Charging to 80% capacity

[agzand]

You set departure times (up to three, for different days of the week). Make sure departure times are selected. Then you select "charge in time slot", instead of "charge immediately".

I use one departure time for weekdays (9 am), and one for weekends (11 am). These two are always active. The third departure time is set for early morning (6 am tomorrow) and usually deactivated. I activate it when I need to go out early to a job site. On weekdays usually I leave before 9 am, so the car is around 90% when I leave.

You can also set it on myBMW app. Again departure time works only if you charge in time slot.

[Arm]

I'd not worry about it if you've got a 94Ah battery or greater. People over think this way too much.

[agzand]

I forgot to mention, make sure your preferred charging time allows the cat to charge between when you plug in and your departure time. If you don’t have lower cost electricity, preferred charging should be 24 hrs.

[eNate]

The problems with the workaround of setting a later than planned departure time is that it leaves the car unclimatized ahead of a planned departure, and if not shut off after driving, the car will likely be parked somewhere cooling or heating the cabin when it's not needed.

A climatized cabin is one of the nicest benefits of owning an EV and I'd be loathe to give that up.

I'm fortunate that I charge primarily L1 at work, 30% gain per work day, and I normally don't bother plugging in if I'm above 50%.

[agzand]

The problems with the workaround of setting a later than planned departure time is that it leaves the car unclimatized ahead of a planned departure, and if not shut off after driving, the car will likely be parked somewhere cooling or heating the cabin when it's not needed.

A climatized cabin is one of the nicest benefits of owning an EV and I'd be loathe to give that up.

I'm fortunate that I charge primarily L1 at work, 30% gain per work day, and I normally don't bother plugging in if I'm above 50%.

Yes, but where I live (Bay Area) I don't need climatization in the morning, and it is always deactivated. If I leave really early when it is cold or in the afternoon when it is hot, I just activate it manually from the app.

My morning commute is short, so if I charge to 100% the car will sit at 95% for the entire day.

[eNate]

I'm in Oakland and schedule my departures mid day and late night. It's not a necessity, especially this time of year, but the heat and cool are equally appreciated when appropriate.

If BMW would give me a manual Start/Stop charge function on the app I'd be so appreciative!

[Skyking6976]

I leased a 2021 last September and charge in the garage to 100%. I retired early so don’t drive a lot but love knowing I always have a “full tank”. I haven’t seen any degradation. I live in south Jersey and had a 199 mile range when I went out to the car earlier this week!

[eNate]

I always hesitate before replying to the 100% threads because BMW says to do it, and gives us no useful tools to stop the charge.

But I have point out that, as you say you don't drive much, about the worst thing for a battery is to store it at a full or depleted state of charge. I'm not making the distinction between 100% and 94% but talking 70%.

And to be clear, 199 miles on the GOM isn't an indication of a battery's health, it's representative of a car that's been driven conservatively and efficiently – so good job there! – but I wouldn't expect to see any ill effects on a '21 anyhow.

I get it, especially with a lease and no skin in the game. But for somebody planning to hang on to their i3 for the long term, observing what's essentially industry standard charging norms isn't a guarantee of anything, but is simply cheap insurance for a long and bountiful battery life.

[JohnWasser]

On those charging networks that show a charging graph, I see that my 2017 i3 doesn't slow the Fast DC charge rate (usually 48kW) until the charge reaches about 95%. I take that as a good stopping point. I find it amusing when some charging network sends me a "Your car has reached 80% charge" message. They usually add "Many cars charge at a slower rate after 80%."

Side note: One of the newer Level 2 charging stations in my area has a button you can press to stop charging at 80%.

[websterize]

From the i4 owner's manual. You MPGe might vary :