Forum for the entire range of BMW electric vehicles
BMW Garage BMW Meets Register Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
BMW i3 Forums BMW i3 General Discussion

Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      02-17-2015, 04:13 PM   #1
magic77
Brigadier General
magic77's Avatar
United Kingdom
256
Rep
3,815
Posts

Drives: ex- 335i
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Surrey

iTrader: (2)

Charge Station questions

Wondering if any i owners can help.

Looking at buying an i3 Rex for the second car, however charging dileman is creeping up.

BMW want let me speak to techs installers unless I have an order. So hoping existing owners can help.

The main thing I was trying to find out if there is a maximum length of cable you can have between car and charge point.

Want to put the unit in the garage but to where the car i parked I would need about 8M cable

Also any ideas if unit always has to be on its own circuit breaker or can it utilise situation where the garage has its own small ring main already


thanks in advance
__________________
F30 335i M Sport - now departed

Last edited by magic77; 02-17-2015 at 05:18 PM..
Appreciate 0
      02-17-2015, 06:07 PM   #2
MalibuBimmer
Founder, Knights of the Roundel website
MalibuBimmer's Avatar
United_States
967
Rep
1,723
Posts

Drives: 2015 M4 and 2018 AMG GT
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: The Santa Monica Mountains, CA

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2018 Mercedes AMG GT  [0.00]
2018 Audi Q3  [0.00]
2015 BMW M4  [10.00]
I had the BMW charging station -- with 25 feet of cable -- installed by my regular electrician. No problems.

Mine has its own circuit breaker on a garage substation.
__________________
Previously: 2014 i8; 2013 650i convertible; 2013 650i Gran Coupe; 2013 X1; 2010 550i GT; 2010 535 GT; 2010 Z4 3.5; 2008 535ixt; 2007 M6 convertible; 2006 650i convertible; 1996 Z3; 1980 633CSi; 1978 630CS; 1972 3.0CS; 1971 Bavaria. (1971; 1979-2005 & 2017 - ? -- the Mercedes years.)
Appreciate 0
      02-17-2015, 06:10 PM   #3
jadnashuanh
Major
United_States
50
Rep
1,061
Posts

Drives: 535iGT x-drive; i3 BEV
Join Date: May 2010
Location: USA

iTrader: (0)

The longest cable I've seen on units available in the USA is 25' (and some of them are sold worldwide), which is 7.62M. Technically, a longer one could be used, but aren't very common. There is some upper limit the signals can go, but as long as the wire gauge and cable construction was engineered well, you should not get enough attenuation to cause it to fail to work if it were longer. At least a few companies make extension cables, but none of the EVSE manufacturers recommend them.
Appreciate 0
      02-18-2015, 02:43 AM   #4
magic77
Brigadier General
magic77's Avatar
United Kingdom
256
Rep
3,815
Posts

Drives: ex- 335i
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Surrey

iTrader: (2)

THats great I worked out I need about 8 meters to go between charge station and the car so looks like we should be ok

thank you
__________________
F30 335i M Sport - now departed
Appreciate 0
      02-21-2015, 09:59 AM   #5
phantomF80
Private First Class
47
Rep
111
Posts

Drives: F80
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: OC

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by magic77 View Post
Wondering if any i owners can help.

Looking at buying an i3 Rex for the second car, however charging dileman is creeping up.

BMW want let me speak to techs installers unless I have an order. So hoping existing owners can help.

The main thing I was trying to find out if there is a maximum length of cable you can have between car and charge point.

Want to put the unit in the garage but to where the car i parked I would need about 8M cable

Also any ideas if unit always has to be on its own circuit breaker or can it utilise situation where the garage has its own small ring main already


thanks in advance
The cable is quite heavy, so I am not sure you want it dangling in the air the whole time you are charging the car. You may want something to support its weight as you stretch to its max length.

If you are getting a 30 amp charging station like the BMW Bosch unit or the ClipperCreek HCS-40, then you'll need a 50amp breaker to go with it. If you don't have extra 50 amp capacity in the current circuit, then you'll need to upgrade. Also, it's better to have the charging station on its own circuit, that way you don't have to worry about combine loading from other devices and tripping the breaker.
Appreciate 0
      02-22-2015, 12:21 AM   #6
jadnashuanh
Major
United_States
50
Rep
1,061
Posts

Drives: 535iGT x-drive; i3 BEV
Join Date: May 2010
Location: USA

iTrader: (0)

I'd noticed that the max length cable on an EVSE was 25', but just found out that, at least in the USA, it is an electrical code thing - National Electric Code (section 625) specifies 25' max. No idea if there's a similar code elsewhere or not. As the cable length increases, so does the internal resistance of the wires, so unless you go up in gauge, that can be an issue. Plus, the further the thing is from the supply, the same thing occurs. Since power = volts * amps, if you drop the voltage because of increased resistance of a longer wire, your available current goes down, and the 'lost' power turns into heat.
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:21 AM.




bmw
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST