UK smart / charge point

Newbie here so apologies if this question has been covered previously.

I am to take delivery of my i3 Rex in January and am looking at charge station possibilities.

BMW have launched a new 'smart' charge station which I have seen information on but know very little about it or other options available.

Does anybody out there have knowledge / experience of the BMW approved system and specifically the smart charge option??

Any support / advice would be much appreciated.

Ps I don't need to have the charge point installed until late December so can wait for the right solution.

I'm in a similar position - i3 Rex anticipated to arrive mid Feb and trying to work out the best charging solution at home.

As far as I can tell there are plenty of companies who can install a 3kW slow charger for free, some of which will install a 7kW for a modest extra fee (~£90-£100), and Rolec even appear to offer a 7kW for free too. BMW meanwhile will install a 7kW for £315 - and that's just the basic "pure" model, let alone the fancy "smart" model. Is there really any reason to go with the BMW wallbox pure rather than a free Rolec (for example) charge point? When I tried googling all I really got was one person on this forum who said they occasionally have charging glitches with a Rolec 7kW and their i3, but I don't know if that's a one off or a general incompatibility.

Also is there some sort of additional funding for these things in Scotland? The i genius at Barry Fairburn seemed to say there was. Does that mean even the BMW unit would be free?

Sorry for the slight hijack!

The problem is that it's very unlikely that anyone has experience of two different fast chargers in a domestic setting. So it's unlikely that anyone knows definitively whether any charging glitches which happen are charger issues or car issues.

My issue is sporadic and I'm sure it's the car. It just seems to get confused when the car is below the minimum state of charge to allow delayed charging and I have a departure time and delayed charging set. It sometimes throws a 7 and i get a charging interrupted error and it fails to charge.

I would ask your dealer whether there are any features included in the BMW system which are not present in other chargers and what those features are and mean for the end user.

Bill

We had the Polar 7kw charger installed (modest fee of £90). Had the car 1 month, almost 2k miles, charging every night, and no issues.

2 reasons we didn't go for the BMW charger: cost (£315 > £90) and size (Polar charger is quite small; BMW one is comparatively huge).

Yeah think I'll have another chat with the dealer about the wallbox pure. The extra size isn't much of an issue as it will be installed inside my garage which is plenty big enough anyway, and if Scotland gets the £315 covered too (which from what I can tell is the case as it seems the OLEV grant covers 100% in Scotland rather than 75% in England/Wales) then I guess I may as well go for the Official BMW unit.

I can endorse everything elptex says: I have a Polar charger and it's fine. The maximum current it seems to deliver is 24 Amps (rather than the rated 30amps) but it still charges the car in about 4 hours from near flat.
I didn't get the tethered version (which is the same price!), but bought the socketted version needing a separate cable. I was thinking the separate cable would give me flexibility in charging elsewhere, but it's not an issue, it seems. I don't charge elsewhere, so could've saved the cost of the separate cable.

I doubt whether Scotland will pay the extra £315 for the BMW and suspect you will get 100% only for whatever standard charger the approved installers use. Check very carefully if you want to go for the BMW badge (which is all you really get).

Rolec do a 7kw that is completely free under OLEV scheme see - http://www.rolecserv.com/ev-charging/news/view/ROLEC-OFFERS-FREE-16AMP-AND-32AMP-CHARGING-POINTS

From what I've read, the differences in the smart unit are that it has a display to show you some statistics, and can be accessed from remote so you could use it rather than the car's logic to set the charging times. There are a few units out there that can do similar things, but most are quite dumb, only showing via LED status if the unit is charging, has a power fault, or a GFCI fault. OFten, there's a fourth lamp that says the unit has power coming in and that's all. FOr most people, that's enough.

The i3 today can take a maximum of 7.4Kw in, or a 32A EVSE. A smaller one will still recharge the vehicle, but will just take longer. The unit that comes with the car may suffice for some people in Europe with a wall socket providing 240vac. The 120vac unit they provide for the NA continent can take up to 20-hours to recharge the car, which is kind of impractical unless the vehicle doesn't need much to top off. But, it's what's available easily here.

