[YetAnotherKiaer]

I am considering buying an EV6. I don't have a driveway nor a garage, but I am close to a number of charging bays managed by Source London, which don't charge idle fees between midnight and 7am. These bays each have a 3.5 kW type 1 tethered cable and a 7.2 kW type 2 connection. There are also a few 5.5 kW type 2 charging points installed in lampposts and managed by Ubitricity.

• If I buy a type 1 to type 2 adapter, like this, can I use it with the car?
• If instead I want to charge the EV6 with the 7.2 kW or to the 5.5 kW points, I assume the type 2 cable that comes with the car should be enough, right?
• What would be the charging speeds? The press release mentions 7h 10m for 10 to 80% @ 11 kW. Is the time simply proportional, so ca. 11h @ 7.2 kW? I have found this table which suggests it mostly is - in your experience, is that table reliable?
• Is there a way to force a slower charging speed? Eg I connect it to a 7.2 kW point but only want to charge at 4 or 5 kW? This page of the manual mentions you can set the charging current for an AC charger - would it work with Source London, are those AC and not DC? Has anyone tried?

The reason I ask about connecting to the slower type 1 or forcing slower charging is to avoid idle fees: the Source bays charge an idle fee (other than from midnight to 7am). In most cases we would drop off the car to start charging around 6pm, and pick it up again at 8.30 am the following morning, which would mean paying 90 minutes of idle fees.

Thank you!

 

[jongodfrey]

Hi, in theory, yes, the existing cable is Type 2 to CCS so that should work although you might find cable security is better to but a Type 1 to CCS and just have two cables. I am not sure if the Adapter is secured.

The Type 2 cable is fine upto at least 7.2Kw, possibly higher with three phase although I've not tried it.

There's a charge speed build here which seem correct to me.... Kia EV6 (2021) Charging Guide | Pod Point

There's an English Manual here - KIA EV6 Online Manual in Eng but to be honest it's pretty awful. I control the charge speed from the charger end but I'm not sure if you can do it from the car. I'll have a look later and see.

 

[jongodfrey]

Hi, in theory, yes, the existing cable is Type 2 to CCS so that should work although you might find cable security is better to but a Type 1 to CCS and just have two cables. I am not sure if the Adapter is secured.

The Type 2 cable is fine upto at least 7.2Kw, possibly higher with three phase although I've not tried it.

There's a charge speed build here which seem correct to me.... Kia EV6 (2021) Charging Guide | Pod Point

There's an English Manual here - KIA EV6 Online Manual in Eng but to be honest it's pretty awful. I control the charge speed from the charger end but I'm not sure if you can do it from the car. I'll have a look later and see.

Yes, you can slow the charging speed from the EV6 but it's limited to "Max, Reduced and Minimum".

Under EV - Electric Vehicle you click on the Settings Cog, bottom right.

On a 7.2Kw charge Reduced goes to 6.4Kw and minimum goes to 4.2Kw. The reduction seems to be a percentage as when I lowered the charge from the charger end it lowered pro rata.

I hope that helps....

 

[YetAnotherKiaer]

That's great - thank you for confirming! So I should be able to charge overnight at the Source London bays without having to pay idle fees.

 

[jongodfrey]

That's great - thank you for confirming! So I should be able to charge overnight at the Source London bays without having to pay idle fees.

yes you can but you'll need to be careful to understand the time of the charge with some care. You can see the charge rate and so if you know the kw/h space available in your battery you can work out how long the charge will take. The EV6 also displays this in the charge status so it will show XXX amount to time to 80% if your max change is set to that. So in short - yes

 

[YetAnotherKiaer]

BTW, Kia UK has just replied saying "I believe there isn’t an option to set a lower charging current on a public charger.", so whoever replied either failed to understand that I asked if the car, not the charging point, could set this option, or is unaware the car has the option described above.

 

[Cataract2]

BTW, Kia UK has just replied saying "I believe there isn’t an option to set a lower charging current on a public charger.", so whoever replied either failed to understand that I asked if the car, not the charging point, could set this option, or is unaware the car has the option described above.

The specification for EV charging states that the Level 2 EVSE (charger) sets the max charge rate of the vehicle. The vehicle the will pull up to it's max rate (in the case of the EV6 that is 11kW or ~40A in the US or in the case of my Chevy Bolt 7kW or 32A here in the US). So, if the charger sends the signal to the car saying it can only supply 20A then the car will pull only that much. Now, things change a bit when you get to DCFC Level 3 stations. Those ones will adjust the charge supply rate based on what the vehicle calls for up to the max that those stations are rated at.

 

[YetAnotherKiaer]

@Cataract2 Sorry, I'm confused now. My point was whether the EV6 has a setting, in the car, to slow down the charging and avoid paying idle fees; @jongodfrey explained that it does, and explained how much slower you can set the charging when connecting to a 7.2 kW charger. Are you saying that's not true, or are you saying something else - e.g. that the charging point doesn't let you choose a speed?

