Guess what Mad_Lad got this time?

DrPhilG

ELM327 wrote: »

Why would you carry a 3 phase and single phase cable?

I wondered that too. In my case I'll do it because the single phase is 4m longer and can get me out of some jams caused by ICE. Whereas the 3 phase is shorter and more convenient for regular use.

For Mad_Lad though the longer cable is the 3 phase so I'd just leave the single phase out.

DrPhilG

Then again as it's a REx and I'll never actually be stuck, I might be better off just selling the 10m cable. The money I'd get for that would pay for a heck of a lot of petrol in the REx to make up for the few occasions that the ICE breaker saves me.

I don’t usually carry the two leads just showing that they can all fit in the frunk.

I made the mistake of getting 16 amp 3 phase instead of 32 amp which won’t give me more than 3.5 kw at single phase supply but gives me the full 11 kw at the majority of public ac points and in work.

Normally I leave the blue leaf in the home charge point.

ELM327

Deleted User wrote: »

I don’t usually carry the two leads just showing that they can all fit in the frunk.

I made the mistake of getting 16 amp 3 phase instead of 32 amp which won’t give me more than 3.5 kw at single phase supply but gives me the full 11 kw at the majority of public ac points and in work.

Normally I leave the blue leaf in the home charge point.

16a three phase should combine two of the phases to give 32a at single phase, no?

ELM327

ELM327 wrote: »

16a three phase should combine two of the phases to give 32a at single phase, no?

I don't think so, there's a notable increase in charge times from single phase 32 a to charging on the 3 phase on single phase.

KCross

From SpeakEV...

The 94Ah i3 has three 3.7kW AC/DC rectifiers. When connected to a single phase fast charger two of them are used in tandem for 7.4kW charging. When connected to a 3 phase supply there is a rectifier for each phase.

So, if you connect to a 22kW post with your 16A 3-phase cable you should get 11kW (16*230*3=11kW)

If you connect it to a 32A home charge point it will only be able to take 16A as thats what the cable is rated for and it has only one phase (16*230=3.7kW)

ELM327, the scenario you are talking about.... If you connect a 32A single phase cable to a 32A home charge point it will use 2 of the rectifiers to give 7kW (16*230*2=7.4kW).


Ideally, you need a 32A 3-phase cable and that would give the best of all worlds regardless of what charge point you are connected to. i.e. you will get the max rate on all charge points using that one cable.

KCross

KCross wrote: »

Ideally, you need a 32A 3-phase cable and that would give the best of all worlds regardless of what charge point you are connected to. i.e. you will get the max rate on all charge points using that one cable.

Yes, a 32a single phase wasn't even on my mind when I bought the cable, completely forgot about it. All I was thinking about at the time was 11 Kw 3 phase.

No big deal really because I got a 32a single phase lead.

DrPhilG

Well the boss lady wants to keep hold of the 10m ICE-breaker, so I'll do as I'm told.

Checked for size tonight. This has the puncture kit, the 10m single phase and the 5m single phase, and an extension lead for the granny which lives in the boot.



The 3 phase 6m will be a bit bigger but should still fit with some persuasion.

DrPhilG

@Mad_Lad my head is melting...

As the i3 veteran here, have you any thoughts?

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057933982/1/#post108761969

DrPhilG

3 phase cable arrived, looking forward to a blast at 11kw!

Neat looking cable.

You'll definitely appreciate 11 Kw AC , Can get from about 10 % to 90 % in about 2.5 hrs.

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

@Mad_Lad my head is melting...

As the i3 veteran here, have you any thoughts?

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057933982/1/#post108761969

They're dual 22 Kw charge points to the best of my knowledge , I know there was a debate about this before but the ESB advertise them as being 22 Kw x 2 on the map which makes sense, 22 KW charge point , they're dual charge points if you want to look at it like that.

There are some 3 Kw x 2 around, Arklow has a few and Galway that I noticed which are marked as 22 kw on the map and Ecars won't acknowledge it because it says 22 Kw on the map lol.

Some 7 Kw maybe I don't know. Leaf spy was handy because I could see exactly what was being consumed from the mains.

