t know why you would bother installing a DC Fast Charger if you’re going to limit its speed. At that point, just install an L2 charger.
     
  16. The one I used is also rated at 24 kW but based on the comments from other users, doesn’t look like it’s configured to give that rate.
     
  17. FloridaSun

    FloridaSun Well-Known Member

    At 11 kwh, you could as well charge on a Level 2..
     
  18. If you have to pay then you're right.
    If it's free, well, the Kona only has a 7kW AC charger on board, so you'll still get an about 50% faster charge rate from the 11kW.
    I guess the 2020 Kona is supposed to get an 11kW 3-phase AC charger.

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  19. I read that as applying to "100 kW" FC units, 77 kW actual rate. That's about a "1C" charging rate for the 180 Ah Kona battery.

    But does the Harley Livewire have an on board charger of that size? That'll be why it seems odd that they installed DC units.

    I would be not half surprised if the single phase rate was still 7.4 kW. It's really only intended to meet the lower current per phase requirements of households in certain European countries.
     
  20. So with Level 2 AC charging, the fastest you can get is 7kW on the Kona?
     
  21. Yes, I believe that is the maximum for the 2019 model. I believe that onboard charger is being updated on the 2020 model.

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  22. If you live in Europe yes. There are no reported changes to the on board charger in North America, its still 32 amp max for 2020.
     
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  23. DelRider

    DelRider Member

    FWIW, the HD LiveWire doesn't have a level 2 charger. Only Level 1 and DC fast charger come with the bike. Curious configuration, but given the relatively small size of the battery, you could still get a full charge at home over night whereas it would be about two days for the Kona's larger battery. So I guess they figured the Level 2 didn't add much for how folks may actually use the bike.
     
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