Charging via Timer & Climate Control

[Randy]

This info comes from Malcolm. I'll post it for him...

He had his LEAF plugged into his home Clipper Creek EVSE yesterday afternoon in the garage with Timer 1 set to start charging just after midnight (when the rates are low).

He decides to take a short trip in the late afternoon, so he uses the web portal to access the LEAF status and turn on the Climate Control before he leaves to cool the car down (it was a warm So Cal day)...

When he arrived in the garage to leave, he notices that the Climate Control is turned on as he commanded, but also the car skipped the timer setting and was charging...

Correct behavior? We didn't think so; we thought the CLimate Control would run for 15 minutes on battery power and shut off....Anyone else noticed the EVSE firing up during this scenario? It would be interesting to see if the Blink would do the same thing....Sparky?

RedRandy

 

[sparky]

I have seen the charging lights on the dash come on in the morning long after the 80% charge timer mode is complete. Is this what Malcolm's situation was? I assumed this was just a brief trickle charge to maintain the 80% SOC. When I get the dedicated TED MTUs for the Blink, I'll be able to log these events.

 

[Randy]

I don't think that's what he saw. He came out in the garage 8 hours before the timer was supposed to start the charging process, and noticed the green charging light "on" for the Clipper Creek EVSE. The LEAF had the blue "charge" lights on the dash, and the climate control was turned on.

It appears that when you give the Climate Control command remotely and it is plugged in, it will use the 240VAC power for that and also start the charge process....

 

[Frank]

I don't think that's what he saw. He came out in the garage 8 hours before the timer was supposed to start the charging process, and noticed the green charging light "on" for the Clipper Creek EVSE. The LEAF had the blue "charge" lights on the dash, and the climate control was turned on.

It appears that when you give the Climate Control command remotely and it is plugged in, it will use the 240VAC power for that and also start the charge process....

I haven't looked this up in the manual but that is how I would expect this to happen. If the Leaf is plugged in and climate control is activated by remote or timer, I would expect the charger to turn on so that the power to run climate control is being taken off "the grid". And when the Leaf isn't plugged in and climate control is turned on, it runs for 15 minutes to prevent too much drain on the battery.

 

[Jimmydreams]

IIt appears that when you give the Climate Control command remotely and it is plugged in, it will use the 240VAC power for that and also start the charge process....

It is my understanding that if the car is plugged in (regardless of charging status) and a remote climate-on command is received, it will draw power for the climate from the plug. If the EVSE is supplying power, it'll show ON and probably a charge light on the Leaf as well. Only a TED or some kind of current monitor would be able to tell if the EVSE was on with a full charge, or only supplying enough power to run the climate control.

If I get a chance, I'll test that in the next few days and let everyone know what the EVSE is drawing.

 

[TomT]

I have nothing to base this on but it may be that either the logic or electrical setup of the car can not differentiate between charging and just powering the climate control system and thus for Climate control to be active, charging must also be active. Regardless, if true, it would appear to definitely be either a bug or design deficiency...

However, it should be pointed out that the EVSE must turn on to supply power for climate control and this is not a true indication that it is necessarily charging...

I don't think that's what he saw. He came out in the garage 8 hours before the timer was supposed to start the charging process, and noticed the green charging light "on" for the Clipper Creek EVSE. The LEAF had the blue "charge" lights on the dash, and the climate control was turned on.

It appears that when you give the Climate Control command remotely and it is plugged in, it will use the 240VAC power for that and also start the charge process....

 

[wsbca]

However, it should be pointed out that the EVSE must turn on to supply power for climate control and this is not a true indication that it is necessarily charging...

It's definitely the case that if you turn on climate control while plugged in, the EVSE will fire up, and I agree that pulling juice from the EVSE may be an all-or-nothing proposition. A subjective glance at an analog meter hints that it's going full bore (3+KW), at least if the climate need is for heating. In the instance where I observed this, it was not clear to me whether any supplemental charging was occurring. I think you'd have to do it for longer than most climate adjustments would take to know for sure. Jimmy will be able to tell us what the load from the EVSE is in these cases using his TED. I'm curious whether the load would change if the car battery was full - in my case the apparent full bore draw for the climate request was when the car was at 80% from a timer-initiated charged the night before. If it can't tune the amount of current it gets, then presumably if the car is full it's just going to flog the climate into submission with the 'excess' power.

Regardless - you probably don't want to initiate climate requests to a plugged in car during anything but your most off-Peak window if you are on any sort of TOU schedule, as it's going to cost you.

 

[TomT]

I have a TED MTU on my charger circuit so I'm looking forward to getting some comparative data. Now all I need is a Leaf! (By the way, I've had a TED 5000 for about 18 months and love it!)

Jimmy will be able to tell us what the load from the EVSE is in these cases using his TED.

 

[EVDRIVER]

Does everyone realize that to power the climate from the wall the charger would need to come on. The heater and AC run off DC not AC, this is supplied from the charger, so to power off wall AC the charger will start to power the accessory load. If the charger were off these would be powered off the pack which is not the point.

 

[Jimmydreams]

Does everyone realize that to power the climate from the wall the charger would need to come on. The heater and AC run off DC not AC, this is supplied from the charger, so to power off wall AC the charger will start to power the accessory load. If the charger were off these would be powered off the pack which is not the point.

I think everyone understands that. But the question seems to be is the EVSE supplying just enough power for climate control, or is it on full-blast and providing max power (thus being a concern if it were in peak pricing hours) AND, if it IS on full-blast, does that somehow affect a timed-charge event?

 

[garygid]

If the pack is already charged to 100%, further actual charging would (should) be prohibited.

If the Heater takes 4.3 kW and the charger can only supply 3.3 kW, the other 1.0 kW would need to be supplied by the battery pack.

When the car is warm and the Heater drops to 0.3 kW, the charger could bring the battery back up to 100%, using the 3.0 kW it is not using for the heater.

That way, assuming there was enough time for the re-charging to finish, one could leave with a warm car, AND a full battery.

Question is, if you remotely Turn Off the Heater, will the charging continue until the 100% (or 80%) goal is acheived?

 

[kolmstead]

TED says that the EVSE pulls the usual 3.7 kW when the heater timer comes on. The LEAF apparently does not consider this a charging event; I get no emails. I haven't been able to get fine resolution data out of TED yet, but it does appear that current draw comes down when the interior temperature reaches (factory) setting.

In my opinion, drawing heating or cooling power from the pack when the car is plugged in would be very bad behavior. I'd rather have the expected level of charge and a higher utility bill than a comfortable car that has already consumed 10% of the pack before I make it out of the driveway. Priorities, y'know.

-Karl

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

Well, try to cooling the power from the pack when the car is plugged. Maybe you can charge the level of the utility bill than it comfortable. However, you can also try to search in online maybe you can found some tips that related in you problem.

This post, and the jumble-spam link it points to, are some of the weirder things on the internet today.
Brock's bot took some words from the thread and made up its own content-free post. Almost creepy.

That there is a $ profit system somewhere behind all the noise is even more remarkable.

 

[bowthom]

I preheated this AM and noticed the charge status lost a bar by the time I went 2 miles. It must have pulled from the pack cuz' its 25* outside. Car was toasty when I got in.