My crazy 670 miles in 24 hours!

[Stevei3]

I am now questioning whether the i3 is fit for purpose and is, as was described?

Hi BoMW,

on this side of the Channel, CCS is working ok for us. We've used our i3's CCS capability at various locations (we're sort of blessed with an increasing number of CCS stations in NL) for around 45 times now. It has failed us only once, but that was probibly because we had to stretch the cable to reach our car. It seems like the charge port was not happy when coping with the full weight of the heavy DC cable.
Could there be anything wrong with your cars DC connection ?

Regards, Steven

 

[BoMW]

I am now questioning whether the i3 is fit for purpose and is, as was described?

Hi BoMW,

on this side of the Channel, CCS is working ok for us. We've used our i3's CCS capability at various locations (we're sort of blessed with an increasing number of CCS stations in NL) for around 45 times now. It has failed us only once, but that was probibly because we had to stretch the cable to reach our car. It seems like the charge port was not happy when coping with the full weight of the heavy DC cable.
Could there be anything wrong with your cars DC connection ?

Regards, Steven

Hi Steven, indeed I think there is and I called uk BMW customer care about it. They promised to ring me back within 24 hours but 11 days later still nothing

 

[BoMW]

The last two weeks have been even more frustrating.
No return phone call
From uk BMW customer care and poor feed back from dealer,money want me to wait 4 weeks before a courtesy car is available.
CCS chargers at IKEA Warrington and Leeds failed
To Work. Charnock services north and South failed to work. Beacons failed called to work.
Ecotricity advice was to drive round the car park, park up and wait 10 minutes before plugging into station.
I've just done this at Newport pagnell and gues what. It's charging!! CCS works after a bit of a rest! So faff around for 15 minutes before your charge of 35 mins and then you can do 65 miles on the motorway. The future hey!!

 

[BoMW]

The

 

[jadnashuanh]

A CCS draws a LOT of power. I wonder if the design may affect its internal cooling capacity, and not handle a vehicle properly if it was recently used? The i3 can accept a fairly high DC charging rate (I think it tops out at 50Kw), but I'm not sure what other vehicles can accept. It was my understanding that the Leaf is less. Moving that much power will create some heat in the Dc CCS unit as I doubt it is even 90% efficient as a power supply. That means that if it could provide 50Kw out, it would be creating nearly 5Kw of heat energy it had to get rid of along the way. That's a pretty big heater!

Anyone got any specs on the CCS units? Power in verses power out would give its efficiency. The rest is heat (and maybe some more for an active cooling system).

 

[BoMW]

What has been a consistent trait during pre-charge with the CCS , is that once the station reaches +90A it just shuts down.

 

[amateurish]

I've used CCS 3 times so far in various ecotricity points and every time it's worked quickly and without issue. I seem to get 5%-80% in about 25 minutes.

 

[BoMW]

I've used CCS 3 times so far in various ecotricity points and every time it's worked quickly and without issue. I seem to get 5%-80% in about 25 minutes.

Last Thursday I stopped at Newport pagnell north. I wasted 30 minutes by jiggling cable, switching doors open/closed before charging commenced. Arrived home eventually at 0137 an hour and 15 wasted

 

[amateurish]

What do you mean by switching doors?

I don't know if it makes any difference but I plug in the cable before starting the sign in process.

 

[mrsmith]

I've now had a chance to visit nearly every CCS charger on the motorway with some disappointing results. This week in particular while making a trip to Scotland proved challenging. At Wetherby services I ended up queuing for the first time. Another i3 charging up in one bay and a leaf in the other. The i3 driver insisted on getting 100% charge so my waiting time was increased. At Washington I had no que but 3 times the charging was interupted and for some unknown reason I was unable to stop the charging while at 85%. My ecotricity card had suddenly stopped working, no acknowledgment by the station when I placed the card on the pad. I had no way of stopping the charge and had to wait until full charge before I could remove the plug. My only option was to use my source London card.
I returned via M74 and stopped at Abington, again another i3 in the bay who wanted a 100% charge, i also had only one disconnection. At Killington I had handshake issues. Managed to connect on the fourth attempt but then disconnected twice.
Today was one of the most frustrating days on a journey to Watford. I stopped at Newport Pagnell south where the CCS had only been installed this week. It disconnected only the one time. On my northbound return however, my i3 was not connecting. 12 attempts with various cable positions and plug pressure failed to make it charge. I decided to drive up to Leicester Forest east and check out their CCS. Same problem. No communication between the station and the car. I was and still am thoroughly peeved off. I've spent a small fortune on this car, a so called premium BMW with a £600 CCS option which fails to work.
To rub it in a Nissan leaf parked up by me on 3 separate occasions, it connected to its fast charger and was left to charge. How embarrassing. The Nissan works in seconds and has more fast chargers around the country.
Chargenow, BMW official partner here in the UK has, minimal facilities and charges £7 for 30 mins of CCS charging.
I am now questioning whether the i3 is fit for purpose and is, as was described? I tried to call BMW customer services but of course, the premium car manufacturer was not answering on Saturdays.

It's not the BMW it's the charger. See here, http://m.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/volkswagen-e-golf-struck-charging-setback
lots of info on the ecotricity CCS units and the problem's VW (and BMW) drivers are having.

Ecotricity are tweeting "@RobertHayden There is a known CCS issue we are working with BMW, VW and DBT to resolve ASAP - SC"

 

[BoMW]

What do you mean by switching doors?

I don't know if it makes any difference but I plug in the cable before starting the sign in process.

I mean that before the sign in process I unlock or lock the doors to see if precharging takes hold. After 5-10 attempts to charge the car I'll try anything.

 

[dlass0123]

what about keep a very safe can of gasoline in your vehicle for longer trips: ?? If you have a 6 gallon safe can in the back, how far could you go?? with the range extender:
would this be crazy?

 

[jadnashuanh]

You can keep going until you run out of gasoline, BUT, if in the process, you let your batteries deplete to near empty (about 2%), you'll have no margin for higher loads such as passing, or climbing a grade at speed, and the computer will disable some and eventually all of the creature comforts (heating-air-conditioning, heated seats, etc.). If the roads are fairly flat and you don't try to keep going fast, you'll keep going until you run out of fuel. The magic seems to be about 56mph where the REx will stay on at full speed, and has a chance of building some battery reserve. Keep in mind that there are some scenarios where the REx will not be able to provide all the power required to keep the batteries up, and eventually, you'll run out of juice. The REx is a 34-HP motor...when your batteries are flat...that's what's powering your car...IOW, not all that much! A bit more than the original VW bug or a 2CV. Pretty rudimentary.

 

[dlass0123]

thanks so much for the information, it seems like leasing this vehicle might be premature, wait about 2 more years??

questions concerning the vehicle??

NO AM radio but I heard SiriusXM Radio‎ says to buy the external am analog antenna and you can
get am radio?

whether to pay for and install the home charger unit

by the end of 2014 BMW is offering the vacation free loaner gasoline car program for longer trips where the BMW i3 would not be good?

whether to get the range extender for piece of mind: