Charging Options and Cables

Im hoping someone on here with more knowledge than me (not hard ATM!) and possible who actually owns an i3 can help. I am trying to sort out what spec to order and am totally confused about the charging options! For the UK, I know you should be able to charge the i3 either using a standard UK 3 pin supply, a ‘wall box (BMW or Polar/Brit Gas), Public charges and DC fast charge. However, if I ordered an i3 without adding any charging extras what cables are supplied? What does the AC rapid charge cable offer? What do I have to specify to get the other cables? What do I need to do if I want to use ‘public’ chargers’ - buy a membership, register, join the BMW network?

If you order an i3 without extras you will just get the EVSE cable with a 3-pin UK domestic plug. Most of the UK AC fast (32A) charging structure has type-2 Mennekes sockets on the chargers and you will need a type-2 to type-2 cable. These are available from many suppliers but the BMW one is £165 and as cheap (and presumably as good) as any.

You don't need a cable for the DC rapid chargers - they have their own tethered ones.

There are various cards for various areas in the UK although some amalgamation is happening. Ecotricity have a nearly national network and their card is free at present. Where in the UK are you?

MikeS said:

Im hoping someone on here with more knowledge than me (not hard ATM!) and possible who actually owns an i3 can help. I am trying to sort out what spec to order and am totally confused about the charging options! For the UK, I know you should be able to charge the i3 either using a standard UK 3 pin supply, a ‘wall box (BMW or Polar/Brit Gas), Public charges and DC fast charge. However, if I ordered an i3 without adding any charging extras what cables are supplied? What does the AC rapid charge cable offer? What do I have to specify to get the other cables? What do I need to do if I want to use ‘public’ chargers’ - buy a membership, register, join the BMW network?

Click to expand...

I think I can only help with some of it. The only cable supplied with the car is one to connect to a domestic UK 3 pin supply. BMW sell a public access cable as an optional extra for connection to AC compatible public charging points charging. Currently there are no compatible DC charging points in the UK, the standard here has been designed around the Japanese Chademo standard (because the Leaf was one of the first out there). Ecotricity are the company in the UK which BMW have aligned with I think. You can register with them once you have your vehicle registered. The fast charge AC wall box comes with its own cable I believe.

Happy to be corrected on any of this, I don't have my own i3 yet so this is just gleaned from a bit of reading here and there.

Bill

Bill - thanks for that.

So it seems that the car comes with the uk standard 3 pin option, you have to buy the public access cable and if you get a wall box it comes with its own cable.

According to http://www.nextgreencar.com/electric-cars/charging-points.php there seems to be quite a few rapid DC points now?

MikeS said:

According to http://www.nextgreencar.com/electric-cars/charging-points.php there seems to be quite a few rapid DC points now?

Click to expand...

If only!

Those DC points on the map only work on the Leaf. Which uses a non-EU standard plug and socket but reached our shores before the EU published their standards.

Ecotricity are saying they'll start upgrading to the i3's CCS socket this year.

This is why I've gone for the REx. If I like the EV experience and buy a new EV as my next car then I'm hopeful that the charging standards and systems will have improved to the point of usability.

SanSerif said:

MikeS said:

According to http://www.nextgreencar.com/electric-cars/charging-points.php there seems to be quite a few rapid DC points now?

Click to expand...

If only!

Those DC points on the map only work on the Leaf. Which uses a non-EU standard plug and socket but reached our shores before the EU published their standards.

Ecotricity are saying they'll start upgrading to the i3's CCS socket this year.

This is why I've gone for the REx. If I like the EV experience and buy a new EV as my next car then I'm hopeful that the charging standards and systems will have improved to the point of usability.

Click to expand...

Aaah! Thank you.

MikeS said:

However, if I ordered an i3 without adding any charging extras what cables are supplied? What does the AC rapid charge cable offer? What do I have to specify to get the other cables?

Click to expand...

I am going with POLAR charge unit from Chargemaster Plc. as I find the BMW wallbox is too big for me.

They have two types of Chargers -

1. One With cable attached to it and rolls behind it when mounted to the wall. The cable lenth is 4.7meters as standard.

2. One With PLUG SLOT and NO CABLE attached to it. With this one you can purchase Type 2 Mennakes cables to suit your lenth if you need a cable more than the standard 4.7meters lenght. The cable comes with two plug pins to fit into the car and the wall mounted charger.

regards,
ken

Ken

Thanks for that - I filled out their form for a survey a couple of days ago and plan to pay the extra £75(?) to upgrade to 32 amps.

Only just found the forum but it has answered lots of questions, although I'm still not 100% sure on cables/charging units issue. My understanding until I found this thread was that the car came with the standard 13A cable but was capable of accepting fast charge too, for which BMW offer their own wallbox at £315 including a tethered cable. The latter seems to mean that you would still need to pay the £165 to access public charging points.

It looks to me as if the Chargemaster/British gas wallbox offer with the £95 upgrade to fast charge offers just what the BMW wallbox offers at a third of the price and comes with a cable that isn't tethered so also avoids the £165 cost of a BMW public chargeing cable. All you forego is the branding - am I missing something?

BMW appear to have linked with Chargemaster/Polar and their ponts seem to be largely at Nissan/Renault dealers or supermarkets, as well as being Mennekes rather than CCS for rapid charge. Since my occasional longer journeys mainly use motorways rather than routing from Waitrose to Waitrose this isn't too helpful. I'm aware of Ecotricity's plans to add CCS to their 'highway'.

Because of this picture it looks like it's the REX for me. At first I'd thought that it would be a false economy not to go for the £560 DC charging upgrade too as it's absence might affect resale value especially once charging points are widely available. On further thought I think REX means this is pointless as I would need to use rapid charge around 50x before it would pay for having the upgrade rather than paying about an extra £10 for a tank of petrol instead of a fast charge, quite apart from petrol being more widely available and not requiring a coffee stop while charging.

Comments on my analysis would be much appreciated.

RJS
Pool in Wharfedale, W Yorks

The Wallbox is over-large and over-priced and I see no reason to prefer it over the others available for free (or perhaps a charge for the 32A upgrade). AFAIK there is a restriction on where you can have the socketed version. I think the wiring regulations will not allow an unshuttered socket inside domestic premises - so you have to have the tethered version. Outside is OK. I may be wrong (and I'm not sure that installers would follow the letter of the regs anyway).

Many people prefer the tethered version purely for the convenience.

Depending on your requirements you may not need either. I and some other current Leaf owners find the 13A (actually charges at 10A) supplied cable quite satisfactory at home. Overnight charging has always sufficed. I have refrained from fitting a wallbox because our mains supply is limited and I don't think the upgrade 10 16A charging is worthwhile with our current 1st generation Leaf. I may decide otherwise when we get the i3.

I have ordered a Rex because it fits our driving profile. But I have specified the DC option primarily because of resale value, and because I expect Ecotricity to be as good as their word on upgrading - there are several near us and I am happy to stop for charging on occasional longer journeys (a combination of old age and a dog!)

PS I live on the edge of the CYC network with many rapid chargers. I don't use them often because our journeys tend to be out of the region. But some Leaf drivers here use them almost every day, and one or two several times a day. No DC port will reduce the potential second hand market. That may not matter to you of course.

My understanding is that if you have a wall box(BMW or Polar or other?) is that they come with their own cable. You only need the £165 (expensive!) public cable if you want to use public charging points. Personally, I think it unlikely that I will need to use a public point and in any case would expect a cheaper non OEM cable to become available in the future.

What is the difference between a tethered or untethered cable?

I had assumed that a tethered cable (the BMW wallbox is explicitly tethered) would be permanently fixed to the wallbox at the wallbox end but that an untethered cable could be detached and used away from home as a public charging cable, avoiding the need to cough up an extra £165. From the illustrations of the Chargemaster unit it looked as if it was plugged into the wallbox rather than wired in but that may have been an incorrect assumption given the reply by Brian Stanier, perhaps what I was seeing was the car end of the cable plugged into a holster on the charger when not in use rather than the wall box end free to be detached.

Found it (from the British Gas site):

* Tethered means that a cable with a connector attached is physically connected permanently to the charging point, so that you don’t need to use the cable provided with your vehicle.

So it appears the BMW, BG and Polar are all tethered. Which ones are not?

The only socketed station that I know of is:

http://shop.zerocarbonworld.org/charging-stations/

but you won't get the OLEV grant for that.

I believe that some of others are available untethered if you ask.

Yes, the Chargemaster/Polar illustration shows the gun in its holster.

Interesting suggestion from this USA web site - http://www.plugincars.com/quick-guide-buying-your-first-home-ev-charger-126875.html

Portability

If it’s possible, don’t permanently install your EVSE. In other words, have an electrician install a NEMA 14-50 outlet (commonly used for clothes dryers). Then put a matching plug on a pigtail mounted to your EVSE. You can then mount your EVSE right next to the EVSE, and simply plug it in. If the time comes when you move, or decide to relocate your EVSE, simply unplug it—and plug it back into another NEMA 14-50 outlet.

This approach costs exactly the same as a hard-wire installation, and makes the device instantly moveable without additional expense. If your EVSE is outside—because maybe you don’t have a garage—then local code might require that you hard-wire the charging equipment. Otherwise, keep your options open.

Sound like a good idea!

MikeS said:

Interesting suggestion from this USA web site - http://www.plugincars.com/quick-guide-buying-your-first-home-ev-charger-126875.html

Portability

If it’s possible, don’t permanently install your EVSE. In other words, have an electrician install a NEMA 14-50 outlet (commonly used for clothes dryers). Then put a matching plug on a pigtail mounted to your EVSE. You can then mount your EVSE right next to the EVSE, and simply plug it in. If the time comes when you move, or decide to relocate your EVSE, simply unplug it—and plug it back into another NEMA 14-50 outlet.

This approach costs exactly the same as a hard-wire installation, and makes the device instantly moveable without additional expense. If your EVSE is outside—because maybe you don’t have a garage—then local code might require that you hard-wire the charging equipment. Otherwise, keep your options open.

