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      08-28-2016, 08:59 AM   #1
jnkirk1974
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Max Charging Question

I beg your forgiveness if this question has been asked many times. I couldn't locate it in the search feature....

Any reason why I should set my car to charge at the maximum level? I noticed that I could control the level a charge (low, max, etc).

Will too many charges at the maximum level damage the batteries?
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      08-28-2016, 10:33 AM   #2
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Correct me if I'm wrong, I believe it has to do with which charger you use as well as how much you want to "spend" on charging. The portable charger, at least the one I have says to only use "low" charging.
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      08-28-2016, 10:39 AM   #3
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I am not expert but when you put in maximum charge, it should charge it faster than other charging modes but there must be a snag. Because I think this time it would draw more current from the power station which in turns put more dent in your pocket which means you would pay higher in electric bill
Charging at maximum normally would damage the batteries but we are talking about i8. This car is smart enough to cut down the current to preserve the batteries. I will share you with my latest experience. When I �� plugged the cable in the outlet battery range read 15 kilometers. 3.5 hours later I went by the car and noticed that car's charging cession stopped. When you plug it in you will see a blue circle flashing and when it's full it changes its flashing state as well
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      08-29-2016, 01:39 AM   #4
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That setting controls the charging rate. It has zero bearing on cost, assuming you wait to have your battery fully charged, anyway. You pay for electricity by total consumption, and that is determined by how much the battery can hold. 5.2 kWh in the case of the i8, which on a home outlet in Switzerland costs between CHF 1.20-1.50, depending on night or day rate. So, it will NOT kill your energy bill. If your charge at a faster rate, the charging will stop sooner - cost remains the same.

The charging rate is set to "low" by default, because they don't want you to overload your home circuit by accident. I believe at "low" it charges with 8 Ampére (over here, on a 220 V grid), which the super-safe setting. Pretty much any househould outlet is protected by the fuse / circuit breaker to at least 10 Amps.

I always plug my i8 into a 16 A outlet, so I have my charging rate set to "max". Never had any issues.

By the way, the i8 never seems to charge at a rate higher than about 2.5 kW/h (about 12 A at 220 V) even if it's plugged into a fast-charging e mobility outlet somewhere. We have some chargers here that deliver 400 V at 32 A, which should charge an i8 in less than half an hour. Yet, it always takes just over 2 hours for a full charge.
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      08-29-2016, 10:00 AM   #5
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Here is what BMW says about the charging station:

Genuine BMW i Charging Station
The BMW i Charging Station combines award-winning design with reliable, convenient home charging. It is the sensible choice, available exclusively at BMW iCenters. Designed to complement your BMW i vehicle, this wall mounted charging station reduces charging time for the BMW i3 to around 3.5 hours (7kW at 240v). Plus, with the provided 25-foot cable, you will have the flexibility to charge from your preferred location. Charging is simple: just plug in and charging begins immediately. Or, use the BMW i Remote App, or the in-vehicle low cost charging timer, to schedule charging to coincide with Time of Use rate plans, available from many utility companies, that make nighttime charging less expensive. Either way, you can enjoy the satisfaction of waking up to a fully charged vehicle.
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      08-30-2016, 09:25 PM   #6
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So, I should leave the setting on the car to "LOW" for charging?
It just seems to take forever. However, if setting it to "HIGH" is
going to damage something, I certainly won't do it.
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      08-30-2016, 09:51 PM   #7
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AFAIK, Low vs. High is only for Level 1 charging (wall plug). If you use high power, it won't damage the car. But it may trip your circuit breaker if you're pulling more power than the wires can handle. Of course, this is assuming your breakers are calibrated correctly .

If you're using Level 2, it should always draw the full power.
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      08-31-2016, 07:23 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hytek View Post
AFAIK, Low vs. High is only for Level 1 charging (wall plug). If you use high power, it won't damage the car. But it may trip your circuit breaker if you're pulling more power than the wires can handle. Of course, this is assuming your breakers are calibrated correctly .

If you're using Level 2, it should always draw the full power.
Thank you.
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      08-31-2016, 07:26 AM   #9
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I don't mind damaging the house....just not the car
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      09-01-2016, 09:45 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hytek View Post
AFAIK, Low vs. High is only for Level 1 charging (wall plug). If you use high power, it won't damage the car. But it may trip your circuit breaker if you're pulling more power than the wires can handle. Of course, this is assuming your breakers are calibrated correctly .

