The charging lark

All CUPRA Born related discussions
Post Reply
Deleted User 456

Post by Deleted User 456 »

OK. I have a Zappi charger at home. No wind/solar attached to it yet, so only using the grid as a supply.

Tonight, plugged it in in ECO+ mode. From what I gather, without any kind of renewable energy input, I only have ECO+ and FAST to pick from.

Starting at 36% and aiming for 90% (long drive tomorrow morning).... it only added 2% in 2 hrs, and the target 90% was something like Tuesday night (and it's Sunday night now)

So I have no choice but to switch it over to FAST. She is getting a steady 7.2kw charge now and should be done by late tonight I imagine. Is FAST the mode I need to be using overnight then twice a week to top it up?

I am assuming that even though it's called FAST, it's not as detrimental as the commercial fast chargers at garages (50KW, 100KW etc)

I used a 12A charger at my mums last week (set to 10A) to gently top the battery, and to my amazement, it threw in a decent amount in an evening. Much faster then the ECO+ mode here does.

Or... is my Zappi not set up correctly?

Hmm. Not sure I get all this yet.

davmatjo
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu May 05, 2022 2:08 pm

Post by davmatjo »

As far as I know ECO/ECO+ are only for when you have surplus generation (usually solar panels). Fast just charges at the maximum power the charger is rated for (7.2kW).

Using "Fast" is not detrimental at all, the level of power going into the battery is far below any level that would generate any excess heat, which is the biggest factor in battery degradation from charging. You can see this by the fact the car will charge at 7.2kW flat all the way from 0% to 100%, it provides nowhere near enough power for the car to need to limit it. This is the case for all AC charging. The only reason ECO is named as such is because it is trying to save money/be more green by only using your own (usually renewable) generation.

When you use an actual DC fast charger (50kW+), things are different. You will notice that as the battery fills up, the charging gets slower as charge speed is restricted by conditions of the battery (mainly heat) rather than the power the charger can provide.
Kernowboy
Posts: 31
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:38 am

Post by Kernowboy »

Stevolution wrote: Sun Nov 06, 2022 5:44 pm OK. I have a Zappi charger at home. No wind/solar attached to it yet, so only using the grid as a supply.

Tonight, plugged it in in ECO+ mode. From what I gather, without any kind of renewable energy input, I only have ECO+ and FAST to pick from.

Starting at 36% and aiming for 90% (long drive tomorrow morning).... it only added 2% in 2 hrs, and the target 90% was something like Tuesday night (and it's Sunday night now)

So I have no choice but to switch it over to FAST. She is getting a steady 7.2kw charge now and should be done by late tonight I imagine. Is FAST the mode I need to be using overnight then twice a week to top it up?

I am assuming that even though it's called FAST, it's not as detrimental as the commercial fast chargers at garages (50KW, 100KW etc)

I used a 12A charger at my mums last week (set to 10A) to gently top the battery, and to my amazement, it threw in a decent amount in an evening. Much faster then the ECO+ mode here does.

Or... is my Zappi not set up correctly?

Hmm. Not sure I get all this yet.
I’ve posted in another thread on this, the Zappi isn’t intuitive to use.

You are right that ECO is of no use to you unless you are generating your own electric. It will draw from PV etc.when that supply is above 1.4kW, and will draw from the mains to reach the minimum 1.4kW if generated surplus is below that figure.

FAST just charges at full whack (7.2kw), effectively a dumb charger drawing from the main supply.

ECO+ is the same as ECO but won’t use the mains so without own generation your scar just won’t charge at all. However in ECO+ you can set it to Boost either manually or scheduled, which will set the charger to FAST for the specified period. This is what you need to do if you are on an EV tariff ie. get cheap electric for set periods.

So without PV etc all your charging is effectively FAST, just use ECO+ mode and set a Boost if you are on an EV tariff (or want to schedule charge to avoid use in peak periods); otherwise leave it in FAST.

But note that FAST isn’t really fast, at 7.2kW is comparatively slow and won’t do any harm to your car at all. The constant use of DC chargers at 50kW+ is where any potential in that direction lies.
Deleted User 456

Post by Deleted User 456 »

Thanks all. After playing around, I think I have the hang of it.
Instruction manual is baffling to say the least
Post Reply