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charge speed at successive charge stops, in winter?

534 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  surprisingrice
I'm expecting an ID4 arrival any... day... now... and trying to set my expectations for winter road trips (400+miles each way, with 3 or 4 charge stops). We're Bolt owners with lots of experience with cold battery packs and trips in winter in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.

From reading other threads, it looks like the new 3.1 software will heat the pack to about 32F while L2 charging; then out on the road at (say) 20F ambient, the pack will probably not warm-up at all (bummer!). Then at the first charger, charging might start around 50kw and climb to maybe 70kw (?).

If we drove 100+ miles to another EA, would you expect the 2nd charge to start at 70kw (because the waste heat from the inverter & motor were enough to maintain 56F pack temp?) Or would the pack temp slide back to 32F in 2 hours of freeway driving, and EVERY charge would start at 50kw and climb to 70kw?
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read more of the forum. yes, I realize there is much noise by spam content posting members.

however, on your 2nd paragraph: while driving the pack will warm to the mid 50's & maintain that temp. So upon arriving to the DCFC or L2, it will charge according to the BMS profile with the following factors:
~Battery Pack Temp
~starting SoC%
~source charging output

You are getting a new ID, so the newest software version has a BMS profile I am not familiar with. From what I have gleaned, not much has changed other than higher charging & a moderated BMS pack heating regime/profile.

If you are road tripping, plan ahead on charge source availability & dependability AND drive to discharge deep (below 18% SoC). Then only charge enough to the next station (with extra for an alternative station if your primary is offline: usually 20 miles wiggle room). For me, it is as low as 5-15%, however I am very comfortable/ familiar with my regions charging infrastructure & limitations. On EA network where I am driving in the northeast I still see +100kW charging in winter. Realize that some of the EA units in the mid-west have been throttled. Then again, there are ChargePoint, EVGo units that claim "X" kW, yet that advertising is based on an EV with an 800v pack (& the ID4 is 1/2 that).

Invest in an OBD11 & connect it to a tablet or cell phone to learn the cars charging & discharging habits in different climate/ temperatures / environments/ seasons. Since you are coming from a Bolt, you will learn the ID's limitations fast. Good luck.
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Your first DCFC of the day will heat the battery to 70F. The rest of the charges of the day will be quicker since the car will still be warmer than the 32-36F of your first DCFC.
Your first DCFC of the day will heat the battery to 70F. The rest of the charges of the day will be quicker since the car will still be warmer than the 32-36F of your first DCFC.
Great. The Bolt has a tipping-point of about 32F ambient: above that, and each subsequent charge goes faster than the last. Below that, and every charge is as slow as the first DCFC.

From Mark's note, it sounds like driving the ID4 (scavenged heat from inverter & motor) warms the pack to about 50F at 20F ambient (pretty typical winter temp for me). From your helpful graph, that looks like 50F pack temp would give an initial rate around 60kw, but speeding up almost immediately.
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