Kia Soul EV can blow boards in ABB 50Kw chargers

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irfca

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2014
Messages
116
Location
Toronto, ON
I learned on Wednesday that some ABB 50Kw chargers have a circuit board problem in them that can cause them to malfunction or blow when you charge a Soul EV. I have become the "Infamous Kia Soul" at the Vaughan (North Toronto) charger ... the only public 50kw charger in Toronto I took it off line for about a week, after my first charge at it. The plugshare message they published:

PowerStream a month ago
Hello everyone. There seems to be some incompatibility between the Kia Soul EV and this particular (ABB) charger. Due to this, the CHAdeMO connector has failed again and is out of service. We apologize for this inconvenience and are working with the manufacturer to find a fast and permanent resolution to this issue. Please bear with us. In the meantime, the CCS connector head is still functional and there are two level 2 chargers on the premises where you can get a free charge. - PowerStream Smart Grid Team
In talking with the team lead for the PowerStream Smart Grid team, I learned the Kia Soul chargers at the upper end of the CHAdeMO standard, while the ABB charger was designed for mid-range operation. They hope to have the charger upgraded in another few weeks to a month, but in the mean time have some extra boards so they can repair the charger should any more Soul's charge there. Their general request was to try to avoid charger there or charge at one of the L2 chargers in the mean time. I also learned they are installing several more 50Kw chargers in the Toronto area - they will be pay-for-charge, likely at a cost of approx $2 for 15 minutes. One of the chargers will be in the Markham Civic Center area (Hwy 7 and Warden). They are still negotiating for some of the sites, so he could not share all of the future locations with me :(
 
Great news on the Vaughan charger in North Toronto - the upgrade to support the higher charging voltage of the Kia is complete, and we can use the charger without taking it off line!
 
I charged there couple of times with the ABB L3, so does another SoulEV I met there during the winter, the couple has one Light Blue top Soul and another Model S. She looks like a regular client to this free L3 charger.
Is Markham Civic Center L3 charger also ABB? Saw the PowerStream logo on it.
 
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