Problem with DC (CCS) charging in cold weather.

Hi, everyone.

I have BMW i3, 94AH, 2016, REX. Currently, the mileage of the car is 36250 miles (58,000 km)
I live in Russia. It's cold at the moment. Outdoor temperature is 0 (-18c) / -18(-28c)
I don't use a garage, so the car “lives” on the street.
Recently I had a problem with fast charging through the DC (CCS) connector.
When the battery charge drops to 3-4%, I cannot charge the car using the DC (CCS) connector. If I insert the plug of the charging station into the connector of the car, the message appears on the iDrive screen that the charge from fast charging is not possible and the car invites me to contact the dealer. In this case, the connector itself blinks red.

I solved this problem as follows:
First, I charge the car using the AC connector (TYPE2) up to 20%, and only then I charge the car using the fast Charge using the DC connector (CCS).
Can you please tell me if this is a breakdown or should it be?
I call to the dealer, but since there are few such cars in Russia, the dealer cannot recommend anything.
Any answer will be grateful. Thanks.

The batteries can be damaged if you let the SOC drop that low and let it sit in the cold prior to recharging. I think I read that the 20% is the minimum you want to let it sit and cold-soak in the winter. There's logic in the vehicle to override a time window you may set for low-cost charging, if the battery level is low...it will start to charge up to a certain safe point, then wait for your low-cost window timing to arrive. I am not aware of that being part of a CCS charging protocol, but expect that if it did work, it would still start out much slower than the CCS unit is capable, until that warmed the batteries some, then go full.

I do not have any real experience using a CCS unit...while mine has the capability, I've literally, never used it. I've not seen this discussed anywhere, but maybe someone has some good info for you.

jadnashuanh said:

The batteries can be damaged if you let the SOC drop that low and let it sit in the cold prior to recharging. I think I read that the 20% is the minimum you want to let it sit and cold-soak in the winter. There's logic in the vehicle to override a time window you may set for low-cost charging, if the battery level is low...it will start to charge up to a certain safe point, then wait for your low-cost window timing to arrive. I am not aware of that being part of a CCS charging protocol, but expect that if it did work, it would still start out much slower than the CCS unit is capable, until that warmed the batteries some, then go full.

I do not have any real experience using a CCS unit...while mine has the capability, I've literally, never used it. I've not seen this discussed anywhere, but maybe someone has some good info for you.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your answer. I'll try not to let the battery down below 20% when it's frost outside.