Sound like a good idea!

Click to expand...

Hello MikeS,

Thank you.
Excellent article indeed.

Now I know what is EVSE means!
Electric Vehicle Service Equipment and NOT A CHARGING UNIT !!!
"It may surprise EV newbies to learn that an electric car’s charger is found on board the vehicle. It’s the equipment buried in the guts of the car that takes an AC source of juice from your house, and converts it to DC—so your car’s battery pack can be charged.

That's a fact. But it doesn’t stop nearly everybody from calling the wall-mounted box that supplies 240 volts of electricity a “charger.” Actually, that box, cord and plug has a technical name—Electric Vehicle Service Equipment or EVSE—and if you have an EV, you’re going to want to install one at home.

So, it’s slightly misleading to say we’re providing guidance about chargers, because we’re really talking about buying an EVSE—which is essentially no more than an electrical device allowing drivers to safely connect an electric car to a 240-volt source of electricity. It’s not rocket science, and you should not overthink the selection and installation of an EVSE.

That said, there are important differences between the various home chargers (uh, I mean EVSEs). And there are a few best practices to keep in mind."

I thought two comments from the article are really good and so copied here.


" By....MauiLeaf · 41 weeks ago

Why are you assuming everyone needs or wants a Level 2 EVSE. There was an article I read in the past week or so about how BEV owners are realizing they don't need to charge everyday. I read somewhere that (at least where the gov't wasn't paying for free ones) 30% of Leaf owners just use the 120 Level 1 EVSE that comes with the car. For me, and I drive over 68 miles per day, I just charge my 2012 Leaf overnight at home on my Level 1 (trickle-charge) and then on the same at home or work during the day. I drive more miles a day than 95% of Leaf owners, without a Level 2 EVSE. This perception that folks need to fork over the time and money for a Level 2 EVSE discourages folks from buying BEV. When people realize that the EVSE that comes with the car, and a standard three-prong outlet, can get the job done for most people, that will also cure the faux ailment, "range anxiety". 12,000+ miles and going strong.
--------------
@Mauileaf

Yes you are absolutely corect that if you can get by without purchasing a Level 2 product, then that is great.. These companies also sell many level 1 products for roughly the same price, or even MORE, which totally confuses me. What comes standard with most cars is just fine, unless the customer permanently mounts his L1 charger that came with the car nicely and therefore wants to have second "portable" one in the car. Utilities would prefer you charge as slowly as you can consistent with getting you enough charge in time, and on larger installations ( say, 10 landlord owned EVSE's for an appartment complex) they will save money by limiting things to 16 amp charging docking stations due to limiting the demand charge.

My volt actually charges just fine at the default 8 amps 120 volts, although if I'm going out after dinner I will 'fast charge it' on the 240 EVSE so that I have enough for the evening without reverting to gasoline.

But if level 1 products do it for you, bully for you!"

If you do decide to use only the supplied EVSE to charge at home as I do, make sure that your electrical installation in general and the socket you use in particular are up to the job of supplying 10amps continuously. Many older installations aren't and overheating can occur. It is better to have a dedicated socket with a line directly back to the consumer unit (or fuse box if you have a really antique system) rather than use a socket on an existing ring main.

So... just being crazy... but hopefully BMW has considered offering the i3 with the CHAdeMO plug option globally as they have locally in Japan. Here in the SF Bay Area that would make the car tons more useful.

SAE Combo is a fine charger but it isn't available yet and might be years away from common availability. We currently have over 40 CHAdeMO DCFC units around here. Only makes sense to be able to use them in the interim. They clearly know how to hook one up as it is happening in Japan. Then again... maybe it is just a compliance car.

Tesla is offering a 1k option for Japan. So that pricing could be ok. Or 700 like Nissan.

Love my LEAF. Diamond Lane Stickers, CHAdeMO chargers all around here. Not too shabby... but I almost got a RAV4ev but for the lack of QC. Same applies to BMW. Beautiful car... but Future QC doesn't get me there. And no diamond lane sticker for the REX models.

Feels like BMW and VW got hoodwinked by GM into the Future plug... not the today one. Same old delaying tactics by GM.

The standard charger have 4 indicators, one power, one charging, and the last one indicated an error/fault.

But the third says "Ground Present", with orange color.

What is this?
I have charged without any issue at 2 sockets, both 230V with 130V towards ground. But one of them triggers this light, and the other one not.

Please explain!

MikeS said:

Found it (from the British Gas site):

* Tethered means that a cable with a connector attached is physically connected permanently to the charging point, so that you don’t need to use the cable provided with your vehicle.

So it appears the BMW, BG and Polar are all tethered. Which ones are not?

Click to expand...

Hello MikeS,

I got my tethered Polar EVSE box.
Looks good and compact.
Easy to handle and roll the cable in its slot.

Went with the tethered one because it does not cost me more than 95.00. If I had gone for the socketed box then I have to purchase the cable which will be 250.00 So opted for the tethered one.

I have asked BMW dealer to offer me a Type 2 cable free for public charging. No word yet from them so far.

regards,
ken