R1S Supercharger problems - looking for advice

[JCWCVG]

Took family in our R1S from Ohio to Destin Florida are, yesterday. I was looking forward to the trip knowing I would have access to Tesla's network with by A2Z adapter, and I could avoid Electrify America, due to occasional reliability and charging speed issues. Have to say, yesterdays experience with Tesla left a lot to be desired. Note: I have been a Tesla owner for 5 years as well.

Issues with A2Z - is there some special trick to lock the adapter on the Tesla cable plug? Took me several tries and strained fingers to lock in place at each stop. Has to be an easier way to lock into place. WIll contact A2Z to see if I have a defective adapter.

Charging stop 1 - Elizabethtown, KY V3 supercharger. Fought locking the adapter into place, but once connected, issuing the charge from the Tesla app, worked OK and I got the membership pricing. Charging curve was great, close to 100KW up to 80%. Peaked at 188KW, starting with 33% charge.

Charging stop 2 - Cornersville, TN V3 supercharger - 15% charge to start, struggled again with adapter lock but better than stop 1. Charge started well, 53 minute estimate. Walked to McDonalds for some breakfast... watching the charge rate on my phone and rate went from 180KW down to 10KW around mid 40s%.... walked back over to car (2-3 minutes) Still slow. Unplugged. Charge rated was as expected. Probably lost 5-10 minutes with the charge speed and moving.

Charging stop 3 - Prattville, AL V4 Supercharger with Magic Dock. Decided to use Magic dock to eliminate A2Z as potential issue. 15% charge to start, charging started as expected. Walked to Five Guys for lunch. Charge progressively slowed to 10KW again around mid 40s SoC. Walked back moved to another open charger. Charge started, and then immediately slowed. Moved to 3rd spot. Charge was steady 150+ and slowed to 80KW around 75-80%.. not the best.

Overall I have never had to move with EA.... never had that experience with a Model 3 or Model S?

Any advice?

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[COdogman]

I can’t speak to the adapter because I haven’t used one yet, but was it hot outside? Pretty much every charger slows in the heat. Also assuming the battery didn’t precondition since they weren’t RAN chargers.

Just tossing ideas out there…

 

[RedRaiderRivian]

I can’t speak to the adapter because I haven’t used one yet, but was it hot outside? Pretty much every charger slows in the heat. Also assuming the battery didn’t precondition since they weren’t RAN chargers.

Just tossing ideas out there…

I am not clear on why it matters whether it is a RAN station or not. In my experience, the RIT will pre-condition for any fast charger and I have seen it work for Chargepoint, Evgo, EA, RAN, EV Connect, and Francis (skipped the Francis charger due to unreliability). You just have to either select the charger you want in the routing software or as I have done a couple of times, select a station near the one you want to charge at if it doesn't show on the screen but shows in Plugshare.

 

[emoore]

Took family in our R1S from Ohio to Destin Florida are, yesterday. I was looking forward to the trip knowing I would have access to Tesla's network with by A2Z adapter, and I could avoid Electrify America, due to occasional reliability and charging speed issues. Have to say, yesterdays experience with Tesla left a lot to be desired. Note: I have been a Tesla owner for 5 years as well.

Issues with A2Z - is there some special trick to lock the adapter on the Tesla cable plug? Took me several tries and strained fingers to lock in place at each stop. Has to be an easier way to lock into place. WIll contact A2Z to see if I have a defective adapter.

Charging stop 1 - Elizabethtown, KY V3 supercharger. Fought locking the adapter into place, but once connected, issuing the charge from the Tesla app, worked OK and I got the membership pricing. Charging curve was great, close to 100KW up to 80%. Peaked at 188KW, starting with 33% charge.

Charging stop 2 - Cornersville, TN V3 supercharger - 15% charge to start, struggled again with adapter lock but better than stop 1. Charge started well, 53 minute estimate. Walked to McDonalds for some breakfast... watching the charge rate on my phone and rate went from 180KW down to 10KW around mid 40s%.... walked back over to car (2-3 minutes) Still slow. Unplugged. Charge rated was as expected. Probably lost 5-10 minutes with the charge speed and moving.

