Add Yours: VW ID. Buzz Owner's Registry

Issue #1 - It hates my home charger.

3929 Views 20 Replies 15 Participants Last post by bobdavisnpf, Aug 7, 2021

Geo

Discussion Starter · Mar 25, 2021

Got my ID.4 today and drove it around. Even did some mountain roads. I'm impressed. Great car.

Came home and plugged it in to my 32A Leviton charger (that worked great on my old RAV4 EV). The Leviton immediately shut itself down. I got the charger to reboot once and tried again, but no luck. Another shut down. It is not popping the breaker, and there's still power at the junction box. Maybe the ID.4 is trying to pull too much current and the charger is protecting itself.

Currently charging on 120v using the EVSE VW supplied. But I'm thinking I may need to find something else for 240v charging. The circuit is 40A, so I need a 32A charger.

So, here's the question - what chargers/EVSEs are you successfully using?

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

amartko

· #2 · Mar 25, 2021

I have a three year old 40a JuiceBox, it’s been working great. The 32 amp should work fine as well. There’s a video on YouTube of a guy trying every thing from level 1 to 48a and all worked as expected.

ericy

· #3 · Mar 25, 2021

Geo said:
Got my ID.4 today and drove it around. Even did some mountain roads. I'm impressed. Great car.

Came home and plugged it in to my 32A Leviton charger (that worked great on my old RAV4 EV). The Leviton immediately shut itself down. I got the charger to reboot once and tried again, but no luck. Another shut down. It is not popping the breaker, and there's still power at the junction box. Maybe the ID.4 is trying to pull too much current and the charger is protecting itself.

Currently charging on 120v using the EVSE VW supplied. But I'm thinking I may need to find something else for 240v charging. The circuit is 40A, so I need a 32A charger.

So, here's the question - what chargers/EVSEs are you successfully using?

Using a Juicebox 40 pro that is about 2 years old.

There is a slider in the car to tell it to use something like "Reduced AC charging" or some such. It drops the charging down to around 2kW - give that a try and see if that works. I am wondering if the Leviton and the ID aren't communicating very well.

FinleyFinn

· #4 · Mar 25, 2021

Did you check if there is a setting on the ID.4 to limit charging current? The e-Golf has it. That should allow you to charge (albeit at a slower rate) until you replace your EVSE.

Drew

· #5 · Mar 25, 2021

Geo said:
Got my ID.4 today and drove it around. Even did some mountain roads. I'm impressed. Great car.

Came home and plugged it in to my 32A Leviton charger (that worked great on my old RAV4 EV). The Leviton immediately shut itself down. I got the charger to reboot once and tried again, but no luck. Another shut down. It is not popping the breaker, and there's still power at the junction box. Maybe the ID.4 is trying to pull too much current and the charger is protecting itself.

Currently charging on 120v using the EVSE VW supplied. But I'm thinking I may need to find something else for 240v charging. The circuit is 40A, so I need a 32A charger.

So, here's the question - what chargers/EVSEs are you successfully using?

I bought a Charepoint brand charger from Home Depot and had a 50 amp circuit installed for charging.

PerryC

· #6 · Mar 25, 2021

I just received from Amazon a Mustart 40amp charger. I'm already at 92%, but I plugged it in for 8 minutes and it put 1.28kw into the ID. Worked fine, should give me 9.6kw/hr. Totally pleased. (So far...)

Reactions: 2

TPG

· #7 · Mar 25, 2021

Geo said:
Came home and plugged it in to my 32A Leviton charger (that worked great on my old RAV4 EV). The Leviton immediately shut itself down. I got the charger to reboot once and tried again, but no luck. Another shut down. It is not popping the breaker, and there's still power at the junction box. Maybe the ID.4 is trying to pull too much current and the charger is protecting itself.

That's too bad and it shouldn't happen: The car is supposed to pull no more current than the EVSE says is safe. Your RAV4 and the Leviton obviously negotiated that successfully since the RAV4 can charge at 40A.

I have a 40A Leviton EVSE that I also use with my RAV4 EV, and I pick up my ID.4 on Friday. I'll post my charging experience here if I remember, otherwise ping me if you like.

Reactions: 1

ChristophW

· #8 · Mar 25, 2021

PerryC said:
I just received from Amazon a Mustart 40amp charger. I'm already at 92%, but I plugged it in for 8 minutes and it put 1.28kw into the ID. Worked fine, should give me 9.6kw/hr. Totally pleased. (So far...)

