Just bought an i3!

[stockysnail]

Hi everyone. I just bought an i3. I rode in it at a car show a year ago, took it on a quick test drive, then borrowed it on the 3 day extended test drive at which point I really started to love it. I got mine in Laurel Grey/BMW i Frozen Blue, mega pack, with the only option of heated seats. Now I need to get a higher volt/amp charger for my garage.

Oh and I'm in the USA in the Portland Oregon area. I also own a heavily modified & supercharged Subaru BRZ. I was considering buying another Lotus Elise as I had one for a couple years but my practical size said the next car I buy must be electric.

 

[nowtta60]

Hi everyone. I just bought an i3. I rode in it at a car show a year ago, took it on a quick test drive, then borrowed it on the 3 day extended test drive at which point I really started to love it. I got mine in Laurel Grey/BMW i Frozen Blue, mega pack, with the only option of heated seats. Now I need to get a higher volt/amp charger for my garage.

Oh and I'm in the USA in the Portland Oregon area. I also own a heavily modified & supercharged Subaru BRZ. I was considering buying another Lotus Elise as I had one for a couple years but my practical size said the next car I buy must be electric.

Welcome to the forum. Lots of learning to do with EVs.

First thing is you'll be responsible for educating other members of family and public so get used to calling the "charger" an EVSE or wallbox as the charger is actually on board the car. The wallbox is just a plug socket with some switching logic to deactivate when not in use.

Spend a bit of time working out what connectors you want, removable or tethered depending on whether you expect to use public charge stations.

Interested in the BRZ... Hadn't realised the had after market superchargers available. Was looking at that/gt86 as a potential future purchase.

When's your delivery date?

 

[DAZ]

Congratulations and welcome. I'm a Mega guy also. I like the Mega wheels and interior the best. Do your research on "EVSEs". Plenty of options, just make sure you get one that matches the requirements of the i3, charging rate of at least 7.4kWh or better. Check Amazon.com for an idea on pricing and comparable models. Enjoy!

 

[Alexander99]

Congrats, welcome. Similar here, just got a loaded BEV on Sunday.

 

[dlass0123]

what about the home fast chargers advertised on this forum?? are they good starting at $395
and who will install it and how much ??

 

[DAZ]

what about the home fast chargers advertised on this forum?? are they good starting at $395
and who will install it and how much ??

:shock: A good i3 compatible EVSE with installation could easily run over $1000. The EVSE would be at a fixed price once you decide which one you want. Installation will depend on the difficulty of installation and the cost of materials. Thinking long term, it's worth the cost.

 

[i3Alan]

what about the home fast chargers advertised on this forum?? are they good starting at $395
and who will install it and how much ??

I suspect you are referring to the Clipper Creek 15A EVSE. It is a great unit at a great price, but it is only half the capacity of what the i3 can use. That is, their 30A EVSE which is about a hundred dollars or so more, will charge in half the time as this cheapest unit. Dollar for dollar, the Clipper Creek units are very hard to beat. Recently, the Jesla Juice Box became available with better features at a lower price, and I would seriously consider them, but they are new, and not yet UL listed (so I've heard).

There are many great review sites for EVSEs and you should visit a few. So many good units available, but the prices are ALL OVER THE MAP. Clipper Creek is a sure bet for value and reliability and warranty. The Juice Box looks great to me, also. The BMW unit is 2x what other similar units sell for, but it looks GREAT and has a nice small cabinet built in for storage of, something??!! Bosch and others also have good reasonably priced units. The various units have various "better" features, such as delayed start function, longer cords, higher current capacity, prettier lights or displays, weather protection, portability, etc. Figure out what features are important to you, and make sure you get a unit with those features.

Any licensed electrician will be able to install your unit. If you already have a 240V outlet near where you want your EVSE, then you can plug it in yourself (just buy a unit that has the right 240V plug on it). If not, find an electrician first (I would get 2 or 3 install estimates) to make sure you have adequate current available so that you don't buy, for example, a unit that requires a 60A circuit when you can only get a 30A circuit to your garage for a reasonable cost. Any electrician will be able to answer this for you easily and quickly. I was quoted $150 to tap into my existing dryer circuit (30A - and not used by the gas dryer!), or $700 to run a new 40A line from the breaker box. I ended up adding the 30A outlet myself, and it was as easy as adding a 120V outlet to a wall that already has the 120V line running inside it. The parts I bought at Home Depot cost about $30. I saved over $800, but only have 20A charging, requiring about 5.5 hours for a full charge from empty.

 

[stockysnail]

Hi everyone. I just bought an i3. I rode in it at a car show a year ago, took it on a quick test drive, then borrowed it on the 3 day extended test drive at which point I really started to love it. I got mine in Laurel Grey/BMW i Frozen Blue, mega pack, with the only option of heated seats. Now I need to get a higher volt/amp charger for my garage.

Oh and I'm in the USA in the Portland Oregon area. I also own a heavily modified & supercharged Subaru BRZ. I was considering buying another Lotus Elise as I had one for a couple years but my practical size said the next car I buy must be electric.

Welcome to the forum. Lots of learning to do with EVs.

First thing is you'll be responsible for educating other members of family and public so get used to calling the "charger" an EVSE or wallbox as the charger is actually on board the car. The wallbox is just a plug socket with some switching logic to deactivate when not in use.

Spend a bit of time working out what connectors you want, removable or tethered depending on whether you expect to use public charge stations.

Interested in the BRZ... Hadn't realised the had after market superchargers available. Was looking at that/gt86 as a potential future purchase.

When's your delivery date?

Picked up the i3 last night and drove it to work this morning. It charged about 1/3 to 1/2 on the standard wall outlet over the 8 hours or so I was home. I didn't realize nothing is really in the wall box except some switch logic. Makes me wonder why they're so expensive if that's all they are.

I've had the BRZ since August of 2012. There is a huge aftermarket for it. There's one twin screw supercharger for it (what I have because I wanted to hear it whine), there are multiple centrifugal superchargers, and many, many turbo aftermarket options. It's turning out to be one of the top cars for both autox and track days, even in stock form. FT86club.com is the best forum out of the multiple ones there are for the BRZ/FR-S/GT86. Wide range of people have them as well, from older 60+yr olds to 18yr olds. Everyone in my area is really nice and we all get together occasionally.

 

[stockysnail]

what about the home fast chargers advertised on this forum?? are they good starting at $395
and who will install it and how much ??

I suspect you are referring to the Clipper Creek 15A EVSE. It is a great unit at a great price, but it is only half the capacity of what the i3 can use. That is, their 30A EVSE which is about a hundred dollars or so more, will charge in half the time as this cheapest unit. Dollar for dollar, the Clipper Creek units are very hard to beat. Recently, the Jesla Juice Box became available with better features at a lower price, and I would seriously consider them, but they are new, and not yet UL listed (so I've heard).

There are many great review sites for EVSEs and you should visit a few. So many good units available, but the prices are ALL OVER THE MAP. Clipper Creek is a sure bet for value and reliability and warranty. The Juice Box looks great to me, also. The BMW unit is 2x what other similar units sell for, but it looks GREAT and has a nice small cabinet built in for storage of, something??!! Bosch and others also have good reasonably priced units. The various units have various "better" features, such as delayed start function, longer cords, higher current capacity, prettier lights or displays, weather protection, portability, etc. Figure out what features are important to you, and make sure you get a unit with those features.

Any licensed electrician will be able to install your unit. If you already have a 240V outlet near where you want your EVSE, then you can plug it in yourself (just buy a unit that has the right 240V plug on it). If not, find an electrician first (I would get 2 or 3 install estimates) to make sure you have adequate current available so that you don't buy, for example, a unit that requires a 60A circuit when you can only get a 30A circuit to your garage for a reasonable cost. Any electrician will be able to answer this for you easily and quickly. I was quoted $150 to tap into my existing dryer circuit (30A - and not used by the gas dryer!), or $700 to run a new 40A line from the breaker box. I ended up adding the 30A outlet myself, and it was as easy as adding a 120V outlet to a wall that already has the 120V line running inside it. The parts I bought at Home Depot cost about $30. I saved over $800, but only have 20A charging, requiring about 5.5 hours for a full charge from empty.

What is the maximum amps I would want to maximize i3 charging, hypothetically if my house will support it? Is it 30A or 60A? As far as I can tell I can get an electrician to install a wall outlet at whatever that max amperage is at 240v, and get a box that plugs into the wall outlet on one side and the car plug on the other? One nice thing about my garage is the breaker box for the house is only 1ft away from the i3.

 

[stockysnail]

Added a link to my BRZ in my signature for those that are curious about it.

 

[jadnashuanh]

The i3's internal charger is 7.4Kw max (it won't pull that much full time). The units in the USA labeled 30A are essentially the same as the 32A units people often use in Europe, since they rate them differently and are all you need to get the current i3's shortest level 2 recharge time.

The EVSE announces to the car how much power it has, and the car adjusts itself so that it won't try to draw more than the EVSE says it has.

