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Stock 120V Charger question


frbill
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I have seen it mentioned that a 240V charger will charge both the HVB and the 12V battery. Does the included 120V Charger do the same for the HVB and 12V.

 

I ask because I had major problems with my C-Max that the techs never adequately addressed. I purchased my Energi as a replacement for that car. I really want to avoid any problems like that with this car. Thanks in advance for the info. I am planning on purchasing a 240V charger in January or February but can do it sooner if I need to.

 

Peace,

 

Father Bill

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  • 5 weeks later...

I thought it did the LVB after charging is complete on the HVB. I THINK the HVB only charges the LVB when the car is running.

Yes, that's what I was attempting to say.  The HVB full charges via the wall and when complete, the 12 volt gets charged from it and then I imagine the HVB will get topped off again from the wall.  As to your 2nd sentence, I don't know.  I'm not even 100% sure about my statement but I did read that somewhere. 

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  • 2 months later...

The 120v charger draws about 12 amps, similar to a vacuum cleaner.  It's in the neighborhood of 1300 to 1500 watts.  The car does not have an adjustable charging rate either.  I wasn't aware that the Volt could do that.  I know Tesla ones do.

 

At 240v, the max current the car will draw is 16A, or about 3300 watts.

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The charger in the car steps down the charge rate at the end of the charge cycle, whether 120 volt or 240 volt, since it is dangerous to overcharge a lithium-ion battery.

 

It's similar to how you would fill a glass of water to the top without spilling any.

 

The external boxes are misnamed as chargers.  The charger is in the car.  The external boxes are power sources that the charger in the car can control.  They also provide random cold startup delays so that after a commercial power failure all of the cars in the city don't start charging at the exact same time.

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Hi, yes I know EVSE's are not chargers, they are more like 'adapters' actually.  Also, yes it makes sense that the charger on-board would slow down as you reach the top of the battery charge, all the EV charging systems do this. I just was wondering what was the default amperage the EVSE adapter presents to the car when you charge. 

 

So thanks for the info on the Energi EVSE.  The way the Volt one works, is it has like 2 or 3 current modes.  When you first plug it in it quickly tests the plug, and if it senses it can't handle a 12A load, it steps down to 10A or 8A, depending, or if it thinks there is a serious problem ( floating neutral, bad ground ) it will just fault with a red light.  

 

I had that problem plugging in at a hotel in California last year when I rented a Volt, it would only allow me to charge at 8A.  

 

 

The charger in the car steps down the charge rate at the end of the charge cycle, whether 120 volt or 240 volt, since it is dangerous to overcharge a lithium-ion battery.

 

It's similar to how you would fill a glass of water to the top without spilling any.

 

The external boxes are misnamed as chargers.  The charger is in the car.  The external boxes are power sources that the charger in the car can control.  They also provide random cold startup delays so that after a commercial power failure all of the cars in the city don't start charging at the exact same time.

Edited by chex383
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I know that starting in 2012 with the Volt, the charger defaults to charging at 8Amps on the 120V, you have to select every time you charge that you want to charge at 12Amps, and you can't override it as a default.  The thinking was GM put this in as a safety feature, because they were concerned with people plugging the EVSE into unsafe or untested 120V plugs/circuits.  

Yeah I know the 240V limit of the Energi is 3.3KW, it really annoys me it doesn't have a 6.6KW max charger... 

 

Speaking of these 'simple' questions, is there a FAQ written up anywhere on the forum that answers these basic type questions about the Fusion Energi? I think it would be good to have.  I quickly scanned the forums topics but I didn't see anything posted. 
 

The 120v charger draws about 12 amps, similar to a vacuum cleaner.  It's in the neighborhood of 1300 to 1500 watts.  The car does not have an adjustable charging rate either.  I wasn't aware that the Volt could do that.  I know Tesla ones do.

 

At 240v, the max current the car will draw is 16A, or about 3300 watts.

Edited by chex383
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On top of that, the Focus battery is 3 times the size as the Fusion and C-MAX, so there's more battery for that higher current to go to.  I know the Honda Accord PHEV is going to come with a 6.6kw charger with a battery slightly smaller than that of the fusion and it too is air cooled, so I'm very curious to see what happens to their pack, especially when charging during the summertime.

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