Are Electrical power surges damaging?

[PAB]

There can be 1-3 power cuts a day where I live. Power comes back on after two hours. I charge my Taycan in my Garage which has 3-phase electricity. If there are power surges from the municipality when power resumes, can these hurt my Taycan batteries?

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[Midlifecrisis]

I don’t suppose it will affect your batteries but it could damage/blow the transformer in the car, although I would be surprised if it did

 

[PAB]

I don’t suppose it will affect your batteries but it could damage/blow the transformer in the car, although I would be surprised if it did

Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[ericj320]

There can be 1-3 power cuts a day where I live. Power comes back on after two hours. I charge my Taycan in my Garage which has 3-phase electricity. If there are power surges from the municipality when power resumes, can these hurt my Taycan batteries?

Perhaps something like this if you are concerned. I can’t promise this exact one is compatible with EV charging, but I have to believe something out there exists to address your concerns.

https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Surge-Protectors/Hughes-Autoformers/HU87FR.html?feed=npn&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google | Shop - Low Volume - 950&adgroupid=122011623779&campaignid=10268231230&creative=519192942875&device=m&devicemodel=&feeditemid=&keyword=&loc_interest_ms=&loc_physical_ms=9013457&matchtype=&network=g&placement=&position=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk_Ou-cPy8wIVBkqGCh1lQQBAEAQYASABEgL9xfD_BwE

 

[PAB]

Perhaps something like this if you are concerned. I can’t promise this exact one is compatible with EV charging, but I have to believe something out there exists to address your concerns.

https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Surge-Protectors/Hughes-Autoformers/HU87FR.html?feed=npn&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google | Shop - Low Volume - 950&adgroupid=122011623779&campaignid=10268231230&creative=519192942875&device=m&devicemodel=&feeditemid=&keyword=&loc_interest_ms=&loc_physical_ms=9013457&matchtype=&network=g&placement=&position=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk_Ou-cPy8wIVBkqGCh1lQQBAEAQYASABEgL9xfD_BwE

Thank you, will look at this.

 

[ericj320]

Thank you, will look at this.

Sorry, that one looks to be for 120v operations. Like I said though, surely something out there exists, question will be how financially feasible it might be. It’s also worth looking into what kind of surge protection might exist in either the Porsche Mobile charger, or perhaps using one that has built in protection that will shutdown or fault if voltage spikes.

 

[daveo4EV]

There can be 1-3 power cuts a day where I live. Power comes back on after two hours. I charge my Taycan in my Garage which has 3-phase electricity. If there are power surges from the municipality when power resumes, can these hurt my Taycan batteries?

two things:

1. no power is flowing if the vehicle is not actively charging - simply being plugged in does not mean there is an open electrical circuit (car is waiting to charge or target SOC is reached)
2. there is an AC/DC converter between the wall outlet and the battery - there is no direct path from your wall outlet to the DC battery…AC surges would fry equipment upstream from the battery if something were to happen

the above two facts make it very unlikely any power surge would make it all the way to the battery…

read on for more thoughts…

only if the car is charging during the surge - simply having the vehicle plugged in doesn’t mean any power is flowing - if the car is _NOT_ actively charging there is a relay that is in the “open” position (no power flowing) - so it’s effectively disconnected from any power source even though the cable is plugged in…also I do not think it would hurt the battery - but there is an AC/DC converter inside the car responsible for charging the battery - if a surge were to damage anything it would be the AC/DC converter - there is no direct path from the AC wall outlet power to the battery - components upstream from the battery (the AC/DC converter) would have to fail and still let DC power “flow” into the battery - I find battery damage to be unlikely in this scenario - but possible damage to the AC/DC converter responsible for charging the battery - if it were damaged it would have to be replaced - but the battery would be unaffected.

 

[Jhenson29]

@daveo4EV has an excellent point and I just want to expand it further that the EVSE should have a contactor in it that would be open when power goes out. So, there wouldn’t even be any voltage at the plug when the power comes back, whether or not it was charging when power went out.

 

[JimBob]

Power surges from direct or indirect lightning strikes and voltage surges could certainly damage the controller for the charger and possibly the charging ports on the car. They are after all just electrical equipment.

You can find more information on this by referring to the websites of manufacturers of surge protection equipment for EV's.

 

[PAB]

two things:

1. no power is flowing if the vehicle is not actively charging - simply being plugged in does not mean there is an open electrical circuit (car is waiting to charge or target SOC is reached)
2. there is an AC/DC converter between the wall outlet and the battery - there is no direct path from your wall outlet to the DC battery…AC surges would fry equipment upstream from the battery if something were to happen

the above two facts make it very unlikely any power surge would make it all the way to the battery…

read on for more thoughts…

only if the car is charging during the surge - simply having the vehicle plugged in doesn’t mean any power is flowing - if the car is _NOT_ actively charging there is a relay that is in the “open” position (no power flowing) - so it’s effectively disconnected from any power source even though the cable is plugged in…also I do not think it would hurt the battery - but there is an AC/DC converter inside the car responsible for charging the battery - if a surge were to damage anything it would be the AC/DC converter - there is no direct path from the AC wall outlet power to the battery - components upstream from the battery (the AC/DC converter) would have to fail and still let DC power “flow” into the battery - I find battery damage to be unlikely in this scenario - but possible damage to the AC/DC converter responsible for charging the battery - if it were damaged it would have to be replaced - but the battery would be unaffected.

Thank you. Interesting! Will share with my home electrician!

 

[PAB]

@daveo4EV has an excellent point and I just want to expand it further that the EVSE should have a contactor in it that would be open when power goes out. So, there wouldn’t even be any voltage at the plug when the power comes back, whether or not it was charging when power went out.

Reassuring! Thank you.

 

[JimBob]

Add.

You can add a whole house surge protector at the service entance or a Transient Voltage Protector on the circuit in question.

But there different ways that a voltage surge can enter the house.

 

[RBGtaycan]

Add.

You can add a whole house surge protector at the service entance or a Transient Voltage Protector on the circuit in question.

But there different ways that a voltage surge can enter the house.

My electrician, when installing my charger circuit, recommended a whole house surge protection unit. (and I got it). He indicated the possible costs of a surge were not worth ignoring this issue. That made sense to me...

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