Charging stop 3 - Prattville, AL V4 Supercharger with Magic Dock. Decided to use Magic dock to eliminate A2Z as potential issue. 15% charge to start, charging started as expected. Walked to Five Guys for lunch. Charge progressively slowed to 10KW again around mid 40s SoC. Walked back moved to another open charger. Charge started, and then immediately slowed. Moved to 3rd spot. Charge was steady 150+ and slowed to 80KW around 75-80%.. not the best.

Overall I have never had to move with EA.... never had that experience with a Model 3 or Model S?

Any advice?

Sounds like those stations were debated for some reason. Your last charge of 150+ and drooping to 80kw at 75% is normal for the R1S.

 

[JCWCVG]

I can’t speak to the adapter because I haven’t used one yet, but was it hot outside? Pretty much every charger slows in the heat. Also assuming the battery didn’t precondition since they weren’t RAN chargers.

Just tossing ideas out there…

It was 70s to 93 degress starting in the AM until afternoon. Only used Tesla charging... Rivian NAV for the route and one time when close to a charger, the car started preconditioning the battery.

 

[JCWCVG]

Sounds like those stations were debated for some reason. Your last charge of 150+ and drooping to 80kw at 75% is normal for the R1S.

Slowing down to 10KW in the mid 40s% State of Charge is not normal behavior.

 

[emoore]

Slowing down to 10KW in the mid 40s% State of Charge is not normal behavior.

That’s not what I said.

 

[JCWCVG]

That’s not what I said.

Not sure what "debated" is, assume "derated". Never experienced "derating" with Tesla network and I have charged dozens of times in hot and cold weather in a Tesla.

For my Rivian R1S experience, in all cases where charging rates slowed to 10KW, the charging speed started as expected and climbed to peak, then 3 times across 2 charging sites it slowed to 10KW mid 40s% SoC. At second stop I was the only car charging out of 24 spots. Used A2Z adapter. At stop 3 used the Magic dock. First charge started well and then slowed to 10KW mid 40s% SoC. Moved to another spot. Charge rate started well and then immediately slowed. 3rd spot, charging behaved normally.

I am trying to find out if others have experienced similar. Given the behavior was seen with both A2Z and Magic Dock, I think we can rule out A2Z. Wondering if I need a service call. Obviously, I will refer to my Magic Dock experience only.....

 

[silkyjohnson]

The A2Z adapter is stiff at first. After a handful of uses it latches easy

 

[RivAW]

It’s “well known” that the A2Z adapter is “stiff” the first few uses as far the locking mechanism. Google it or read the directions that came with it (as far as their proper connection order etc).

No idea with regard to the slow down once you got going. I’m waiting for my Rivian-issued adapter to show up sOOn(ish)

 

[azbill]

The adapters are not cooled and they send temp to the charger, which will throttle the rates. In the Phoenix heat I have seen them start at 180-190kw, then in a minute drop to 110-120kw, even at low SoC. I have not seen them drop to 10kw.

 

[Aardvark]

I applied a thin layer of silicone with a Q-Tip on the inside of the A2Z adapter. With a couple inserts and removals of a Tesla plug, the adapter now slides on and locks with one firm movement.
I also experienced, as you did, with a Supercharger severely derating after a few minutes. It wasn't an A2Z issue because I was using MagicDock. It was in the 70s, so not a temp issue.

 

[beatle]

Have you charged at a native CCS station since you observed the slowdown? I know you mentioned EA always gave you full speed. Since your slowdown happened on both A2Z and magic dock adapters, I'd rule out the A2Z as a problem. The adapter may heat up but shouldn't drop the charge speed, especially to ~10kw. I suspect there is an issue with the truck, especially if you see slower speeds now with EA.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

Many EA chargers, especially 350-kW EA chargers, throttle back to 40-41 kW for unknown reasons. That problem seems to be on the charger side.

Not sure about OP's problem -- look forward to the group's insight on that.

Best to all!

 

[JCWCVG]

Have you charged at a native CCS station since you observed the slowdown? I know you mentioned EA always gave you full speed. Since your slowdown happened on both A2Z and magic dock adapters, I'd rule out the A2Z as a problem. The adapter may heat up but shouldn't drop the charge speed, especially to ~10kw. I suspect there is an issue with the truck, especially if you see slower speeds now with EA.

I may try EA once on the way back to control/eliminate variables. Paid for the Tesla membership for this long road trip for convenience and cost savings.

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