Battery capacity of Plug-in

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KeithB1
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2021 12:47 pm

Post by KeithB1 »

As I've mentioned before I've got a pod-point 7kw charger and use the pod-point app to see how much electricity I'm using and how much it's costing me. Now, as I understand it the capacity of the battery in the plug in is 13.8Kwh and according to Autocar the useable capacity is 11Kwh (when the range is down to zero the gauge still shows about 25% battery power left, which I presume is so that the battery is never fully discharged). Keeping those figures in mind I've been a bit surprised to see on a couple of occasions that according to the pod-point app I've used over 14Kwh in charging the car. Is that actually possible-to put more electricity into the battery than its supposed capacity? I've spoken to a technician at the dealership but he couldn't throw any light on my query. Can anyone on here come up with an explanation?

Jeffw
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2021 9:19 am

Post by Jeffw »

Absolutely right, you would put in 14kwh. Please don’t ask me to explain it. Sadly with the price rises in electricity, if you’re paying around the 24p per kWh, it will be almost as expensive as using fuel only. Real world tests have shown the Tucson to get about 25 miles average on a full charge.
KeithB1
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2021 12:47 pm

Post by KeithB1 »

Thanks for the reply Jeff. Can you have a go at explaining please? I don't see how you can put 14+Kwh into a battery with a capacity of 13.8Kwh which has a useable capacity of approx 11Kwh. If you had a petrol tank holding 10 gallons and the pump at your local filling station said it had put 14 gallons in, you'd want an explanation wouldn't you?

I don't disagree about the real range on electric but I'm yet to work out some accurate cost figures and will let everyone know when I have. However I'm not paying 24p/Kwh and petrol has been rising sharply lately so the calculation will always vary. What hasn't helped is our gas & elec supplier going bust resulting in a 30% rise in the costs I used before buying the car. Life's a bitch and then.....
DrElectron
Posts: 151
Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:37 am

Post by DrElectron »

13.8 is the capacity of the battery, when charging you need to take into account the losses within the charging unit and and inaccuracy of the meter.
My first and certainly last Hyundai: 2022 Tucson Phev Ultimate
KeithB1
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2021 12:47 pm

Post by KeithB1 »

Mmmm. So the charger is inefficient and the pod-point metering is inaccurate. resulting in a 25% (or more) error That's not what I signed up for. I'm waiting for responses from both Pod-point and Hyundai, but surely an accurate measuring of the power used shouldn't be difficult these days. I don't know about the efficiency of the charger so I'll have to look into that but again I would have thought it was a relatively simple process which should be achievable without significant waste. Thanks for your reply, anyway-I'll report back with any info I get.
billybob
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2021 2:10 pm

Post by billybob »

I've got the Hypervolt charger. most I've managed to put in after depleting the battery is 13.8KW. Least I've managed is 11.8KW.

Round trip to work is 44 miles, so the battery is always empty (1/4 full) when I plug it in.
KeithB1
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2021 12:47 pm

Post by KeithB1 »

That's interesting.. It looks like pod Point can't be bothered to reply. I'll have to bother them some more. Hyundai have just referred me back to the dealer., but that wasn't very productive when I first spoke to them. I'll try again. I think this is worth getting to the bottom of.
xtrailman
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri Dec 10, 2021 1:49 pm

Post by xtrailman »

You will always get losses converting AC to DC.

Nothing runs at 100% efficiency.
You could try charging through a 13A plug assuming you can, then use a gadget that reads the KWH used, to compare your reading to the pod one.
KeithB1
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2021 12:47 pm

Post by KeithB1 »

Yes I could charge off a 13amp socket but will have to buy a meter to ascertain how much used. I'll check it out. Thanks for your input.
DrElectron
Posts: 151
Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:37 am

Post by DrElectron »

KeithB1 wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 2:03 pm Mmmm. So the charger is inefficient and the pod-point metering is inaccurate. resulting in a 25% (or more) error That's not what I signed up for. I'm waiting for responses from both Pod-point and Hyundai, but surely an accurate measuring of the power used shouldn't be difficult these days. I don't know about the efficiency of the charger so I'll have to look into that but again I would have thought it was a relatively simple process which should be achievable without significant waste. Thanks for your reply, anyway-I'll report back with any info I get.
Not the charger, but the car. in fact these EV chargers are nothing more than a socket, a contactor and some monitoring / control electronics.
230v AC goes into the 'charger' and 230v AC comes out the other end into your car. The on-board electronics do the charging.

No charge process is even close to 100% efficient. 90% would be pretty good. so a 13.6 KWh battery will likely take just over 15KWh to charge it up (assuming it was completely empty and at 90% efficiency).
That's no fault of Hyundai, its just physics.
My first and certainly last Hyundai: 2022 Tucson Phev Ultimate
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