My New Motion integration EV Charging from Shell newmotion

Did anybody try to read out the charging values directly from the modbus enable meter that sits INSIDE the charging pole? I believe it is this type and related code:

It would make the integration for this pole cheaper as no additional 3 phase meter would be required.

I don’t have the charger yet, but if you could talk modbus directly to the charger, by use of an esp32 of maybe another home automation, would you still require the actual DPM module?

Does the modbus communication need to be activated somehow by Shell or can you do that yourself or does it work out of the box?

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Hi @NMOptimization

I’m happy with the solution as it is right now. Earlier today I merged the latest changes into master.

The unexplicable behaviour that I experienced earlier is now fixed. All good now. Now it’s working very similar to your solution where it imitates a certain load on the CT. By going over the configured max ( 38 in my case ), the car starts to charge slower. By going under 38 Amps, the charge speed will increase again.

Best regards,
Thomas

Hi @hill2butt

I’m doing exactly what your explaining in this Github project. An ESP32 module that talks modbus to the charger.

Yes, Shell has to activate the modbus communication on the Charge pole and configure a max load. This needs to be done by the installer, or by the Shell helpdesk. AFAIK, you cannot do that yourself.

Best regards,
Thomas

Hi. I’m new to nodered. Got the @e35 stuff working. But now I’m stuck at the reading chargepole. I have connected it with a cable but how do I find the ip address?

hi Thomase,

Thank you for this write down. I have replicated your work and can confirm it is fully working. Many many thanks.

kind regards,

Ben

(a fellow Belgian trying to opmize their electricity costs… :slight_smile:

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hi Hill,

So no, you don’t need the DPM module anymore, this is fully taken over by the solution of Thomase (an ESP32 module with an RS485 module, that serves as a modbus server providing the values that are red by the charging pole).

Kind regards,

Ben

Hi,

I am trying to access the link provided by only receive the following picture:

Any idea why that is?

that link broke over 16 months ago. try here: https://github.com/dgthomson/nodered-shellrecharge

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Hi @thomase1234
You’ve done some awesome work and I am really interested in building this solar controller for my Shell Recharge Wallbox, too.

I am quite a newbie to Homeassistant and need some help :slight_smile:
HA is already installed and works pretty well. I ordered the same hardware (ESP32 Board and The RS485 module) which you use.
Is there any step by step tutorial how to connect all those parts as I am a bit lost right now.

Regards

I have some general questions regarding the Shell/NewMotion Charger.

You wrote, that it needs at least 8…9A to charge without any failure. In Germany we have 3 phase grid connections, this would mean, that using solar only charge mode, I would at least need 6000W from my solar panels, which is quite a lot on cloudy days.
Does the Shell wallbox support the change from 3 to 1 phase loading? 9A with only 1 phase would mean 2070W which is much more likely.

OR did I understood it wrong and you just need 9A to start and then can reduce it to…how much?

HI @Virility ,

I’ve added the wiring details to the README. Let me know if you need more info.

Best regards

Hi @Virility

My house has a mono-phase grid connection. That means that I can only test the Automation using these kinds of connections. I think that the minimal of 8Amps can be distributed over 3 phases f.e. each phase 2,7 Amp for the charging to start.

You’d have to adapt the Automation to make it work with 3 phases.
Note that the Esphome config is ready to start setting each of the 3 phases. No changes required there.

If you want to learn how the Wallbox behaves, I suggest the following.

  1. load the esphome firmware based on this config on the ESP32
  2. Disable the HomeAssistant Automation to make sure that you’re testing is not impacted by the automation.
  3. Browse to the webserver of the ESP32.
  4. Play with the CT1 , CT2 and CT3 and see when you’re wallcharger starts charging/ decreasing the charge speed / increasing the charge speed. Note that it takes some time for the vehicle to adapt the charge speed after you changed one of the values. Don’t expect it to happen within a second. Give it at least 5 seconds before drawing any conclusion.
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Thank you Thomas for the great support!

@ all : Shell does not want to activate the DPM function in my charger. They tell me that my electrician shall call them for installation details. -_-

Does anybody know what other opportunity I have?

OR…is it somehow possible to see in the user.html, if the DPM function is already active?
EDIT: Seems that is NOT active, as I cannot change the current through Xemex Fake CSMB

In case somebody was interested in what is inside the admin menu:

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Hey @Virility,

Did you found a password or is it a snip when it loads the page prior to request the credentials?

Unfortunately only a snapshot.

Looking for a password since 2 hours. There has to be a default password from Enovates :frowning: Did anyone try to brutforce the charger?

Ok guys…I called Shell today on their hotline, told them to activate the DPM and voila, they just did :smiley:

So…As I live in Germany and have a 3 phase grid connection I had to test around. @thomase1234 told me to first manually test by adjusting the CT-values in ESP.

First of all: IT WORKS!

But. The charger has a REALLY strange behaviour.

I have a 35A 3 phase grid connection and my charge has a 25A fuse, this is what Shell put in the config.

First I tried my 3 phase cable:
Charging need is in default 23,75A (pf 0,95), so everything is correct.

I started to adjust all 3 CT values in ESP and had the following results:

CT1-3 Value | Charger Limited Now Value | sum of both
20A | 19,5A | 39,5
22A | 17,5A | 39,6
23A | 16,7A | 39,7
25A | 14,3A | 39,3

until here everything is fine. We know that the charger at least needs 8A to charge, but what then happened was strange:

25,2A | started with 12,5A and went down .12,2A…11,7A…10,9A…drops → turns off
27 A | turns off immediately

so…14A or below in a three phase connection does not seem to work
The adjustment on only ONE CT-value has led to the same result! It seems that the charger takes the min of CT1 CT2 CT3 into account.

I then tried with a single phase cable which I also have.
At the beginning I still adjusted all 3 CT values at the same time:

0 A | 23,75A
15A | 8,75A
15,5A | 8,25A
15,7A | 8,10A
15,8A → goes down and turns off

But ok…as I use a SINGLE phase cable I started to play around with only ONE CT-Value at a time…and it started to get even stranger:

CT1: 15,7A CT2= 0,0A CT3=0,0A → 23,75A at the charger available
CT1: 0,0A CT2= 15,7A CT3=0,0A → 8A at the charger available
CT1: 0,0A CT2= 0,0A CT3=15,7A → 8A at the charger available

It’s a pity that the 3 phase cable does not work with 8A, therefore I will have to use the single phase cable and charge between 1,8kw and 5,8kW , which is ok during fall and winter as I don’t think that I’ll have often my full solar power (12kW).

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Hi @Virility, what version of the Newmotion charger do you use ?
is it with the p1 connection or the modbus connected version ?

Hi…I have a Home Advanced 2.1 (i guess) and it’s connected via Modbus .