MG4 in Australia

[Coulomb]

My question is: are there comparable losses when charging the battery using DC?

Short answer: usually expect much lower losses when DC charging.

Longer answer: When AC charging, the charger is in the car, after what you've paid for. With DC, the conversion losses are paid for by the provider; they charge you based on the energy provided, perhaps with a small loss in the cable, but even that can be measured. There will be small losses in the car's wiring, but that's very small compared to tens of kilowatts of DC charge power.

There is also power used for things other than the battery, like pumps, computers, but also potentially air conditioning, battery heating, radio, lights etc. Depending on how you look at it, these are losses or legitimate loads, though the 12V devices will have DC-DC losses. In a Tesla, some of those losses could be scavenged into heating the cabin, further complicating things. But again, even if you call these losses, they will be under 2kW, and therefore small unless you are right near the end of the charge, when they could approach 10% in the worst case. Usually, they will total about 500W, which is 1% of a typical 50kW charge rate. Wiring losses would be of a similar magnitude.

 

[wattmatters]

Got confirmation today that Coffs Harbour will be getting two new 15 station all access Tesla Supercharger sites.

 

[ozzz]

It's a limited offer. Either end-September or end-October depending on which part of the website you believe


Oooh, I hadn't thought of including that in a pack, nice one. I use mine mostly for changing the blades on the mower. Wish that thing was electric but those units cost more than an MG4!

Trip down south and back today.

I did manage to do a quick charge at the new Taree supercharger to check it out:

View attachment 30544

459 km, 83.9 kWh (18.7 kWh/100 km).

Left home with 100%, arrived home 5%. Will be sucking down those photons tomorrow!
DC charge 23.1 kWh / $18.00
Home charge 60.8 kWh / $0.69

I couldn’t charge my MG 4-51 @ Tesla super chargers?

 

[Coulomb]

Was it definitely one of the supercharger sites that is open to all brands? In other words, did the site show up in your Tesla app?

 

[leonkernan]

I couldn’t charge my MG 4-51 @ Tesla super chargers?

Grab the Tesla app and select the "Charge your EV" option.
It will show which Superchargers are open to everyone (not all are)

 

[ozzz]

Was it definitely one of the supercharger sites that is open to all brands? In other words, did the site show up in your Tesla app?

No I didn’t have a Tesla app at the time reason was I was told Campbelltown catholic club has ev charging so I stopped there hoping for a splash and dash when i arrived found lots of Tesla chargers in a row with a sign non Tesla cars scan QR code did this but no luck so x the road and used charge fox .
I can use Tesla at my local shopping centre for free but will only work on the thinner cable chargers Shellharbour square nsw .

 

[Coulomb]

I can use Tesla at my local shopping centre for free but will only work on the thinner cable chargers Shellharbour square NSW.

I believe that those are Tesla Destination "chargers", which are AC. The superchargers have the bigger CCS plug, including the two large pins at the bottom, and are DC chargers.

 

[ozzz]

I believe that those are Tesla Destination "chargers", which are AC. The superchargers have the bigger CCS plug, including the two large pins at the bottom, and are DC chargers.

My local shopping centre has two big plug ccs and two small plugs all labelled Tesla and no fee no apps just plug and go shopping so small plug AC and charging at 6 kW , pity I can’t use the big plug as it is normally free everybody seems to go for small plug even Teslas.

 

[wattmatters]

No I didn’t have a Tesla app at the time

You can't charge a non-Tesla at a Tesla Superchager without using their app.

AC chargers are different. It's up to the site owner to determine how charging is managed with those.

pity I can’t use the big plug as it is normally free everybody seems to go for small plug even Teslas.

For a lengthy shopping centre visit (my version of hell on Earth) that's probably what I'd do too. If you are in there for a decent amount of time, then no point being on a DC fast charger as it will be done in 20-30 minutes. DC fast chargers are for quick top ups, not lengthy stays.

 

[wattmatters]

This is what the Tesla map looks like for us non-Tesla drivers in the SE, with the extra sites at Coffs Harbour (one opening later this year) I added for context. It's pretty decent highway coverage.

 

[siteguru]

You can't charge a non-Tesla at a Tesla Superchager without using their app.

Is that always the case in Aus? Here in the UK that is the case for V3 superchargers, but V4 superchargers offer contactless payment.

 

[wattmatters]

Is that always the case in Aus?

To use a supercharger here you need to have the Tesla app, set up an account and have entered a valid card payment method.

To initiate a charge at a V3 or V4 station you need to use their app.

You park, open the app, select find charger, it locates where you are, you then select which charge station you are intending to use (1A, 2C etc). It will then go through the negotiation process with the car and start charging.

When finished, the session record is available in the app and you can download the invoice if you want.

Obviously Tesla cars don't need this, they just plug in and that's it.

 

[tsedge]

I guess the difference is that down under there isn't a requirement for contactless payment coming in from the government, so presumably they don't include the screens and payment terminals on the V4 chargers (which we have here).

The process you describe is exactly what we do for V3 chargers and we can do it with V4, but they also have the alternative.

 

[wattmatters]

so presumably they don't include the screens

No Tesla Supercharger here has a screen. I never knew they had one.

 

[wattmatters]

In fact having a screen on a DC charger is a big negative here - they just end up getting vandalised.

Way better to just make them plug 'n' charge. Have the charger network recognise the car when its plugged in and as long as you have an account with that network, that's all that's required.

That's how Tesla cars charge with Tesla Superchargers, and now the Evie network has that feature with their newer charge stations and compatible vehicles.

I would recommend against forcing charge stations to have screens. It adds complexity/cost where it's not needed and results in lower levels of availability and reliability.

If universality of access is to be legislated, then making them compatible with plug 'n' charge combined with a universal payment system for all networks would be better IMO, so that only one payment account need be set up.

 

[White Walker]

Trip down south and back today.

When are you going to put some sexy wheels on that thing? How about these...

Haha, but seriously, these would look good

 

[wattmatters]

How about these...

?

Haha, but seriously, these would look good

I'm OK leaving it standard. See no reason to use more energy than necessary.

 

[leonkernan]

No Tesla Supercharger here has a screen. I never knew they had one.

Not true, all the V4 stations do. They are just turned off and black at the moment so you can't see them.
I noticed it on the side when I first used a V4 at Albury.

 

[wattmatters]

Not true, all the V4 stations do. They are just turned off and black at the moment so you can't see them.
I noticed it on the side when I first used a V4 at Albury.

They must be well hidden, have used V4 chargers several times and never noticed a screen. Where is it?

 

[tsedge]

They are on the side below the cable: