2018 Deka World Questions

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BigKetchup

Member
Joined
May 8, 2020
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21
Buying a used 2018 i3 Deka World with 30,000 miles on it. Just a few questions about ownership:

1. They told me that the battery has a 70% warranty until 8 years / 100,000 miles on it, so I'd assume I'm good on that front unless there's something I'm overlooking, but what's the cost of ownership on these cars otherwise?

2. Regarding at-home charging, what products should I purchase? I have a 20-ampere, 120 volt outlet in my garage but not sure if I need to upgrade it. I don't think it comes with an appropriate cable, either, but I've seen some used ones sold on eBay. What can you recommend?

3. Anything else that's not obvious? I'm trading in a 2014 Kia Soul which runs really well actually. So not sure if that's even a good move but I'd like to upgrade to something both more fun and environmentally sound.

Thanks!
 
BigKetchup said:
1. They told me that the battery has a 70% warranty until 8 years / 100,000 miles on it, so I'd assume I'm good on that front unless there's something I'm overlooking, but what's the cost of ownership on these cars otherwise?
The battery pack warranty information that you received is correct.

The cost of ownership depends on whether an i3 is a BEV or REx model. BMW recommends replacing the brake fluid of all i3's every 2 years. BMW recommends that U.S. REx owners change the REx engine oil and filter every year. These maintenance tasks could be performed well by any good mechanic including an i3 owner, so the cost depends on who performs these tasks.

The cabin air filters should be replaced periodically, depending on how much one uses climate control and how dirty local air is. I recently checked those on our 2014 i3 recently and they looked quite clean, but our local air is very clean and we haven't used climate control very much, so most i3 owners would need to change these filters more often than me. Again, anyone could change these filters, so the cost depends on who changes the filters and where the filters are purchased.

BigKetchup said:
2. Regarding at-home charging, what products should I purchase? I have a 20-ampere, 120 volt outlet in my garage but not sure if I need to upgrade it. I don't think it comes with an appropriate cable, either, but I've seen some used ones sold on eBay. What can you recommend?
Which EVSE should be used with an EV depends on how far and efficiently an EV is typically driven, how long it could be charged each day, and whether it would be charged elsewhere as well. A 10 A or 12 A @ 120 V Occasional Use Cable (OUC) is included with all new i3's. Driving an average of 4 mi/kWh, an OUC would add ~5 miles of range per hour of charging.

With a 20 A garage outlet, you could buy a 16 A AC Level 1 EVSE which would add ~8 miles of range per hour.

If you live where winters are cold and want to increase your range by preheating your battery pack, an AC Level 1 EVSE would not provide sufficient power to both charge and heat the battery pack simultaneously. Battery pack preheating takes a maximum of 3 hours, so before heating starts, the battery pack would be charged so that an AC Level 1 EVSE could be sufficient.

A problem with relying on a 120 V EVSE would be the repeated plugging/unplugging of the EVSE which could eventually wear and weaken the receptacle's contacts. This would increase the electrical resistance between the plug and receptacle which could generate enough heat to melt the plug and/or receptacle. There have been numerous reports of this occurring.

If a 120 V EVSE might be insufficient for your needs, you'd need to have a 240 V charging circuit installed so that you could charge with a higher-power AC Level 2 EVSE. There are many AC Level 2 EVSE's to choose from, all of them compatible with an i3. The i3's maximum charging current is ~30 A, so to charge as rapidly as possible, an 30 A EVSE connected to a 40 A charging circuit would be needed.

BigKetchup said:
3. Anything else that's not obvious? I'm trading in a 2014 Kia Soul which runs really well actually. So not sure if that's even a good move but I'd like to upgrade to something both more fun and environmentally sound.
All i3's are equipped with low rolling resistance tires of unusual sizes made by only Bridgestone. These tires wear out faster than most tires depending on how aggressively one drives, so the expense of tire replacement would likely be greater than with your Soul.
 
What Art said. :D

On the 220 circuit for a L2 EVSE- basically (in the US) this is just two 110 circuits together. If your fuse panel is in the garage or handy, and has the space and the capacity, any electrician can put in a 220 circuit and socket for you that will handle EV charging. (Just be aware that there are two styles of 220 sockets, and you need the one that matches your EVSE, unless it is hardwired to the circuit). did my own, it's not difficult. See link to youtube video I used as a guide.

As to tires, the 20 inch 'Summer Sports' tires wear quickly - and they and the 20 inch rims are prone to pothole damage. The side wall is just too short for roads not up to German Autobahn repair standards. Hitting a nasty pothole at speed will put a nice bend in the inside of the rim, and likely put a pinch blister in the tire sidewall, ruining both the rim and the tire. (Ask me how I know). From experience, after I ditched my 20" tires and rims, the 19 inch all season tires wear is average.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9ro7Tc2nFI
 
From a maximum convenience standpoint, you may want to be able to recharge the i3 at its fullest capacity. Power=volts*amps. The maximum power the i3 can use is 7400W/hr. To achieve that, you may need a 32A device (which, in the USA, would require a 40A circuit to abide by the 80% rule for that type of device). In my case, I have a 30A unit, but my normal input voltage is 247, so 247*30=7410, IOW, it can max out the i3. If you actually have 220V and a 30A unit, you would not (220*30=6600W). The EVSE sends out a signal that tells the i3 how many amps it can supply...how many watts that actually get used depends on the voltage and the vehicle's limits.

On a cold winter day, after the battery charged, and it was set to precondition the cabin and warm the batteries for maximum range, I've seen my unit drawing 20A (I have a meter on my power input to the EVSE), which means 20*247=4940W were being pumped into the vehicle. Your OUC is likely a 10A device, and say you have 120vac, you'd be able to pump 1200W into the vehicle, so there'd be a deficit when you left (i.e., not full).

So, depends on how many miles you put on the vehicle between charging opportunities, and if you may need to put some juice back in so you can go for a night on the town, or it's just going to sit and charge all night. With a 30-32A unit (larger won't make it faster, but might be useful for futureproofing), depending on the battery pack installed, and how low it was, a few hours will make a big bump in range, and easily, overnight, will fully charge it. The unit that comes with it, could take more than overnight to gain full charge, depending on where you started from.
 
Some really great responses here, thank you.

A lot of questions come up: I don't mind installing a new charger but wanted to know how much that would cost TBH, and do I need new conduit or can I replace the existing outlet & appropriate breakers with a 240 Volt outlet? And how much is a recommended charging cable?
 
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