New GLE 350de Owner having problems

[GleSparky]

Hi All
Loving my new GLE hybrid.
Can't wait till MB has an all electric GLE model, didn't like the EQC as it was too small for my needs.
Reason for my joining....I've got a strange problem that local dealer has no answer for.
Car will charge at 7.2kw at almost any public charge point (50kw at a rapid CCS), all good.
However, at home with BP pulse wallbox, will only charge ar 3.6kw. BP have changed over the wallbox, certified that it is giving full output and still I'm having the problem!!
Same cable used so not a cable problem.

Any inspiration??

 

[sonic]

Hi All
Loving my new GLE hybrid.
Can't wait till MB has an all electric GLE model, didn't like the EQC as it was too small for my needs.
Reason for my joining....I've got a strange problem that local dealer has no answer for.
Car will charge at 7.2kw at almost any public charge point (50kw at a rapid CCS), all good.
However, at home with BP pulse wallbox, will only charge ar 3.6kw. BP have changed over the wallbox, certified that it is giving full output and still I'm having the problem!!
Same cable used so not a cable problem.

Any inspiration??

I would get BP back out to you & show them the problem. Something is wrong with the set up.

 

[AndySlade]

As above, to charge at 7.2kW, system would be pulling 60amps. Sometimes wall box chargers automatically scale back charging rate if household is pulling current for other purposes. Heating or cooking main power draws, only a thought, what is your household main fuse rating, some are limited to 60 amps.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Yes as above - my 7kw had to be wired into the meter box on a seperate fuse to avoid issues apparently . Yes get them back out
Oh and welcome

 

[GleSparky]

Hi folks.
Thanks for the welcome and quick replies.
I initially thought that the wallbox was faulty so, after what was a major hassle dealing with BP Chargemaster, finally got an engineer out to the house. To be fair he was a good lad and despite thinking there was nothing wrong with the box, he swapped it over for a brand new one. He was very thorough and used his box of tricks to demonstrate that the unit was outputting the full 7.2kw. When connected to the car, only 3.6kw! He was baffled and called his boss who said they would ask around to see if anyone else had the same issue. Given my car and charging lead work elsewhere it certainly looks like it may be my house electrics. In answer to your query my house is 3phase with 100A fuses. I think I'll get my own electrician to investigate my distribution board.
Thanks to you all and apologies if I haven't quite got the hang of using these boards as I'm new to using a forum. Cheers.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Just another thought - the cable. Is your unit tethered ?

 

[GleSparky]

No, it's socketed, I've got the mercedes supplied cable. When I use the cable at a public charge point the car charges at the 7.2kw with my cable so I ruled that out.
I've had a look at my distribution board to see if there is too much load on the phase that the fuse is on but it looks fine to me. Electrician is next port of call I think.

 

[steyarbs]

Hi GleSparky - hope you are loving the car as much as I am, I just had a wall charger fitted and mine will only charge at 3.6kw, I wondered if you got your issue resolved?

Please let me know so I can try and get my issue resolved too. I have read that it may be down to a Mercedes software update so will be calling them to check on this too.

 

[JCMLILLEY]

Hi All
Loving my new GLE hybrid.
Can't wait till MB has an all electric GLE model, didn't like the EQC as it was too small for my needs.
Reason for my joining....I've got a strange problem that local dealer has no answer for.
Car will charge at 7.2kw at almost any public charge point (50kw at a rapid CCS), all good.
However, at home with BP pulse wallbox, will only charge ar 3.6kw. BP have changed over the wallbox, certified that it is giving full output and still I'm having the problem!!
Same cable used so not a cable problem.

Any inspiration??

This is an easy one, but I went through a lot of pain and research to find the answers. Very simply, Mercedes only provide you with a 20A cable. This restricts your home charging to 3.6kw. You need to purchase a 32A Mennekes charging lead. This will solve your problem. Hundreds of us have found this out. Please check our Mercedes 350de FB page which I co-admin.

 

[JCMLILLEY]

I would get BP back out to you & show them the problem. Something is wrong with the set up.

No it is the lead. You need a 32A Mennekes lead. Mercedes only supply a 20A.

 

[JCMLILLEY]

As above, to charge at 7.2kW, system would be pulling 60amps. Sometimes wall box chargers automatically scale back charging rate if household is pulling current for other purposes. Heating or cooking main power draws, only a thought, what is your household main fuse rating, some are limited to 60 amps.

Sorry but that is incorrect. 7.2kw is 32A (7200/230 = 31.3A)

 

[DS7]

Hi all,
Long (ish) time lurker here. Haven't had cause to log in for a few years but was doing a search based on an issue I'm having and found this forum! I have a new 350de and based on my small amount of charging, I had cause to send the email below to my local dealer:

"......On a separate note, can you look into something for me please. I’ve charged the car a few times in the last few weeks at various locations but have found that it seems to charge at a lower voltage/speed that the device it is charging from almost every time. Below is my experience to date:

150kw/h charger - 55kw/h charge speed

This one makes sense as I think I read somewhere some time ago that the car can only charge at a max speed. However I’ve also had there experiences:

22kw/h charger - 7kw/h charge speed
7kw/h charger - 3.x kw/h charge speed

Both the above concern me but the last one concerns me the most as it suggests there is no point installing a home charge point as this may similarly only charge at a speed of 3.x kw/h which is the same speed as a 3 pin plug.

I’ve checked the settings in the car and it is currently set to “Maximum” charge. Is this expected behaviour or is there some other setting that needs to be tweaked? ...."

I received this response from the "Technical Product Team" via the dealer which suggests (shockingly) that this may be working as designed:

"....
The customers experience appears to be correct for the specification of the vehicle, the vehicle should be able achieve the following maximum charge rates in the given scenarios:



DC charging – 60kw

Three phase AC charging (22KW) – 7.4kw

Single phase AC charging (home wall box) – 3.7kw



These are maximum charge rates the system will allow, the customer can connect to higher output charging stations but they will only deliver the rate that the vehicle requests. There are scenarios where the charging stations output doesn’t match the advertised specifications as well, so the charge output could be lower in this case”......"

Sharing this in case others might find this useful. I'm going to go back to the dealer as this feels incorrect to me so I want to double check that this is definitely working as designed. If it is, I'm likely to send the car back.

The comment upthread about potentially needing a different charging cable is interesting though but I'm concerned that using a non Merc cable may affect warranty? Any and all comments appreciated.

Thanks
DS7

 

[dazz417]

As a background, I have a single phase power inlet, an Andersen A2 charging point (7 KW) which charges my Tesla Model 3 at maximum speed (7.4 Kwh/32A). However, when I picked up my GLE 350de in December, I immediately noticed the maximum rate I got was about 3.7 Kwh from the same setup. I also drove to the local superstore with a free podpoint (with different charging cables) and the rate was the same.

After raising the issue with MB here is what I got back from MB Technical Support.

Thank you for contacting Mercedes-Benz Customer Service. I am writing in response your enquiry regarding the charging rate in your car, detailed above.

In an effort to provide an appropriate response for you I have consulted with our Technical Team and they have advised although the vehicle can charge up to 7,4 kW, the on-board charger can only take a maximum of 16A. The only way to achieve the 7,4 kW is as follows:
2 phase x 230V x 16A = 7,4 kW.
Without knowing the make and model of the vehicle you compared the charge rate, we would not be able to comment how there was a difference. Assuming the charging station used is a single-phase charging station with 230 V, running at 32A. This would allow a vehicle that supports 32A to charge up to 7,4 kW. However. this is not possible for the GLE.
For possible options on increasing the charge rate I would recommend speaking with one of our official Mercedes-Benz Retailers. If you explain what it is you would like, they can look into making the required modifications for you and advise of potential costs involved. To help you locate and contact your nearest or most convenient Mercedes-Benz Retailer I have attached a link below to our Retailer Locator webpage:
https://www.mercedes-benz.co.uk/passengercars/mercedes-benz-cars/dealer-locator.html

Should you have any further requirements please do not hesitate to contact me or any of my colleagues.

 

[eman]

Don’t know about the app for other cars but for fully electric MBs they now show you the charging rate on the Home Screen. Mine shows 7.4kw on the home charger with the EQC.

 

[Johnms]

Hi All
Loving my new GLE hybrid.
Can't wait till MB has an all electric GLE model, didn't like the EQC as it was too small for my needs.
Reason for my joining....I've got a strange problem that local dealer has no answer for.
Car will charge at 7.2kw at almost any public charge point (50kw at a rapid CCS), all good.
However, at home with BP pulse wallbox, will only charge ar 3.6kw. BP have changed over the wallbox, certified that it is giving full output and still I'm having the problem!!
Same cable used so not a cable problem.

Any inspiration??

Hi. I had my GLE hybrid when they were new in this country and dealers had no knowledge of them. My experience was strange as I knew that the cable supplied with the car was limited to 3.7kw so I persuaded the supplying dealer to give me a 7kw cable. My car charged at 7kw on my home wall box for about one month, then limited the rate to 3.7kw. I took it to local dealer who referred to MB technical who said that this car was limited to 3.7kw on a home wall box. They couldn’t explain why I could charge at 7kw for one month! Colleagues of mine who have A classes have no issue charging at 7kw at home. I complained to MB but they just said that’s how it is. I feel that we’ve been miss sold with this.

 

[ajlsl600]

Reading with interest, my conclusion. I know f a about lecky cars so thing I learn from this post. I make sure I NEVER get involved in one... suck squeeze bang blow for me., if still vertical, perhaps hydrogen.
But my experience to date electrics electronics more of more of headache and wallet drain.
Good luck to op.

 

[David N]

Hi. I had my GLE hybrid when they were new in this country and dealers had no knowledge of them. My experience was strange as I knew that the cable supplied with the car was limited to 3.7kw so I persuaded the supplying dealer to give me a 7kw cable. My car charged at 7kw on my home wall box for about one month, then limited the rate to 3.7kw. I took it to local dealer who referred to MB technical who said that this car was limited to 3.7kw on a home wall box. They couldn’t explain why I could charge at 7kw for one month! Colleagues of mine who have A classes have no issue charging at 7kw at home. I complained to MB but they just said that’s how it is. I feel that we’ve been miss sold with this.

Hi i have a Taycan and GLE DE. THE taycan will charge at 7kwh but the gle de max is like others have found from a single phase wallbox 3.7kwh. This is clearly an issue with the car and as you say is very disappointing in particular because it means if you use the car in the morning and it needs a significant recharge there is no chance of using it for a reasonable electric journey in the afternoon. Overnight is fine but everything else is too slow. Mercedes are being pretty economical with the facts. Worth noting that the BMW X5 45e is similarly limited and the reason given is so as to avoid overloading the grid in Germany! Mercedes should be honest about what they are selling

 

[Sheppard]

Hi, I’ve had my GLE350de for 12 months and prior to that an E350e & C350e. I think I’ve got a 3 phase wall charger at work that has always charged at 7kw+ for 6 years. The GLE went in for service yesterday and was subject to a recall for a software update ( they said to do with dc charging). The same charger will only now charge at 3.7kw. This makes charging fully pretty impractical now.
I would suggest that MB have limited charge in the updated software. I’ll refer back to dealer and post what response I get.
MB are not making it easy to use electric!

 

[Blobcat]

Hi, I’ve had my GLE350de for 12 months and prior to that an E350e & C350e. I think I’ve got a 3 phase wall charger at work that has always charged at 7kw+ for 6 years. The GLE went in for service yesterday and was subject to a recall for a software update ( they said to do with dc charging). The same charger will only now charge at 3.7kw. This makes charging fully pretty impractical now.
I would suggest that MB have limited charge in the updated software. I’ll refer back to dealer and post what response I get.
MB are not making it easy to use electric!

That sounds exactly like what manufacturers are doing. They might have a battery life issue (within warranty period ) so they’re slowing the charging so the issue goes away (from the warranty period..)

I’d go back and get their explanation…

 

[Clanfalcon]

I have not long got GLE Coupe 350DE, charger at home charges at 3.5kw, I had one fitted at my work, 3.5kw. Then I paid to have a 22kw 3 phase fitted, now I get 4.2kw. This is ridiculous. If I take it to the dealer they get 7!?