The EVSE has essentially, a small power supply, a signal generator (to make the signal to tell the car what it has available), and GFCI logic in it, and a big power contactor (relay). Most have at a minimum some indicator lights to tell you what's happening, and the more expensive ones sometimes have other features like WiFi connections so you can monitor things remotely, or displays to tell you the current charging rate, etc. I picked up a $20 volt/amp meter on Amazon I'm going to wire into the junction box feeding mine...at least a few hundred dollars less than those built in. Should take me maybe an hour to make the custom electrical box cover and wire it up maybe this weekend.

US code has no 40A plugs defined (a fixed load like an EVSE requires a breaker and wire at least 125% of the stated load, so a 32A would require a 40A wiring and breaker), and that's what you'd have installed if you hardwire the thing. For the same thing, if you want a plug, you have to go for wiring and breaker rated at 50A, just like your 15A standard outlet in your home works fine with your phone charger that may only draw 1A...the wiring and breaker must match the plug, and those are 50A. So, if you don't hardwire it, you have to pay more for the unit with a plug, more for the wire (since it's bigger gauge), and then the plug for the convenience. Most people never move it around, and if you really did, you could attach your own plug to it.

Except for the cost and power requirements in the wiring and breaker, a larger one will still work fine, as the car knows what it can use, and will work just fine - again, look at the phone charger example.

 

[nowtta60]

Added a link to my BRZ in my signature for those that are curious about it.

Yikes that is heavily modified. What are you gonna do to the i3? Swap the REX for a small block chevvy . lol.

 

[stockysnail]

Added a link to my BRZ in my signature for those that are curious about it.

Yikes that is heavily modified. What are you gonna do to the i3? Swap the REX for a small block chevvy . lol.

Perhaps a flux capacitor.

 

[i3Alan]

What is the maximum amps I would want to maximize i3 charging, hypothetically if my house will support it? Is it 30A or 60A? As far as I can tell I can get an electrician to install a wall outlet at whatever that max amperage is at 240v, and get a box that plugs into the wall outlet on one side and the car plug on the other? One nice thing about my garage is the breaker box for the house is only 1ft away from the i3.

The max current the i3 can take, in theory, is 32A, and after the new KLE circuits are installed, I expect the "upgraded to original spec" i3 will be able to accept 32A. Clipper Creek just upgraded their 30A unit to 32A (same price). You must have a 20% margin in the supply circuit for continuous current demand (for safety and to meet code), which means your circuit breaker needs to be 40A or greater, but should be less than 80A for safety, although the EVSE will work fine on anything greater than 40A.

Since your EVSE is so close to your breaker box, I would go direct wire, unless you want at least the potential of portability. I went with a plug-in as a substitute for an emergency off switch, since my breaker box is on the opposite side of the house.

If you can mount your EVSE within a foot or two of the breaker box, then you can wire directly from the 3' flex conduit that comes with the hard wired Clipper Creek unit to a punch out on your breaker box. I believe you can order the Juice Box to come with a similar hard-wire tail. That should be the minimum charge for any electrician, as it is not even 15 minutes of work, and possibly zero additional materials, as the CC unit comes with screw down terminators in two sizes for the conduit. If you feel very confident in rewiring 120V circuits, such as replacing a circuit breaker in the box, then this should be just as easy for you to do it yourself.

 

[stockysnail]

What is the maximum amps I would want to maximize i3 charging, hypothetically if my house will support it? Is it 30A or 60A? As far as I can tell I can get an electrician to install a wall outlet at whatever that max amperage is at 240v, and get a box that plugs into the wall outlet on one side and the car plug on the other? One nice thing about my garage is the breaker box for the house is only 1ft away from the i3.

The max current the i3 can take, in theory, is 32A, and after the new KLE circuits are installed, I expect the "upgraded to original spec" i3 will be able to accept 32A. Clipper Creek just upgraded their 30A unit to 32A (same price). You must have a 20% margin in the supply circuit for continuous current demand (for safety and to meet code), which means your circuit breaker needs to be 40A or greater, but should be less than 80A for safety, although the EVSE will work fine on anything greater than 40A.

Since your EVSE is so close to your breaker box, I would go direct wire, unless you want at least the potential of portability. I went with a plug-in as a substitute for an emergency off switch, since my breaker box is on the opposite side of the house.