DrPhilG

Mad_Lad how much would you add per hour on the 11kw speed?

I figured it would be around 40%. I've been plugged into a 22kw post in Derry for half an hour and according to the app I've only added 13% which would be in line with 7kw speed.

Car problem, charger problem or cable problem?

KCross

DrPhilG wrote: »

Mad_Lad how much would you add per hour on the 11kw speed?

I figured it would be around 40%. I've been plugged into a 22kw post in Derry for half an hour and according to the app I've only added 13% which would be in line with 7kw speed.

Car problem, charger problem or cable problem?

13% sounds about right.

11kW for 30mins is 5.5kWh's and subtract another 10% for efficiency gives you a net 5kWh roughly to the battery.

5kWh into a 33kWh battery is about 15%

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

Mad_Lad how much would you add per hour on the 11kw speed?

I figured it would be around 40%. I've been plugged into a 22kw post in Derry for half an hour and according to the app I've only added 13% which would be in line with 7kw speed.

Car problem, charger problem or cable problem?

Not sure per 30 mins but it can get from around 10-90% in 2.5 hrs, so lets see if I can work that out quickly.

That's about 80% in 2.5 hrs or about 32% per hour or 16% per 30 mins which sounds ok to me.

80% in 2.5 hrs isn't bad at all mate..... Imaging a 3.5 kw Leaf or 6.6 Kw. ?

DrPhilG

So I started at 6:40pm with 25%.

At 7:40pm I was at 51%

At 8:20pm when I came back to the car I has 77%.

Is the charging curve not linear maybe? I added 26% in the first hour and another 26% in the next 40 minutes.

Also when I swiped my card to end the charge it said I had taken 17.83kw.

DrPhilG

Last week on the old single phase cable I added around 40% in the same time frame so I expected about 60% on 3 phase.

KCross

DrPhilG wrote: »

Last week on the old single phase cable I added around 40% in the same time frame so I expected about 60% on 3 phase.

It charges at 11kW so thats 33% per hour roughly since you have a 33kWh battery.

Not a chance you would get 60% in an hour.... thats a rate of 20kW!

The SoC readout must be non-linear based on what you are saying.

DrPhilG

KCross wrote: »

It charges at 11kW so thats 33% per hour roughly since you have a 33kWh battery.

It's only about 28kwh usable though.

KCross wrote: »

Not a chance you would get 60% in an hour.... thats a rate of 20kW!

I was referring to a time frame of just under 2 hours, not per hour. Last week on a single phase cable I added about 40% in a little under 2 hours. In a similar time frame tonight (1hr 50m) I added 52% when I expected around 60%.

The car has about 28.9 Kwh usable, I'm not sure if that includes the 6% reserve for the Rex.

But in my opinion, 10-90% in 2.5 hrs is pretty damn good, better than 6.6-7 Kw for sure.

The last part of the charge will slow down as normal. possibly from around 90 odd % but there's nothing like Leafspy for the i3 so I can't confirm anything about anything in the i3 lol. I miss energy monitors, even to see regen or heater consumption.

Speaking of regen, the i3 33 Kwh is different in the way it applies regen compared to the 22 Kwh, when you lift off at speed it does not apply full regen until after several seconds, this was done to provide a more "ICE" like experience on the mororway.

At slower speeds it regens as normal.

KCross

DrPhilG wrote: »

So I started at 6:40pm with 25%.

At 7:40pm I was at 51%

At 8:20pm when I came back to the car I has 77%.

Is the charging curve not linear maybe? I added 26% in the first hour and another 26% in the next 40 minutes.

Also when I swiped my card to end the charge it said I had taken 17.83kw.

So, 1h40mins gave you 52% of 28kWh --> 15kWh to the battery.

Working that out.... 100mins @ 11kW = 18.3kWh (before losses). The charger said 17.83kWh so thats about right.

With losses thats about 16.5kWh to the battery which is 57% of the usable capacity. The car said 52%

So it's in the right ballpark although you would have expected a tad more alright. Non-linear readout, margin of error etc would account for that.

I'd say it did what it was meant to do by those figures.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

I had to go into town again and plugged in at 38% and 1 hr later got to 73.5%.