I can confirm that the BMW charger is free in Scotland. There are some forms to fill out and submit prior to installation though. My colleague had the bmw pure box fitted in his garage for free. It is HUGE :shock:

The BMW i Wallbox Pure is indeed huge. It's in my porch now but not overly offensive.

I asked Schneider a few months ago about the alternative box that I saw at BMW Welt in Munich back in June this year, and they said it was being offered to i8 owners. Now it has been launched as BMW i Wallbox Pro, the main advantage I can see over the Pure is that it is a little smarter and it will prioritise power from your PV panels if installed rather than taking from the grid. I have no evidence for this other than what I've read on the internet so YMMV.

Ref the £315 standard install, and outside of Scotland, it will now cost more because the UK gov grant dropped from £1000 maximum to £900 at the end of August, plus you might need additional earthing as per IET regs if the car is outside so expect this "standard install" price to change.

Wallbox pure is £360 now in line with the reduced govt grant.

jackt said:

Rolec do a 7kw that is completely free under OLEV scheme see - http://www.rolecserv.com/ev-charging/news/view/ROLEC-OFFERS-FREE-16AMP-AND-32AMP-CHARGING-POINTS

Click to expand...

That looks interesting. will be getting in touch with them... I want to have the EVSE on a separate meter as I'm buying thru my company, but they can fit a mini meter in the EVSE if it keeps it tidy and probably cheaper than adding a new meter. Want to be able to expense for the electricity used in the car - as the electric bill is set to double with me doing 12,000+ miles a year.

Plan B... does the i3 show how much charge it's taken / electric its used - somewhere in the menus, similar to an odometer?

nowtta60 said:

jackt said:

Rolec do a 7kw that is completely free under OLEV scheme see - http://www.rolecserv.com/ev-charging/news/view/ROLEC-OFFERS-FREE-16AMP-AND-32AMP-CHARGING-POINTS

Click to expand...

That looks interesting. will be getting in touch with them... I want to have the EVSE on a separate meter as I'm buying thru my company, but they can fit a mini meter in the EVSE if it keeps it tidy and probably cheaper than adding a new meter. Want to be able to expense for the electricity used in the car - as the electric bill is set to double with me doing 12,000+ miles a year.

Plan B... does the i3 show how much charge it's taken / electric its used - somewhere in the menus, similar to an odometer?

Click to expand...

The EVSE will have its own smart meter anyway, as part of the OLEV grant condition is it phoning in your consumption and usage. The one I have has a small LCD display on it showing kWh.

Ref the car - is this a company car or personal? If personal, HMRC do not recognise electricity for vehicle propulsion as "fuel" as such and therefore you will have to declare any expenses received as a taxable benefit. I believe you will also have to declare the EVSE as a benefit too, and I would check the small print on the OLEV grant paperwork, you have to sign to say that you are funding it yourself and will not be reclaiming the VAT.

However - if the car is personal, you can claim the standard AMAP rates (business miles only, does not include commuting) effectively tax free (45p per mile first 10000, 25p thereafter). As there is no petrol or diesel to buy, this is quite attractive.

I should just say I'm not an accountant and you may want to ask a real one about the tax position, however I'm in a similar situation in that my i3 will become my work daily drive. I have paid for the EVSE myself and will be claiming AMAP for business mileage in the car, also I will switch my electricity tariff to Economy 7 when the car arrives. On the basis that the car will not be completely flat when arriving home (assume 30% SOC left), and just under 8p/kWh overnight, I've estimated that this will add around £45 a month to my electric bill. A lot less that the £500-600 than I use in petrol.

mark1 said:

I would check the small print on the OLEV grant paperwork, you have to sign to say that you are funding it yourself and will not be reclaiming the VAT.

Click to expand...

Not on my OLEV form. In fact all it says is that if you are using a finance company to purchase the car then you will take steps to ensure that the end-driver completes a government survey.

