[owencox]

I have been charging my 2015 ED with the supplied 120v cable and occasionally with a J1772 adapter for my Tesla 32A 240v charger with no evident problems. The plug fitting on the stock 120v cable broke and when I queried the MB former Smart dealer about a replacement, they were adamant that the only way to prevent damage to the charging circuitry and/or the battery was to limit charging to the OEM cable; suggesting that my Tesla adapter and occasional use of commercial charge points was ill advised. My understanding has always been that the on-board charger negotiates the proper amperage from the incoming supply, hence, my 32A supply from my 240v line was limited by the car to its maximum 16A.
Clearly, the operate’s manual for the car advocates Level two and commercial J1772 systems and make no mention of limiting amperage. I know this is “charging 101,” but the service tech at MB professes a 13 yea history of working with Smart EDs and is adamant that I am asking for trouble if I don’t stick with the basic cable. Is there a danger in supplying my car with more than the ~1Kw delivered by the 10A, 120v stock cable?

 

[DealMeIn]

Congratulations on having a MB dealer that will work on your Smart EV, not everyone has that luxury.

Unfortunately yours seems to have Chicken Little syndrome. Is there risk to putting more power through the charger and HV battery pack, of course there is, just as there is risk to anything in life. Is the risk worth worrying about, everyone else says no. Every current EV uses much higher voltage and amperage than does the 451 EV and I haven't heard anyone have any issues with the charger or pack that was shown to be caused by level 2 charging.

The stock charging cable does either 8 or 12 amp and as always the car limits the amperage it pulls no matter how high the available amperage is. If the car only is set to pull 8amps, that's all it's going to pull.

Personally I always use a meter when charging my car at home so I always know how much is being pulled and how many kwh are used by charging.

 

[hallcp]

Your dealer is ignorant. You can safely charge on any Level 1 (120v) or Level 2 (240v) charger. I use an old Duosida and have no issues, plus public chargers of course. There are many subtleties to charging, but this is not one of them.

 

[jimsokoloff]

hallcp's post is precisely correct.

The J1772 charging standard has an "advertisement of maximum current" from the EVSE (the thing that you plug into the car), a handshake to confirm that the plug is connected to a car before enabling the power, and other than that, the EVSE's only job is to look for that pilot/handshake verification and connect the electrical grid directly to the two large pins on the connector and all of the smarts for the actual charger are built into the car (including limiting the current draw to the maximum of the lesser of what is safe for the car and what the EVSE has advertised is available from the EVSE).

 

[Vincent Rapide]

Irregardless, it is best to limit charging rate to the minimum that your time allows. Better for hv battery to charge at lower rates.
--

 

[Yinzer]

This seems to be a recurring misconception. The charging limit imposed by EVSE on the car through its standardized (SAE J1772) communication to the car's charger has nothing to do with protecting the car. It is protecting the electric circuit that the EVSE is using in order to keep the car's charger from overloading the circuit and tripping the breaker. So AC charging through an EVSE does not forcibly "feed" the car, it simply provides a voltage source - no different than an electric outlet that you plug a half-watt or a 1600 watt appliance into.

This misconception seem to arise becasue the EVSE is often incorrectly called a "charger".

Of course this only applies to AC charging. In Level 3 DC charging, the EVSE is the charger, that directly "feeds" the battery pack and the maximum charging current the battery pack can handle without damage is communicated to the EVSE by the car.

It is pretty disturbing that a service technician for an EV did not seem to know this basic stuff.

 

[Janko]

Complete nonsense from MB expert technician. Had 2015 Smart ED, used public charging station no problems.
Used my level2 at home w/o any side effect.
Wonder how europeans charge their Smart ED/EQs... some countries have 3 phase systems for home owners > 120 Volts AC that we are using in USA. Using Level1 not possible in such case.

 

[owencox]

Complete nonsense from MB expert technician. Had 2015 Smart ED, used public charging station no problems.
Used my level2 at home w/o any side effect.
Wonder how europeans charge their Smart ED/EQs... some countries have 3 phase systems for home owners > 120 Volts AC that we are using in USA. Using Level1 not possible in such case.

Exactly my experience for the four years I have had my 2015 model, regardless, I was assured I was damaging the care despite the dealer reporting no issues and near 100% battery capacity. Thank you and the other commenters for the assurance provided.