If you can mount your EVSE within a foot or two of the breaker box, then you can wire directly from the 3' flex conduit that comes with the hard wired Clipper Creek unit to a punch out on your breaker box. I believe you can order the Juice Box to come with a similar hard-wire tail. That should be the minimum charge for any electrician, as it is not even 15 minutes of work, and possibly zero additional materials, as the CC unit comes with screw down terminators in two sizes for the conduit. If you feel very confident in rewiring 120V circuits, such as replacing a circuit breaker in the box, then this should be just as easy for you to do it yourself.

Very helpful. Thank you very much.

I think my first mod for the i3 will be a front license plate mount that attaches to the toe hook location. Since I don't have the option of the parking assist I won't need to worry about the front parking sensors being triggered by the front plate mount. Front plates are required in Oregon unfortunately, otherwise I wouldn't bother with the front plate.

 

[DeafSoundGuy]

Welcome to the i3 club sir. I too am in Portland, with also a Laurel Gray base but with the 20" wheels and Rex. Obviously you've already fallen in love with these cars as I have after 2 minutes of test drive. Did you buy at BMW Portland? Man they've been awesome in every way. Very nice people work there and it seems like half the staff already have an i3 themselves, in the process of buying one or want one badly. Who could blame them ?

I really thought that I was going to have to run out and buy the fast chargers but found out very quickly that the stock 120 wall charger works just fine for me. If you just drive 20 to 50 miles a day, plug it in at night, it might be all you need.

Weird that there's at least 100 of these electron streaming around Portland but still have not seen one other than the dealers demos. I will look forward to possibly sneaking up on you silently :twisted:

Enjoy

 

[stockysnail]

Welcome to the i3 club sir. I too am in Portland, with also a Laurel Gray base but with the 20" wheels and Rex. Obviously you've already fallen in love with these cars as I have after 2 minutes of test drive. Did you buy at BMW Portland? Man they've been awesome in every way. Very nice people work there and it seems like half the staff already have an i3 themselves, in the process of buying one or want one badly. Who could blame them ?

I really thought that I was going to have to run out and buy the fast chargers but found out very quickly that the stock 120 wall charger works just fine for me. If you just drive 20 to 50 miles a day, plug it in at night, it might be all you need.

Weird that there's at least 100 of these electron streaming around Portland but still have not seen one other than the dealers demos. I will look forward to possibly sneaking up on you silently :twisted:

Enjoy

Yes from BMW of Portland. I was originally dealing with Kuni BMW in Beaverton for the test drive, extended test drive, and possibly buying one that was used from an extended drive, but they didn't have any. I went to the BMW of Portland dealer and told them the price I'd pay for one, but also wanted to trade in the new motorcycle I just bought. After telling them no on the price they offered on the bike about 4 times, the 5th time they offered to buy my bike for the same price as what I paid for it new (it only had 240 miles on it so was still basically new).

So far I've been driving 30-40 miles so using the 120v that came with it is working out fine. I haven't had it fully charged yet but haven't needed it to be either. I'll probably wait on getting the wall mount for a little while.

It's hard to believe 100 have sold in our area. I saw a completely black one parked so obviously someone vinyl wrapped or painted the rest of it black.

If someone ever comes out with a two door sports car that is BEV only, and doesn't cost as much as an i8, then I'll be selling my BRZ as I'll have a new track/autox/weekend toy. Tesla may be the first if they attempt it after their model e or make a two door of the model e with performance motor. One can only hope! I wanted to buy a Tesla to support the local economy but they just didn't fit the price point or desire for a smaller sized car (I prefer smaller cars but no surprise with the Elise on my former car list). Perhaps I'm British at heart. Clarkston, Hammond, and May need to keep making Top Gear until they die! Best show ever!

 

[Surge]

Tesla already was the first with the elise roadster. Why didn't you buy that?!

 

[stockysnail]

Tesla already was the first with the elise roadster. Why didn't you buy that?!

Out of my price range at the moment. Although if someone wants to swap my BRZ and i3 for a roadster I'd be game.

 

[fullspeed]

stockysnail, I'm in SW PDX/Beaverton, and I just had my EVSE installed. I ordered a Clipper Creek HCS-40P charger unit direct from Clipper Creek, ships from Sacramento and gets here in just a few days. It's the plug in version, not the hardwire, so if I ever sell my house I can take it with me (or if I ever go back to fuel burners I can craigslist it). It's a 32A charger, and I had a 50A socket installed for it. I used Mike's Electric, whom I'm pretty familiar with as I've been referring them out to my real estate clients. They're good people and they do good work for a fair rate. 503-649-6991. The Oregon Dept of Energy is allowing a 25% tax credit to us right now, of installation + materials. This saved me about $300.

On another note, I'm headed down to BMW of Portland in an hour to pick up my new i3! White Giga Rex.