But you can't reclaim VAT on a car anyway (unless you are a hire company where the car is treated as plant & machinery). On a company car there is no benefit in kind or National Insurance at present on a zero-emission vehicle and the business can offset the entire cost against its taxable profit in the year the car is purchased. The after tax cost is therefore significantly lower overall than an equivalent ICE vehicle.

See http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM23900.htm for the horse's mouth

DerfSdrawd said:

mark1 said:

I would check the small print on the OLEV grant paperwork, you have to sign to say that you are funding it yourself and will not be reclaiming the VAT.

Click to expand...

Not on my OLEV form. In fact all it says is that if you are using a finance company to purchase the car then you will take steps to ensure that the end-driver completes a government survey.

Click to expand...

I'm talking specifically about the funding of the charging point, not the car, the OP indicated that he was using his company to fund the EVSE. The form I signed for the Schneider engineer just after he installed it had a declaration on it for OLEV that I was funding it myself and not reclaiming VAT.

mark1 said:

DerfSdrawd said:

mark1 said:

I would check the small print on the OLEV grant paperwork, you have to sign to say that you are funding it yourself and will not be reclaiming the VAT.

Click to expand...

Not on my OLEV form. In fact all it says is that if you are using a finance company to purchase the car then you will take steps to ensure that the end-driver completes a government survey.

Click to expand...

I'm talking specifically about the funding of the charging point, not the car, the OP indicated that he was using his company to fund the EVSE. The form I signed for the Schneider engineer just after he installed it had a declaration on it for OLEV that I was funding it myself and not reclaiming VAT.

Click to expand...

Had a look at this last night.. the OLEV guidance notes on the goultralow website say it must be a private install.
https://www.goultralow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/OLEV-domestic-recharging-grant-guidance.pdf

Not a problem - as it's still free with some installers, though some may have a fee of up to £100. Nothing to put thru the accounts so will do that in my own name. I'm just wanting the metering so I can expense the additional electricity as I would anything else for business use. As I'm paying BiK tax on having a car I expect all costs for it to come out of the company including charging it. No problem - as pointed out earlier - all the EVSE have the metering in as part of the OLEV grant - they want the data to see how EVs are used by owners.

I have emailed my energy supplier Good Energy as I recall BMW did some marketing about a link up between them, but not exactly sure what was on offer. Might be just trying to get you to switch suppliers, but maybe it's some special rate for off peak use or an EVSE install.

Sill question maybe - but is there a difference on the charging connector between USA and UK. I've been using google image search "BMW i3 Charging port" trying to work what what I need to order for the EVSE and there are both pictures of the 5 pin Type 1 J1772 and the 7 pin + DC Type 2 connector.

I'm at the point where I'm thinking an EVSE with a socket is best option for future proofing and flexibility if I get the Mrs something like a Zoe. (She thinks electric cars are rubbish at the moment, but has never been in one, LOL!) I might get her a G-Wizz as punishment

USA uses a J1772 aka Type 1
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/SAE_J1772_7058855567.jpg

EU uses Mennekes aka Type 2
http://www.mennekes.de/uploads/media/MENNEKES-Stecker_Typ2_02.jpg

If you get a Type 2 plugged unit you can get a cable that has a type 2 to type1 adapter. I have a type 2 socket on my EVSE and two cables one that is Type 2 - Type 2 and another Type 2 to Type 1 for the Outlander PHEV.

http://nuworldenergy.co.uk/shop/product/j1772-to-mennekes-cable-32a-5m

All ac EVSE units (except Tesla) use the same J1772 plug in the USA. As stated, Europe settled on a plug with internal shutters so that you couldn't touch the pins. This is somewhat overkill since the EVSE doesn't apply the line voltage until after the plug is connected and the car talks to it, but hey, it is what it is. This is also one reason why BMW chose not to offer the i3 for European delivery to the US customers - the thing uses a different plug (but the same control logic).

DC fast charging, is another story in the USA (and probably Europe).