Maybe I missed this in another thread, but have any of you used the charge timer with the EVSE upgrade/240v charging? I assume you have to adjust the time you're setting the timer for to account for the faster EVSE charging time (subtract around 75 minutes)?
I have a GE Wattstation and when I use the timer with it I just set the start time. It'll start at say 1 am and finish whenever its done, I don't set the end time other than to make sure it isn't shortly thereafter the start time.
Well I haven't used the timer much before, but with the cold temps I was going to experiment a little and see if timing the charge to finish close to when I leave in the morning would help to stay in EV a little more consistently as folks have been discussing elsewhere...
my diy evse takes about 90 minutes from empty, so i would set the start timer for 90 minutes before i left and adjust as necessary. you can try the end timer but some report it finishes too early. one thing i have noticed is that when i check the car to see how much longer it thinks it has to charge, it doesn't seem to recognize that it's a 240v 90 minute charge and after an hour or more, it still thinks it has another hour to finish.
I've noticed the same behavior when using the "finish at" timer with the 240v EVSE Upgrade. I only use the "start at" timer now- the "finish at" timer is just unreliable, but it wasn't reliable before the EVSE Upgrade mod anyway.
I use the "start" timer in the car. I set it for 1am. I'm using an Aeroenvironment EVSE at 240V. I haven't found the "Finish by" timer to be all that useful. When I was using the portable EVSE, I still used a start time of 1am. I haven't seen any change in capacity or SOC if I finish at 2:30am and don't drive the car until 9am. Or finish at 5pm and leave work at 5:15pm. Letting the car sit idle for a few hours, a few days, or even a couple of weeks, seems to have negligible affect on capacity. Outside temp, now that's a slightly different matter.
Thanks for the thoughts here. I think using the START option as you say, timed about 90 min before heading off in the morning, is the way to go. It definitely seems that the battery temp--or a sensor somewhere in there--is the key. The air temp can be pretty darn cold during the day, but if the car has been in the sun enough to heat up the interior somewhat, the EV stays on far more reliably than colder mornings with similar air temps but no warming inside the vehicle. We'll see if the "last minute charging" helps a bit