 

[Vincent Rapide]

When you need parts for your Smartie best to go eBay and NOT Mercedes Benz.

"SMART" - which is an acronym for Swatch Mercedes ART.
--

 

[Janko]

During my 2015 Smart ED ownership used Level 1 charging cord maybe twice, found much better Turbo Cord that was much smaller then MB provided system. Turbo Cord has adapter for level 2, very easy swap between L1 / L2.
Using this to this day on BMW I3 2019 vehicle. There are no SW smarts involved using it.

 

[owencox]

During my 2015 Smart ED ownership used Level 1 charging cord maybe twice, found much better Turbo Cord that was much smaller then MB provided system. Turbo Cord has adapter for level 2, very easy swap between L1 / L2.
Using this to this day on BMW I3 2019 vehicle. There are no SW smarts involved using it.

Please interpret for me: “There are no SW smarts involved using it.”

 

[Janko]

Turbo Cord does not have software/ SW that keeps track or modifies how you charge. Basic charging without need for APPs or software that may need updates into the future. My BMW I3 has SW in car case you want to control charging... nothing like TESLA cars.

 

[owencox]

Thanks, I went to the Turbo Cord site which described the cord. I appreciate having app control ability, but the simplicity and dual capability are compelling benefits.

 

[VSAncona]

i might be a little late with this, but ClipperCreek is having a clearance sale on one of their Level 1 EVSEs. It’s only 12-amp, but that’s adequate for the Smart. I just bought one a few weeks ago and have been very happy with it. 12A Level 1 EVSE PCS-15 Portable| ClipperCreek

 

[owencox]

i might be a little late with this, but ClipperCreek is having a clearance sale on one of their Level 1 EVSEs. It’s only 12-amp, but that’s adequate for the Smart. I just bought one a few weeks ago and have been very happy with it. 12A Level 1 EVSE PCS-15 Portable| ClipperCreek

This is good information, thanks. For perspective, i was told by my unnamed Denver MB/former Smart dealer that I would damage my charging system using anything other than the OEM cable and the replacement for my broken one would be $1440, I found one from a MB parts house for $800, but still…

 

[Yinzer]

i might be a little late with this, but ClipperCreek is having a clearance sale on one of their Level 1 EVSEs. It’s only 12-amp, but that’s adequate for the Smart. I just bought one a few weeks ago and have been very happy with it. 12A Level 1 EVSE PCS-15 Portable| ClipperCreek

12 Amps is the maximum for any US level 1 EVSE. That is still up to 10 hours to charge from around 10% SOC vs, about 5 hours with 240 volt at the smart's maximum charging amperage of about 14-15 amps.

 

[VSAncona]

I recently moved into an older house that only has 120v outlets in the garage. Eventually, I plan to upgrade my electrical service and run a 240v line to the garage and install my Level 2 EVSE but until then, I have to use a Level 1. For some reason, neither one of the two factory-supplied EVSEs that came with my Smarts would work. They both would give flashing red lights. My outlets are grounded, so I’m not sure what the issue is. Anyhow, I started shopping around for a replacement EVSE and found this one from ClipperCreek for about the same price as the Chinese ones on Amazon. It’s been working great. I’m even thinking about buying a second one to keep in the car.

 

[VSAncona]

12 Amps is the maximum for any US level 1 EVSE. That is still up to 10 hours to charge from around 10% SOC vs, about 5 hours with 240 volt at the smart's maximum charging amperage of about 14-15 amps.

Are you sure about that? ClipperCreek has one that they claim is 16 amps. It’s their ACS-20 model.

 

[Yinzer]

Are you sure about that? ClipperCreek has one that they claim is 16 amps. It’s their ACS-20 model.

Normal 120V circuits are only 15 amp (12 amp safe continuous). A 16A charging cord would have to have a NEMA 5-20 plug (neutral prong is horizontal) so it can be only plugged into a 20-amp circuit.

 

[DudeInTheSmart]

Normal 120V circuits are only 15 amp (12 amp safe continuous). A 16A charging cord would have to have a NEMA 5-20 plug (neutral prong is horizontal) so it can be only plugged into a 20-amp circuit.

You would think so, but my 16 Amp EVSE came with a NEMA 5-15 to 6-20 adapter. Still pulls 16 A at 120v. I have it on a 20 A circuit wired with 12G, so I am not worried, but nobody is checking what vendors are selling.