Cost and Options of Home Wall Charger?

[scottlawrencelawson]

Hi! I am in the US in California and have put a deposit down on the i3. I am trying to fin out what the cost of the BMW home wall charger is and what other options do I have? Does the BMW one (Bocsh, I think) hold any advantages over other brands? Thanks!

 

[SDCAi3]

I, too, have ordered one in California and am trying to decide on which EVSE (charging station) to get. From what I can tell, the BMW Wallbox Pure doesn't provide any functionality over other EVSEs like the highly-rated Clipper Creek, Aerovironment and others. It seems that all the iRemote functions will work no matter what EVSE your using. The problem is it's a big hunker, albeit pretty, yet several of the others are much smaller. The only thing I haven't been able to determine is the Wallbox's output rating for the US. Most of the other EVSEs are rated at 30A max, which will come a little short of taking full advantage of the i3's 7.4kW on-board charger. If the Wallbox can handle 32A and pump out 7.4kW, then it may be worth the extra size and unknowr reliability risk to be able to charge a little faster (or you can buy another company's EVSE rated at 40A).

I see that there is or will be a Wallbox Pro available, which has a touch screen to access additional info and functionality, but I haven't seen any details on it.

 

[scottlawrencelawson]

Thanks for that info . . . any idea on the price? I read many don't like the size of it, but I want to know the cost.

 

[SDCAi3]

Thanks for that info . . . any idea on the price? I read many don't like the size of it, but I want to know the cost.

No... I'm waiting for the Bosch guy arranged by my dealer to come out and give an estimate. I presume he'll know what the Wallbox cost is. I've also arranged for an estimate by a local electrician to see how the electrical work itself compares.

 

[ultraturtle]

For comparison purposes, you can easily install a 30A EVSE yourself for less than $700 (EVSE $570 from Bosch or $590 from Clipper Creek, breaker $15, old work box $2, 8ga wire $0.83/ft), or make and install your own for less than half that (https://code.google.com/p/open-evse/). If Congress renews the credit, you can recover 30% of the installed cost on your 2014 tax return (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8911.pdf), bringing the net cost to less than $490.

 

[mindmachine]

I, too, have ordered one in California and am trying to decide on which EVSE (charging station) to get. From what I can tell, the BMW Wallbox Pure doesn't provide any functionality over other EVSEs like the highly-rated Clipper Creek, Aerovironment and others. It seems that all the iRemote functions will work no matter what EVSE your using. The problem is it's a big hunker, albeit pretty, yet several of the others are much smaller. The only thing I haven't been able to determine is the Wallbox's output rating for the US. Most of the other EVSEs are rated at 30A max, which will come a little short of taking full advantage of the i3's 7.4kW on-board charger. If the Wallbox can handle 32A and pump out 7.4kW, then it may be worth the extra size and unknowr reliability risk to be able to charge a little faster (or you can buy another company's EVSE rated at 40A).

I see that there is or will be a Wallbox Pro available, which has a touch screen to access additional info and functionality, but I haven't seen any details on it.

What I was wondering is what EVSE comes with the car, anyone know what the ratings are on it, like voltage, amperage and KW output?

I know the Bosch wall mount charger that BMW sells is priced at $1080, plus installation costs. I don't like it though, way too big and I am therefore considering the Aeroviroment unit

 

[stef007]

For comparison purposes, you can easily install a 30A EVSE yourself for less than $700 (EVSE $570 from Bosch or $590 from Clipper Creek, breaker $15, old work box $2, 8ga wire $0.83/ft), or make and install your own for less than half that (https://code.google.com/p/open-evse/). If Congress renews the credit, you can recover 30% of the installed cost on your 2014 tax return (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8911.pdf), bringing the net cost to less than $490.

Thanks for the openEVSE link! I wasn't aware of this project. It actually uses a microcontroller platform I'm already using at home for several sensors and projects: arduino. Actually I'm using an arduino clone called JeeNode (which includes RF radio onboard). Anyway, I think this is ideal to integrate into my home (domotics).

Anybody using it for BMW i3? On their site it has not yet been confirmed working, although I'm not expecting any problems.
https://code.google.com/p/open-evse/wiki/OpenEVSE_Compatibility

Regards

 

[ultraturtle]

Anybody using it for BMW i3? On their site it has not yet been confirmed working, although I'm not expecting any problems.

The J1772 standard has been around for a long time and there is no reason to believe BMW would stray from it. You shouldn't have a problem. Parts are reasonably cheap, and it's fun to build.

I was hoping to try it on my own i3 in another 5 weeks and let you know how it works, but it looks like production for USA bound i3s (except for Electronaut and most West Coast deliveries) has been delayed a couple of months.