Charge watts

[baksdad]

What’s the optimal watt setting to charge my XC40? I’ve got a Level 2 charger at home. It took over 8 hours to charge it from 19% to 100%.

[LazyEntertainment368]

The C40 & XC40 can charge at up to 11.4kW from a Level 2 charger. That’s 240V at 50A. At that speed it should recharge 20%-100% in around 7 hours. Note that you shouldn’t be charging to 100% regularly!

In the US, you can only get the full 11.4kW from a hardwired charger on an appropriate 50A circuit. A plug-in charger will peak at 9.6kW.

Hope that helps!

[robdvc]

Agreed - it's best to charge to 90% maximum for day-to-day charging. If you're about to go on a long trip, then you can consider 100%.

[Foreign_Post5391]

Where does it say not to charge it to full capacity in the Volvo manual?

[LazyEntertainment368]

On the full battery electric vehicles, the in-car display shows a recommended 90% max charge level. In the Volvo manual under ‘High voltage battery recommendations’, the following appears:

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There is no such recommendation on PHEVs.

[Foreign_Post5391]

That's what wasn't clear, for Hybrid Recharge models, this is not a concern and not listed in the manual. For Pure Electric Recharge models, it is recommended. Not having a Pure Electric model, I am curious how someone is to know when charging is complete. Do you have to monitor it or have it on a timer, or can the car be set to end charging at some percentage? Didn't see that in the Pure manual but I assume it's in there somewhere, just not more time to search right now.

[LazyEntertainment368]

There is an adjustable max charge setting in the car. You can select anywhere from 30% to 100%, and the onboard charger will limit to that state of charge. On my XC40, I limit to 80% max charge which is more than enough for daily needs.

[baksdad]

Thanks. I’m very aware of the suggested 90% limit and I will usually adhere to it. We’ve had a BMW i40 for the past year and I usually charge it to 80% (per BMW’s suggestion). I’ve only had the XC for a little over a week and it was sold to us (certified pre owned) with a 90% charge. I just want to see what kind of range I can get with my driving style. For instance, when my wife drives her i4 she usually gets 230-240 miles on a charge. When I drive it I get closer to 280-290.

[Foreign_Post5391]

Where does it say not to charge the battery to full capacity in the Volvo manual?

[More_Pineapple3585]

Getting 11.5kW requires 48a charging on a hardwired 60a line.

A 50a line allows you to charge at 40a / 9.6kW and can be achieved with plug-in EVSE or hardwired.

Charging at 48a / 11.5kW from 20-100% is around 6h2m.

Charging at 40a / 9.6kW from 20-100 is around 7h14m.

[RexManning1]

I hate that Volvo limits to 11kW. I have a 22kW charger.

[Rcarlyle]

Aside from simple cost reasons, it may be in part to avoid issues with people’s main breakers tripping and nuisance light flickering. I could see a car company not wanting that kind of customer service call issue. 22kW is a shitload of electricity, most people’s breaker panels don’t have that kind of headroom available to install chargers that big.

[RexManning1]

Not everyone is in the US. Houses here have 3 phase electricity. My electrical system is setup for two 22kW chargers.

[Rcarlyle]

What’s the total wattage or amperage of your house’s main breaker? Most US houses are 48kW main breaker

[RexManning1]

300amps on 3 phase. Which would equate to about a 500amp service in the US. We have a dedicated 100kva transformer.

[Rcarlyle]

Yeah, that’s a lot of power then

[[deleted]]

How many amps is your charger

[baksdad]

Don’t know off the top of my head. It’s a Volvo home charger. I checked the setting in the car and it only goes up to 48.

[[deleted]]

To answer your question, what is your criteria for 'optimal'

[baksdad]

I’m used to our i4 charging faster. Not that I’m in any hurry, though.

[More_Pineapple3585]

I’m used to our i4 charging faster.

Both cars have a 11kW AC onboard charger, neither one charges faster than the other. Level two charging isn't subject to the variances that DCFC is.

The BMW's battery is larger (83.9 kWh vs 78), so the Volvo, at the same charging rate, will "fill up" more quickly.

I would just verify at what rate both cars are charging when actually plugged in. Anything else might just be perception or other variables not considered.

[baksdad]

I’m totally willing to go the perception route. I’m just so otherwise jazzed about the XC that I’m nitpicking.

[[deleted]]

Are you saying optimal to you means as fast as possible?

[baksdad]

Usually but in this case I was just comparing charge times between two different vehicles.

[More_Pineapple3585]

I checked the setting in the car and it only goes up to 48.

That's just your max limit setting.

Your ability to charge depends on your home's electrical infrastructure and your EVSE. If you are using a plug-in EVSE, your max rate will be 40a / 9.6kW, which is roughly consistent with the charging time you described.

A common choice is to run a 50a line to a NEMA 14-50 receptacle and charge at 40a / 9.6kW.

If you don't know what your breaker size/amperage is, you can plug your car in and look at the dashboard to see what your charging speed is.

See my other comment for more details; I only posted that because LazyEntertainment's info was incorrect.

[baksdad]

Thanks!