Charging experience in the UK

[Luddite]

Hello all,

Is there anyone still on the forums in the UK (or possibly anywhere else) who has ever had problems with higher powered EVSEs?
The infrastructure in the UK is a lot better than in the States but we're a smaller country. There are a few Chademo chargers nearby and plently of type 2 7kw evses.
I occasionally use the chademos but also use the 7 kw chargers when I just need a top up.

Today I tried connecting to a type 2 evse rated at 22kw. The light flashed blue but did not start charging and the dash light was not showing charging on the car. Tried again but to no avail.
Has anyone else experienced similar problems with the stations.
This happened once before on a unit that had chademo, CCS and type 2. The chademo was down but I had hoped just to top up so I could get to the Chademo charger 25 miles down the road. Again, it just didn't register as charging by the car.

My model is 2011. Don't know if this would make a difference?

 

[wmcbrine]

Today I tried connecting to a type 2 evse rated at 22kw.

That sounds like a three-phase unit. I wouldn't expect that to work with an i-MiEV -- it puts out 400V. I'm not sure what they do work with, besides the Zoe. Anyway, you couldn't get more than 3.3kw out of it if it did work.

 

[Luddite]

Thanks for the reply.

I thought I would be able to use all type 2 chargers with my type 2 to 1 cable?
I have used the 7kw ones before but there are others rated at 22kw and 43kw. I thought that these should be able to be connected and charge at 3.3kw?
The charging post I was trying to use usually has two nissan leafs plugged in so I thought it should work with the i-miev. Maybe it is my cable to blame.

Thanks

 

[rnlcarlov]

Thanks for the reply.

I thought I would be able to use all type 2 chargers with my type 2 to 1 cable?
I have used the 7kw ones before but there are others rated at 22kw and 43kw. I thought that these should be able to be connected and charge at 3.3kw?
The charging post I was trying to use usually has two nissan leafs plugged in so I thought it should work with the i-miev. Maybe it is my cable to blame.

Thanks

You should be able to charge it at 3kw. Even if the charging point is 3-phase, the car will pull out only 1-phase. Just like the leaf. If it didn't charge and you have used the cable at th 7kw charger, it was probably something wrong with the station, not the car.

 

[databeestje]

There are a increasing number of charge points that my 2010 doesn't like. Most of these newer chargers also do load balancing and there is a slight delay in activation between plugging the car in and the EVSE throwing the relay for power.

My miev wants active power rails within 3 seconds of the car detecting the plug or it won't activate. So if you plug in the cable before activating the car it wouldn't work regardless. It's quite annoying as you can not rely on every chargepoint just working.

Word is that the 2011 and later chargers do actually have proper signalling to control current too. Mine always charges at 13A regardless of what the PWM signal says. It's a bit odd.

Also, if you have activated the EVSE and are plugged in, does the car trigger the ventilation mode? Mine does, so it does actually detect the EVSE. It just won't charge.

 

[JoeS]

Hi databeestje, sorry to hear of your charging issues. I didn't quite understand what you meant by this statement:

... if you plug in the cable before activating the car it wouldn't work regardless....

Also,

...Mine always charges at 13A regardless of what the PWM signal says. It's a bit odd.

My North American 2012 i-MiEV always draws the maximum 13A at 240vac unless commanded to a lower current by the EVSE.

Also, if you have activated the EVSE and are plugged in, does the car trigger the ventilation mode? Mine does, so it does actually detect the EVSE. It just won't charge.

If the car is equipped with CHAdeMO, plugging the car into a 240vac EVSE will result in the battery fan turning on for the first few seconds.

Because of your car's strange reaction, I would be inclined to contact the EVSE manufacturer/provider to see what they have to say about your inability to charge using their equipment. Perhaps contacting Mitsubishi might help?

 

[misterbleepy]

Some early i-MiEV's in the UK only did mode-1 charging, and used a cable without an EVSE 'brick' - could it be that yours is one of those?
More info here:
http://www.batteryvehiclesociety.org.uk/bvsorguk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3549