 

[Cataract2]

@Cataract2 Sorry, I'm confused now. My point was whether the EV6 has a setting, in the car, to slow down the charging and avoid paying idle fees; @jongodfrey explained that it does, and explained how much slower you can set the charging when connecting to a 7.2 kW charger. Are you saying that's not true, or are you saying something else - e.g. that the charging point doesn't let you choose a speed?

As far as I know the car does not have any setting in it to set the charge rate speed. @jongodfrey I believe said he adjusts his charge rate from the charger. I was explaining the standard that is used which lets the charger set the charge rate by telling the vehicle what it can pull max. So, if you have a charger that lets you adjust it's charge rate then you can slow the charge rate down. If there is an internal setting in the car to set the charge rate, that would be cool, but I have not seen that offered as of yet.

 

[YetAnotherKiaer]

Actually @jongodfrey said he adjusts the charging setting from the car (post #3 above).

 

[eurosteve]

Regarding charging speed, I sometimes travel to a cabin in the woods that only has 120v and 15 amps. I need to buy a Level 1 charger but I need to limit the amps to 8 or 12 amps so as not to overload the wiring. I'm not finding Level 1 chargers that let you adjust the amps-out so low. Does the EV6 let you dial back how many amps it will draw from a Level 1 charger (down to 8 or 12 amps)? On my Bolt I could choose 8 or 12 amps. Thanks!

 

[jadziedzic]

Westabo TurboCord dual-voltage unit is spec'd to supply a maximum of 12A @ 120 volts. FWIW, if the charger (EVSE) has a NEMA 5-15 plug on it then it should not attempt to supply more than 12 amps as that is the maximum permitted "continuous" current draw from a 15A circuit as defined in the (US) National Electrical Code.

 

[eurosteve]

Westabo TurboCord dual-voltage unit is spec'd to supply a maximum of 12A @ 120 volts. FWIW, if the charger (EVSE) has a NEMA 5-15 plug on it then it should not attempt to supply more than 12 amps as that is the maximum permitted "continuous" current draw from a 15A circuit as defined in the (US) National Electrical Code.

Thanks, I'll check that out! Do you know if there is a way to specify a maximum of 8 amps? Does the EV6 have this setting?

 

[eurosteve]

Westabo TurboCord dual-voltage unit is spec'd to supply a maximum of 12A @ 120 volts. FWIW, if the charger (EVSE) has a NEMA 5-15 plug on it then it should not attempt to supply more than 12 amps as that is the maximum permitted "continuous" current draw from a 15A circuit as defined in the (US) National Electrical Code.

I just did some research on this product. Webasto is selling these at a reasonable price. They advertise as UL approved. Do you have any experience with this charger? Looks a lot smaller and lighter than the competition, so that's a plus. Some of the reviews I read suggest it might not be very sturdy. Anything you can tell me as to durability and reliability?

 

[jadziedzic]

Sorry, no, all I know is that it is UL Listed and seemed well built. We purchased one for my wife's yet-to-be-delivered Urban Yellow "First Edition" - which sounds like it will be a "Last Edition" by the time it is actually built and shipped to the US - for a "portable" Level 1 charging solution. The ChargePoint "free gift" will be installed in the garage ... someday ... when the FE makes it here.

 

[eurosteve]

Sorry, no, all I know is that it is UL Listed and seemed well built. We purchased one for my wife's yet-to-be-delivered Urban Yellow "First Edition" - which sounds like it will be a "Last Edition" by the time it is actually built and shipped to the US - for a "portable" Level 1 charging solution. The ChargePoint "free gift" will be installed in the garage ... someday ... when the FE makes it here.

Thanks! It does look like a good deal...

 

[Dylan]

I received the dual-voltage Webasto turbocord today, it seems to work fine. There are cheaper cords but it's nice to have a quality build that's UL listed. I believe the Webasto is/was OEM equipment with BMW, Mini, and others so it seems to have a good track record.

I'm mainly planning to use it until my ChargePoint gets installed, but still will be nice to have a backup / portable option.

 

[JamesInWeston]

Yes, you can slow the charging speed from the EV6 but it's limited to "Max, Reduced and Minimum".

Under EV - Electric Vehicle you click on the Settings Cog, bottom right.

View attachment 1491

On a 7.2Kw charge Reduced goes to 6.4Kw and minimum goes to 4.2Kw. The reduction seems to be a percentage as when I lowered the charge from the charger end it lowered pro rata.

View attachment 1494

I hope that helps....

Just another few data points on Max/Reduced/Minimum, using 16 amp 220v device: Max 14.9 amps, Reduced 11.9 amps, Minimum 8.9 amps (according to the device).

 

[Ev6fan]

Just another few data points on Max/Reduced/Minimum, using 16 amp 220v device: Max 14.9 amps, Reduced 11.9 amps, Minimum 8.9 amps (according to the device).

So if I buy a 16A charger for a 5-15 outlet and lower the charging speed to minimum, that should be safe, right?

 

[tonester]

So if I buy a 16A charger for a 5-15 outlet and lower the charging speed to minimum, that should be safe, right?

Yes, assuming that the charging unit on your EV6 is all in order; you'll know for sure by looking at the charging rate that's displayed in the instrument cluster once you initiate charging--if it shows a value that's anything less than ~1.44 kW then you should be good to go.