UX300e AC charging speed with genuine blue Lexus cable.

Mark_H · June 7, 2022

To those who have a UX300e, and have the genuine Lexus blue Type 2 cable (G9060-47400)...

Can you confirm when charging at a Tesco Pod Point, or any AC non-tethered 7kw capable charger, that you only get 3.2 (ish) kw charge rate when using that original cable? I'm trying to find out if that cable is 16A only, causing the lower charging rate, as I can't get mine to charge up at the full 6.6kw on AC when using one. I have Googled it extensively, and found several eBay listings stating the cable is 16A, but wanted to check with other users first, before investing in an OEM 32A cable.

Thanks.

Mark_H · June 7, 2022

I think I found my answer, it's stamped "20A" on the plugs each end, albeit microscopically that I didn't notice before. I didn't know the cable itself can regulate the charge current, but Wikipedia has a lot of good info on the subject. You learn a new thing everyday as they say!

I've ordered a new 32A and will try that and report back.

ColinBarber · June 8, 2022

12 hours ago, Mark_H said:

I've ordered a new 32A and will try that and report back.

That should do the trick. The press release material for the UX300e states:

When using the charging cable that comes with the vehicle, charging will be at about 1.7kW

rayaans · June 8, 2022

I get 4.6kw from my home charger and the tesco charger with the original blue cable

The 3 pin plug gets me about half that

steve2006 · June 8, 2022

7 minutes ago, rayaans said:

I get 4.6kw from my home charger and the tesco charger with the original blue cable

The 3 pin plug gets me about half that

If my memory still serves me correctly at 230V that would be 20A the same maximum rating of the cable.

rayaans · June 8, 2022

3 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

If my memory still serves me correctly at 230V that would be 20A the same maximum rating of the cable.

Yes thats right. Not sure why they didnt just include a 32amp cable though although it doesnt really affect me as the car is charged overnight anyway

Las Palmas · June 8, 2022

54 minutes ago, rayaans said:

Yes thats right. Not sure why they didnt just include a 32amp cable though although it doesnt really affect me as the car is charged overnight anyway

That way they would not be able to sell the 32A cable as extra.

steve2006 · June 8, 2022

I didn’t think optional extras were offered for Lexus cars just everything was included as standard fitment.

Does anyone know if the rear armrest refrigerator in the LS430 is frost free or do I need to scrape it out occasionally. 😀

ColinBarber · June 8, 2022

12 hours ago, steve2006 said:

If my memory still serves me correctly at 230V that would be 20A the same maximum rating of the cable.

You shouldn't be running a 20A cable at a sustained 20A. The plug has a resistor in it which tells the vehicle's in-built charger to limit current via the signal conductor - that cable is a 16A charging cable. If you are getting more than 3.7 kW through it then it will be connected to a 3-phase supply not a single phase.

steve2006 · June 8, 2022

That would explain the massive increase in the “standing charge” to finance the upgrade to provide domestic 3PH supplies for car chargers.

ColinBarber · June 9, 2022

6 hours ago, steve2006 said:

That would explain the massive increase in the “standing charge” to finance the upgrade to provide domestic 3PH supplies for car chargers.

No need for domestic 3 PH. 32 Amp 7 kW on a single phase is more than fine for overnight charging, just don’t use a 16 Amp charge cable 🙂.

But a 16 Amp cable is probably fine at Tesco because their charge point will be connected to a 3 PH supply.

The above is for a generic EV. The 300e has a severely compromised on-board AC charger where is cannot make proper use of a 3 PH supply 😞.

Mark_H · June 9, 2022

So, confirmed it was the cable causing the issue. Using a 32A cable, I got ~6kw over the hour this morning at an AC Pod Point. It should have been 6.6 which is the max the 300e can do, however the other 3 bays were also charging most of the time I was there, so perhaps the charge was derated slightly to keep them from drawing too much? Not sure if they do that or not. Anyway, I'll keep an eye on it in the future, but at least I now know it's not a car issue.

Las Palmas · June 9, 2022

With steadily increasing fuel prices on all kind of fuel, car driving will again be limited to the wealthy part of us. Just like it was when cars were the new thing.

A friend of mine who has a plug-in hybrid tell me that if he had not had solar cells on top of his house he would not be driving cheaper than when he had gasoline fuelled cars. The solar cells are to be renewed in a couple of years as they are not yielding as much as they did when new.

Good for shoemakers, that will soon have to repair the means to our cheapest way to get from one place to another. 😇

rayaans · June 9, 2022

2 hours ago, Las Palmas said:

With steadily increasing fuel prices on all kind of fuel, car driving will again be limited to the wealthy part of us. Just like it was when cars were the new thing.

A friend of mine who has a plug-in hybrid tell me that if he had not had solar cells on top of his house he would not be driving cheaper than when he had gasoline fuelled cars. The solar cells are to be renewed in a couple of years as they are not yielding as much as they did when new.

Good for shoemakers, that will soon have to repair the means to our cheapest way to get from one place to another. 😇

Well even with the price of electricity at 27p/kwh its still hugely cheaper to run compared to an ICE. It costs around £14 for a full charge which gets a good 160 miles. I spend £100 for a tank of fuel on the RX and it gets me about 350 miles. Its 1/3 in the cost of fuel alone for me.

Besides - I havent noticed any drop in car usage. People are still driving around, still filling up their cars at £2/L and splurging on holidays. I mean I see people filling up at Shell which is across the road from BP. The BP is 2p/L cheaper yet it still gets fewer customers.

Recession? no, not even close and only a fool would think otherwise. People still have a lot of savings built up over the pandemic to cover for these things.

ColinBarber · June 9, 2022

7 hours ago, Mark_H said:

So, confirmed it was the cable causing the issue. Using a 32A cable, I got ~6kw over the hour this morning at an AC Pod Point. It should have been 6.6 which is the max the 300e can do, however the other 3 bays were also charging most of the time I was there, so perhaps the charge was derated slightly to keep them from drawing too much? Not sure if they do that or not. Anyway, I'll keep an eye on it in the future, but at least I now know it's not a car issue.

That's better. Shame they don't give you a 32A cable as standard but I think they are just using the same part that comes with the Prius plug-in which is limited to 16A.

Certainly possible you were derated because of the other points in use, and you are always going to see slight variations just from the supply voltage fluctuating at different times of the day and load (e.g. 220 to 240 VAC which mean the max you could get varies between 6.3 and 6.9 kW, with the 6.6 kW rating at a nominal 230 VAC).

Next you can get into the discussion about how much of that 5.9 kWh energy you were charged for actually makes it into the Battery as you have charging losses at the charging point, cable, and the vehicle's AC to DC charger. 😧

Mark_H · June 10, 2022

16 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

That's better. Shame they don't give you a 32A cable as standard but I think they are just using the same part that comes with the Prius plug-in which is limited to 16A.

Certainly possible you were derated because of the other points in use, and you are always going to see slight variations just from the supply voltage fluctuating at different times of the day and load (e.g. 220 to 240 VAC which mean the max you could get varies between 6.3 and 6.9 kW, with the 6.6 kW rating at a nominal 230 VAC).

Next you can get into the discussion about how much of that 5.9 kWh energy you were charged for actually makes it into the battery as you have charging losses at the charging point, cable, and the vehicle's AC to DC charger. 😧

Yes, certainly is. They have switched now to giving a 32A cable, but the first models came with the Prius cable as you say. Mine was an ex demonstrator.

The cost of that charge was £0.00 - so can't really complain 😊 AC Pod Point chargers, including those at Tesco supermarkets are all free at the moment, not sure how long they're going to keep that up with the current commercial electric prices, but as their saying goes "every little helps"! Even the 50kw rapids at Tesco are a LOT cheaper per kWh compared to others.

Beechside · October 11, 2022

Just putting it another way, I add about 10 miles per hour of charging on AC at home, 20 miles per hour of charging at Tesco. I've now got a Zappi at home and also get about 20 miles per hour of charging.

Amr A · December 20, 2023

Hello All
I bought a used UX300e MY2020 and 44000km, and the charging cable is 32A, but it takes around 12 hours to charge fully in a public charging point 11KW.

Did anyone face the same issue?

Thanks

ColinBarber · December 20, 2023

Does the car or charge show what kW rating it is actually charging at? The 300e can only charge up to 6.6 kW but that should mean fully charging in around 8 to 9 hours.

Mark_H · December 20, 2023

No, it doesn’t show any charging speed, just Battery level. I’ve long since Part Ex’d the car now, and got a new NX450h+ on the boat from Japan, should be here mid January fingers crossed.

Amr A · December 21, 2023

17 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Does the car or charge show what kW rating it is actually charging at? The 300e can only charge up to 6.6 kW but that should mean fully charging in around 8 to 9 hours.

No it doesn't show