I'm pretty happy with that 11 Kw charger, it's definitely very useful !

You can see the start and finish times, the finish time is a few mins after plugging out.

Here’s a post made some time ago about charging at 11 kw.

We drove to Galway today, stopped in Ballinasloe , the generator kicked in about 2 kms from the charger, and just about then I noticed a Leaf 40 Kwh up my ass , at one point it looked like he put the boot down and moved out as if to over take me but I put the boot down, he knew I was aware he was behind me, there's no way I was letting him get to the charger first. hahaha, nice for a change to be the first in a queue.

We went into get some food and when I got back out I saw an Ioniq waiting so I checked the charge in the car and at 75% I plugged out and let the leaf in, being the good person I am lol, I let many people in to charge when I had enough. We got to Galway city with about 30 %.

I had thought about charging the car later at the fast charger as there are no AC points near me but I said I will charge in the morning but might not bother and use the Rex to Ballinasloe and charge up there, the risk is if someone is charging but either way I can continue on the Rex. It's a great thing to have as a backup. The Leaf driver said it's the last time he's taking the Leaf on such a long drive, I think they came from Dublin. The Ioniq driver too I think. They were both frustrated with the disgraceful charging network.

Hopefully by the time I change the i3 that the network will have greatly improved but I said that when I got the leaf in 2015. It didn't happen.

Oh and some good news about the i3, BMW confirmed or as good as that the i3 will live on after 2020, a 250-300 HP version would be amazing.

On the other hand I can always keep the i3, I forge what the balloon is at the end, I must check the paperwork.

I just checked today and battery capacity is the same as the day I picked it up. So after a total of 1 year 9 months the car is doing really good, I can't say the same for the Leaf which would be showing a few % at this stage but it was always showing +- 3-7% difference from one week to the next but the general trend was down.

The 33 Kwh has the cells that quote something like 3,200 cycle life to 80% which is incredible , the proof of course is in the pudding but current indications are good.

I put new tyres on the rear after 41,000 kms, I notice a decent bit of extra grip, the old tyres were at the limit.

Grip compared to the 40 Kwh Leaf is amazing in the wet, I am not sure I could live with the Leaf with the grip in the wet being so poor, what it would be like with better wet tyres I don't know but I would be very frustrated with it on those stock tyres.

I still love every minute in the i3, would I like the S version ? I don't know the ride and handling are great for Irish roads, you can certainly push it on and it's decently comfortable, get into the Outlander and I want to cry, turbo lag, fumbling for gears , sloppy handling and poor steering feedback make driving a lot of other cars frustrating. But the Outlander is a different beast good for it's intended purpose.

Would I get another i3 ? I really don't know, I think I'd rather put the money into keeping the existing i3, BMW haven't really developed it much beyond the 2014 model, due to uncertainty about it's future, same power with a little upgrade for the S model, I would like more power options, 250+ HP would be a healthy upgrade but I doubt one would be available by the time I'm due to change.

I'm not sure another EV would float my boat, the ix3 looks like it will be impressive with impressive power options, option of 4wd etc but the cost would be high and it won't be available 2nd hand, perhaps I could keep the i3 another year or two or just keep it.

The i3 is a very good and very under rated car.

Water John

Not to upset you but Declan Colley has no love for EVs or you're REX.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/motoring/motoringreviews/bmw-i3-electric-dream-limited-in-its-capabilities-890663.html

These are some quotes from the article posted int he link in the post above.


This newer car also offers the REX facility, but it does rather take the gloss off the ‘green-ness’ of the thing. All it really did was make having what was essentially an electric city car work for people who want to travel outside the city occasionally.

Takes the gloss of green how ? it's vastly more eco friendly than a petrol or diesel and a regular hybrid......

I am sure that nearly 200 km is achievable in this car if you drive around at 10kph all of the time and on varying roads — local lanes, city streets, city by-passes, motorways and so forth. We know this to be impracticable — and probably very dangerous — so realistically the claimed range is a pipe-dream.

200 Kms at motorway speed , no but I've got as high as 230 Kms from older national routes , not at the 10 Km/h speed he claimed.......

