Fast charging – up to 11kW
All our extension leads support 16A 3-phase charging which allows the Gen1 and Gen3 UMCs to operate at their maximum potential, providing 3-phase power is available.
Where 3-phase isn’t available, or when a Gen2 UMC is used, 4kW is available via 16A single-phase charging.
The video to the right shows three-phase charging at 16A per phase. The total power peaks at 12kW, this is due to the relatively high voltage of around 240V AC. You can see that this tends to drop a bit once charging starts. A lower quality / smaller cross-section cable would provide a bigger voltage drop which in turn would slow down the effective charging power and charging speed. As a result, the car would interpret this voltage drop as increased resistance and to prevent excessive heat build-up due to a sub-par cable, the car will automatically reduce the charge current from its nominal value. If this happens, you will have a notice message appear on the dash.
Note: if using one of our domestic adaptors such as the UK 13A plug adaptor or the European Schuko adaptor, you will have to reduce the charge current from 16A to a safe level. Most of the time, this will be around 10 amps. If you do not reduce the charge current, the circuit breaker providing power to the socket the UMC is plugged into is likely to trip, or in the case of the UK 13A plug adaptor, the fuse in the plug will blow. Charge current settings are geo-located so the car will remember the setting next time you plug in and charge at the same place. You should only have to do this the first time you charge at a new location, but it’s good practice to check. Recent firmware allows you to manually reduce the charging current before charging starts which is a good thing!