Charge settings

[704hov1451]

What are the implications of "maximum" vs "reduced" for Level 2?

I am still trying to compensate for the unpredictable and unreliable i3 delayed charging while trying to take advantage of reduced rates after midnight--at least until some reliable solution comes from BMW. If I select "reduced" for Level 2 but also select "charge immediately", and begin charging at, say, around 10 PM, will I experience less consumption of electricity per hour and thus effectively minimize the penalty for the EVSE starting before the desired midnight-6AM timeframe? In other words, accepting a slower charge for a reduced rate. And how roughly how long would a Level 2 recharge take at the "reduced" rate? Or am I deluded, that the i3 will not know how to step down the rate on Level 2?

Obviously, I would accept as a temporary solution if charging started at 10 and finished at, say, 3 or 4 AM, in which case most of the charging would fall under the lowest rate period with SDG&E (I have TOU-2).

 

[i3Alan]

If I select "reduced" for Level 2 but also select "charge immediately", and begin charging at, say, around 10 PM, will I experience less consumption of electricity per hour and thus effectively minimize the penalty for the EVSE starting before the desired midnight-6AM timeframe? In other words, accepting a slower charge for a reduced rate. And how roughly how long would a Level 2 recharge take at the "reduced" rate? Or am I deluded, that the i3 will not know how to step down the rate on Level 2?

Set it to the reduced rate and plug it in. Your dash display will tell you what time the charging will be completed. If too late then the reduced rate will not work for you. If too soon after your lower electric rates begin then also not a good solution for you.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Consider that the vehicle may need to keep conditioning the battery for a longer time if you set things to reduced, it may not reduce your total energy use as much as you'd think. Also, the vehicle generally starts out at a fairly high current level (up to whatever setting you select), then, as it approaches full, it slows down. It may then turn on and off a few times near the end...I think that it does that to help determine if it is really fully charged by checking the internal voltage when the charging stops. The only real reason why it offers a slower charging rate is to ensure you don't overload your source. Otherwise, since the EVSE reports how much current it can supply, the vehicle will never use more than that. BMW included a pretty sophisticated battery heating/cooling capability along with the buffers in power storage at the top and bottom of the user power range to help ensure the battery lasts. Hopefully, they did their engineering well.