And, from a safety point of view, when you do take your foot off the accelerator, there are also no brake lights either and this can be very dodgy if the person behind you isn’t fully paying attention.

how did the dumbass establish this ? did he get someone to drive it and brake to see if brake lights come on, or did he drivie it at night and look int he rear view mirror ? yes the brake lights come on in the i3 when it detects a certain level of regen, this guy is an idiot, journalists are supposed to research the facts, this person did not, clearly !!!

Despite my fears about not being able to make the trip successfully, I was consoled by the fact that BMW provide you with a couple of helpful tools to help you stretch the mileage.

Yeah the first great tool is called the Rex.........

Then, after 12 hours (with the three pin plug option) regenerating, I had an indicated 195 km for the return trip.

is this a deliberate attempt to persuade people that the i3 takes 12 hrs to charge ? he could have explained that the car takes about 30 mins to charge on a DC fast charger, 4.5 hrs on 7 Kw AC and 8.8 hrs on 3.5 Kw AC or roughly 3 hrs on 11 Kw DC, these are to 100% 90% is a lot faster particularly on 3 phase 11 Kw AC. Again, poor research or deliberately setting out to give people the wrong information


But no, it still took another multiple of hours to get the thing back up to full capacity. I’m reluctant to say how many in case the landlord ups the rent.

Yeah on your extension lead with a portable EVSE not charging nearly at full potential, muppet !!!

And it is a classic of design too, but it is still limited in terms of its real capabilities — and expensive.

The Rex is not limited, it can travel as long as there is petrol in the tank. Again, he does not mention this, but as a journalist it's his job to report to research the facts and report them but too many so called Journalists today do this.

Water John

Thought you'd be the best to give a comprehensive reply, well put.
You might even convince me to consider such a hybrid.

In the article he also mentioned living in the country, well, so do I and I have a 172 Km commute , yes, I have work charging but if I didn't I can still make my commute and back on 1 charge at decent speeds compared to the 24 Kwh Leaf that was very very difficult and meant taking the back road home at 60-80 Km/h. I have to put back 3-6 Kwh of energy into the i3 in Winter if I really drive it hard but for 20-40 odd cent for electricity who cares ? it still costs me a lot less to run than the leaf in regard to making my commute with work charging.

I should also add that the 230 Kms I got was in Warmer Summer weather.

The i3 has a very useful feature which I use a lot and that's the ability to keep the heating on when nipping in to a shop, I think it keeps the heat on for 20 odd mins. Very useful but does help to use more battery. I use this rather great feature quite a lot. But if you though you could need more range you wouldn't use it but it's a great feature to have all the same.

i3 is a great car, for Me I should add, it's up to each person to make their own minds up. Take it for a day or two, go to frank kean on Naas road, they should let you have one for a few days.

DrPhilG

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I just checked today and battery capacity is the same as the day I picked it up.

How do you check that? I read there was a way to access a service menu but it was only in the BEV.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I put new tyres on the rear after 41,000 kms, I notice a decent bit of extra grip, the old tyres were at the limit.

My tyres only had 4500km on them when I got the car so I'll be fine for a while yet.

Also I'm picking up a set of spare wheels with winter tyres next week. Big outlay but will hold their value in the long run.

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

How do you check that? I read there was a way to access a service menu but it was only in the BEV.

https://bmwi3owner.com/2016/01/secrets/

Works in the Rex too.

DrPhilG wrote: »

My tyres only had 4500km on them when I got the car so I'll be fine for a while yet.

Also I'm picking up a set of spare wheels with winter tyres next week. Big outlay but will hold their value in the long run.

I was considering winter tyres but couldn't actually find them, Winter is a bad time to buy Winter tyres. lol.

Looks like this Winter could be a mild one but you never know what will happen for the rest of it.

dloob

Water John wrote: »

Not to upset you but Declan Colley has no love for EVs or you're REX.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/motoring/motoringreviews/bmw-i3-electric-dream-limited-in-its-capabilities-890663.html

As well as Mad_Lads comments, the newer car does not offer the REX.
Judging by the references to 200km range this appears to be a review of the older 94aH i3s which is no longer available new.
I'm also pretty sure EcoPro+ doesn't turn the radio off.