Not to hijack this thread, but thanks for posting this mini-review of the Mustart unit. I'll be buying the same, with a 14-50 and a 10-30 plug. That'll cover home, my son's place, many campgrounds with hook-ups, and more.

Reactions: 5

NBCGLX

· #9 · Mar 25, 2021

ChristophW said:
Not to hijack this thread, but thanks for posting this mini-review of the Mustart unit. I'll be buying the same, with a 14-50 and a 10-30 plug. That'll cover home, my son's place, many campgrounds with hook-ups, and more.

I wish they had a 48-amp version, because I like the idea of a portable unit even if it's just for the rare occasion I needed or wanted to travel with it. But, I want the full 11kW of charging at home (also because I like the added future proofing a 48A-capable EVSE affords for the time being).

mmcbtx

· #10 · Mar 25, 2021

NBCGLX said:
I wish they had a 48-amp version, because I like the idea of a portable unit even if it's just for the rare occasion I needed or wanted to travel with it. But, I want the full 11kW of charging at home (also because I like the added future proofing a 48A-capable EVSE affords for the time being).

I'm not an electrician, but I thought 48A EVSEs (60A circuit) had to be hardwired per code (all of the 48A ones I saw were not pluggable). Therefore by definition they could not be portable.

Reactions: 3

NBCGLX

· #11 · Mar 25, 2021

mmcbtx said:
I'm not an electrician, but I thought 48A EVSEs (60A circuit) had to be hardwired per code (all of the 48A ones I saw were not pluggable). Therefore by definition they could not be portable.

Yes, that is my understanding as well, which is why I said I wish they (or any EVSE manufacturer) offered a portable version of a 48A EVSE. Poor wording on my part.

Geo

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 25, 2021

Figured it out. It wasn't the Leviton. Just a loose connection on the NEMA.

Interesting how it worked fine for years until a few weeks ago when I last charged the RAV4. But as soon as I plugged in the ID.4 for the first time, it decided to break.

Reactions: 5

PerryC

· #13 · Mar 25, 2021

mmcbtx said:
I'm not an electrician, but I thought 48A EVSEs (60A circuit) had to be hardwired per code (all of the 48A ones I saw were not pluggable). Therefore by definition they could not be portable.

I think the OpenEV makes a 60amp NEMA 14-60 pluggable: Advanced Series - 48A/40A - Indoor/Outdoor Charging Station

Mark Magiera

· #14 · Mar 25, 2021

Perhaps the thread could get locked from comment as the mystery is solved? Just a suggestion. No ill will.

congrats Perry btw.

TPG

· #15 · Mar 25, 2021

Geo said:
Figured it out. It wasn't the Leviton. Just a loose connection on the NEMA.

Interesting how it worked fine for years until a few weeks ago when I last charged the RAV4. But as soon as I plugged in the ID.4 for the first time, it decided to break.

Glad to hear that you got this resolved. Sounds like it was a conspiracy! Reminds me of when a coworker's RAV4 EV's internal charger died exactly when he got a flat...

Reactions: 1

NBCGLX

· #16 · Mar 25, 2021

PerryC said:
I think the OpenEV makes a 60amp NEMA 14-60 pluggable: Advanced Series - 48A/40A - Indoor/Outdoor Charging Station

Interesting, I wasn't aware they offer a 48A version. I thought electrical code required hardwiring 48A EVSE's, though? Maybe this one gets around it because it's DIY and not certified (OpenEVSE's aren't UL-certified or similar)?

M.B

· #17 · Mar 26, 2021

Drew said:
I bought a Charepoint brand charger from Home Depot and had a 50 amp circuit installed for charging.

Same here. Works like a charm.

Owjamg

· #18 · Jul 28, 2021

My LeFan 40amp home charger heats up to 120*F on it's digital screen after about 1 hour into charge. Is that normal?

Owjamg

· #19 · Jul 28, 2021

After further investigation (I read the manufactures label on back of the EVSE

), normal operating temp is between -31* F to 131* F. And in a 78 degree basement, 120 is ok one hour into a 3.5hr charge at 40amps. This charger can travel since it came with a 14-50 plug. So as ChristophW said, I'm ready for dryer plug charging when visiting others overnight as well as 30amp camp sites with my 10-30 adapter!

VW TECHNICIAN

· #20 · Jul 29, 2021

Owjamg said:
My LeFan 40amp home charger heats up to 120*F on it's digital screen after about 1 hour into charge. Is that normal?

That is not normal....and it is proof of cheaply made EVSE....
Good luck with it.

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.