ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: vinceherman on July 18, 2019, 11:43:14 PM
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Today I got to use my Blink account for the first time at Whole Foods.
After a bit of fumbling with the app, I got it to start charging.
4.4kW
Ran inside, grabbed a stromboli and a gingerale. 37 minutes later I unplugged.
I did not get as much charge as I expected.
I got 13%SoC in that 37 minutes.
My previous experience with charging at 4.4kW is that I get about 1%SoC a minute.
5.7kW gives me a bit more than 1% per minute.
1kW gives me .18%SoC a minute.
I expected 37% and got 13%.
Ambient temp is 90
Bike was garaged at about 80 before a 6 mile, 60mph ride to the charge station at Whole Foods.
The Blink app says that I put 1.23kWh in on the charge, so clearly the rate went down during the charge. If the rate had been constant, I would have expected 2.71kWh (4.4kW * (37/60)h)
What am I missing? Why did the charge rate drop?
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Did you notice if it was still showing charging at 4.4kw when you unplugged it?
wondering if for some reason the rate dropped after the initial value of 4.4kw.
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Blink hardware has a known reputation for issues. They were an early charging network startup and the electrical wiring in their first equipment generation is often so bad you can see the terminal voltage droop substantially under load.
Basically I expect output to sag after a while using Blink stations.
If your charger can tell you, look at a plot of current and voltage for that session.
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I did not capture that information. I try to. But since this station is right in front of the parking lot, I had 2 different people stop to ask me questions about the bike. It threw off my routine of snapping pics of the screen at all the the right times and I unplugged before I looked.
But it clearly did drop since the app says it put in 1.23kWh and if the rate had been the same it would have been 2.71kWh.
Mostly, I am trying to understand what happened. I intend to go on some road trips with this bike, and understanding the charge times will be important for that exercise.
I cannot imaging that this is a thermal limiting thing. The bike was cool. I only rode 6 miles (probably 4 of it highway).
So I am just looking to understand.
Is this something expected on the bike (like it could be under thermal protection circumstances)
Is this something expected on the charge station?
That makes me think - there are 2 stations here and I did see traffic at the other station. Do multiple stations sometimes 'share' current up to whatever max their supply side provides?
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Blink hardware has a known reputation for issues. They were an early charging network startup and the electrical wiring in their first equipment generation is often so bad you can see the terminal voltage droop substantially under load.
Basically I expect output to sag after a while using Blink stations.
This could explain it. Good to know.
If your charger can tell you, look at a plot of current and voltage for that session.
I would love to have access to this kind of information. If it is available on the SR/F, I do not know how to get it.
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(whatever he said)
Hey dude, welcome back! Feeling almost human yet?
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Hey dude, welcome back!
Where's the Like button?
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I have charged my SR/F at a few different EVgo stations just to check them out. The dash says charging was at 5.8-5.9 kW throughout and the charge I received seemed to reflect that over the time I was there. Many chargers, so I have heard, spread wattage among their various outlets at any location, reducing charge if someone else plugs in. I've never used blink though and have not seen this effect myself at EVgo or ChargePoint locations.
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Chargepoint is the only one I know of that has actively shared stations which is incredibly frustrating. Other stations may experience slight sag with multiple vehicles plugged in, but shared ChargePoint stations will literally halve themselves to 3.3kW. Not all are like this, though, and you can check ChargePoint's app to see if it's a shared station or not.
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I've got 6KW at home (Juice Box Pro) and at several charge point stations at work and downtown. No problems with Level 2, but I have had 110 charging just stop early using the included charge cord a few times (at lake house rental). That's kind of a pain since I can't quite count on it completing the charge. I'll have to try the charge cord out on a different circuit to see if it's related to drop. Once it stops I have to key the bike on and off to get it to recognize the charger again.
Steve