If you're using Level 2, it should always draw the full power.
Correct.
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      09-07-2016, 09:36 PM   #11
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I had a question about this too.

If I'm charging off of the wall at home (110 here in US), I assume go with LOW. But, if I'm at a charge station...say at a mall, would I have to go into the menu and switch to MAX? That' would be kinda annoying to do everytime I got out and charge. Shouldn't this be automatic and detect the difference in volt or watt or whatever and switch the mode to most efficient?

Z.
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      09-07-2016, 11:04 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zipforia View Post
I had a question about this too.

If I'm charging off of the wall at home (110 here in US), I assume go with LOW. But, if I'm at a charge station...say at a mall, would I have to go into the menu and switch to MAX? That' would be kinda annoying to do everytime I got out and charge. Shouldn't this be automatic and detect the difference in volt or watt or whatever and switch the mode to most efficient?

Z.
I asked these questions. To make it easy for you.....

1) Just leave it on MAX. It will charge faster on a standard wall charger. All is fine. You won't hurt anything at all. If it trips the circuit breaker at your house, then set it back to LOW again.

2) The car is smart enough to know when it's connected to a charging station and will automatically charge according to the connection it's receiving.

That's pretty much it.
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      09-08-2016, 02:38 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jnkirk1974 View Post
I asked these questions. To make it easy for you.....

1) Just leave it on MAX. It will charge faster on a standard wall charger. All is fine. You won't hurt anything at all. If it trips the circuit breaker at your house, then set it back to LOW again.

2) The car is smart enough to know when it's connected to a charging station and will automatically charge according to the connection it's receiving.

That's pretty much it.
Thanks!

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      01-18-2021, 11:16 PM   #14
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I bought a 2015 i8 about 3 weeks ago.
I've been happy with it for the most part.
However, last week the engine light came on so I took it to BMW.
The service advisor just told me that since I had the car on MAX charge and I was using a level 1 charger, if I was plugging it to a outlet with older wiring that didn't have a constant current, it was triggering a fault in the car. He said he will reset it and change the charging to low

So my questions are as follows
A) it was already taking 4+ hours to fully charge, will the low setting take even longer?

B) could the fault be with the level 1 charging cable that came with the car? It is well used and I noticed sometimes when I plugged it in, (before plugging into the car) it gave me a charging error light (both at home and work so cannot be the outlet)

Any thoughts?
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      01-19-2021, 02:47 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanbmw2010 View Post
I bought a 2015 i8 about 3 weeks ago.
I've been happy with it for the most part.
However, last week the engine light came on so I took it to BMW.
The service advisor just told me that since I had the car on MAX charge and I was using a level 1 charger, if I was plugging it to a outlet with older wiring that didn't have a constant current, it was triggering a fault in the car. He said he will reset it and change the charging to low

So my questions are as follows
A) it was already taking 4+ hours to fully charge, will the low setting take even longer?

B) could the fault be with the level 1 charging cable that came with the car? It is well used and I noticed sometimes when I plugged it in, (before plugging into the car) it gave me a charging error light (both at home and work so cannot be the outlet)

Any thoughts?
It takes about 4 hours to charge, whatever you plug it into and whatever settings you have in place. And yes, sounds like a dodgy cable to me.
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      01-21-2021, 08:56 PM   #16
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Well I just got the car back today. Plugged it in and instead of 4-5 hours it says 8 hours to full charge... 😓
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      01-22-2021, 02:38 PM   #17
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Second i8. I am having been charging at home on the "max" settings using standard US 110 with no issues.
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      01-22-2021, 09:24 PM   #18
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Yeah, it could be that I have wiring issues either At work or at home ( I am guessing at work).

They switched it to reduced ( not low) , but it is taking 8 hours to charge. On the upside, I now have around 26-28 km range once fully charged whereas before it was 20-23 km.

I might test it by switching to max at home and to
Reduced at work and see if the fault comes up again. Then of nothing happens after a couple of weeks (that's how long it took to manifest the first time), then I know it's a issue at work and I can call an electrician
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