US EVSE - BMW EVSE vs other Level 2 EVSE?

As the US gets closer to rollout I thought I would throw out a question on the home charging solutions for the US. There is obviously the BMW EVSE which is priced at $1080 (according to the BMW blog http://www.bmwblog.com/2014/04/25/bmw-i3-ride-drive-latest-info/)

I'm also looking at the clipper Creek EVSE which seems to be well liked for many - their equivalent indoor solution is the HCS-40 which is much cheaper at $590 hardwired and $644 with a NEMA 14-50 plug.

There are others as well as outlined here: http://www.plugincars.com/quick-guide-buying-your-first-home-ev-charger-126875.html

So the big question - does the BMW EVSE do anything more than any of these other level 2 EVSE's (other than take up a lot more space in my Garage and cost more!?)

Can't comment on the BMW EVSE specifics, but I have the HCS-40 and love it. Clipper Creek has a great reputation according to everyone I checked with, and the small size, low price, 3 year warranty, and long cable made it a pretty easy choice.

DHP said:

So the big question - does the BMW EVSE do anything more than any of these other level 2 EVSE's (other than take up a lot more space in my Garage and cost more!?)

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According to Bosch, who provided me a quote for wiring for an EVSE, no (at least not for the Wallbox Pure... not sure about the Wallbox Pro, whenever it is available). In fact, they were recommending their EVSE, not the Wallbox.

To badly rephrase an old yarn, "electrons is electrons". It does not matter much how you get 'em from the wall to your car, so you might as well save some bucks. The Clipper Creek unit is a fine EVSE assembly at a great price, but you might be better served to further search for bargains from reputable manufacturers and sellers. For instance, the Clipper Creek unit would end up costing you $613.33 with shipping (perhaps more if state tax were to apply) but you could get an equivalent Bosch Unit on Amazon for $572.99 plus state tax (http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-EL-5125...&ie=UTF8&qid=1398407846&sr=1-13&keywords=evse) if your setup allows for the Bosch's 18' cord (7' shorter than Clipper Creek's 25' cord). I have 2 EVSE units in my garage, with 16' and 18' cables that can easily reach both cars, if that helps.

I don't remember where, but in the last few days I ran across an article about the Bosch unit being looked at be the national highway safety board because there have been some problems with their units overheating at the car plugin point. Smoking at the plug, no actual fires but way too hot.
I wlll try to find it again and post a link.

I have a Prius plugin now and the i3 on order, and I have been looking at the Clipper Creek for my house. From what I understand you need 32 amps to the car for maximum charging rate, 30 amps knocks you down to the next lower charging multiple. I am not 100% sure I understand it fully, but the on board charger will pick the multiple based on the max rate possible from the supply. I think the max is 7.6 kwh for the i3, the next lower multiple is 7.6/2
or 3.8 kwh. So if I am correct, unless you get a 32 amp unit at 240 volts then you may as well only buy a 16 amp or 20 amp unit at 240 volts, which will let you charge at 3.8 kwh. I know the BMW wall box pure is 32 amps at 240 volts and thus you can get the maximum charging rate with it. However; the higher amperage units like it require a 50 amp supply. the house wiring is the key here too as to your ability to utilize the highest charging rate. The 30 amp units are more commonly found in the US at this time I think. I am new at this so help me out if you would please.

Also I have been reading about charging the i3 in England and Europe, It seems that there are settings in the car to accept or set the rate of charge in 3 increments. I am not real clear on this in any detail and how the US version will work in this area.

I am a retired mechanical engineer and not much in the know about this subject, anyone please chime in on this issue please.

I have signed up for the Bosch/BMW home visit to estimate cost for installing the EVSE, but I know there are tens of 30-32 amp chargers that will fill the bill. I know that Schneider Electric (parent company of Square D here in US) is the manufacturer of the 30 amp BMW wall box. But they also market a home EVSE 30 amp EVLink box at $599 which is generic. I believe a 32 amp EVSE can still be used with a 40 amp breaker but perhaps the cables need to support a 50 amp circuit. I think this is why they require the NEMA 6-50 plug for units that are not hardwired. But I am not sure the charge rate with the i3 would be any higher than the 7.2kw level even with the 32 amp EVSEs.

mindmachine said:

From what I understand you need 32 amps to the car for maximum charging rate, 30 amps knocks you down to the next lower charging multiple. I am not 100% sure I understand it fully, but the on board charger will pick the multiple based on the max rate possible from the supply. I think the max is 7.6 kwh for the i3, the next lower multiple is 7.6/2 or 3.8 kwh. So if I am correct, unless you get a 32 amp unit at 240 volts then you may as well only buy a 16 amp or 20 amp unit at 240 volts, which will let you charge at 3.8 kwh.

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The BMW i Charging Station to be sold in the USA (http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Cont...Extender/360Electric/BMWiChargingStation.aspx) is only 7 kW (29.2 amps), and it charges a fully depleted battery in 3.5 hours, so I assume other 30 amp EVSEs should work just as well. Interestingly, 18.8 kWh in 3.5 hours works out to an average of 22.4 amps, which sounds about right for the 40% PWM level of the SAE J1772 standard (24 amp continuous/30 amp peak) when one considers tapering of current at the end of the charge cycle.

Many thanks to TeraBill and Ultraturtle!!

This is something that has been worrying me and I haven't been able to get much if anything out of my BMW dealer.
I have made arrangements with a local contractor that has done electrical work for me in the past to do the install;, but I have been trying to settle on which ESEV (capacity)to install. I am leaning heavily toward the Cripple Creek, and was looking at Bosch until I read where they have had several issues with overheating on the Nissan Leaf. Apparently 5 or 6 separate instances have been reported to the highway safety board. I am still searching for the article I read a few days back.

Many thanks for your reply.

For what its worth, I have the Schneider Electric EV230WS that TerraBill mentioned in his post, and have had no problems with it to date. At $599 plus tax from Amazon, its total cost is probably a bit more than the Clipper Creek unit, and at 18 feet, the cable is 7 feet shorter. Looks to me like the Clipper Creek EVSE unit is the way to go.

ultraturtle said:

For what its worth, I have the Schneider Electric EV230WS that TerraBill mentioned in his post, and have had no problems with it to date. At $599 plus tax from Amazon, its total cost is probably a bit more than the Clipper Creek unit, and at 18 feet, the cable is 7 feet shorter. Looks to me like the Clipper Creek EVSE unit is the way to go.

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FWIW I have a ClipperCreek unit for my Volt. 3 years w/o any problems at all. Small profile which is good. Only issue is the cable is so long ... but I suppose I'd rather it be longer than shorter.

Thanks for everyone's reply - so far, it doesn't sound like the BMW i Wallbox Pure has anything "extra" or works "better" with the i3 than another Level 2 EVSE which generally is $500 less. I can see that the BMW Wallbox Pro has a screen in it and presumably stores charging information on the unit itself (for a whole lot more money). Tom M made some comments back in January around this issue:

"The Wallbox Pure will have a 25' cable here in the US, I asked Rob Healy (BMW i infrastructure manager) and he confirmed that to me. Still, I agree it's probably not the best option and it looks like Frankensteins head.
They do have a different version of it coming soon called "Wallbox Pro" though, It's the same enormous shape, but it has a touchscreen display and you can access data like charging rate, how long the car was charging, how many kWh's it sent to the car, etc. That is nice information to have, but I don't know how much that unit will cost. I's still likely go with a ClipperCreek unit. They are the best built EVSE's around and their new pricing is aggressive. I have 5 ClipperCreek EVSE's and they are bulletproof."