[02601_33859]

I tried 120v charging yesterday and was disappointed to see that the iX apparently restricts it to "maximum of 10 amps" according to the car dash display. Plugging into a 20 amp circuit makes no difference. The only thing I could accomplish was reducing the charge rate further to either 8 or 6 amps via the mybmw app.

[xueju1121]

120 v charging is a pain in the ass for all EVs, not just the iX. If I remember correctly, my old Model X only adds 3 miles per hour using a 120v plug. IMO, a NEMA 14-50 socket or above is necessary for EV ownership.

[hugo_nz]

What charger and power connector are you using?

[NomoTesla]

The vehicle heater will take up all the current from the 120v if it needs to condition the battery (i.e., if you live in a very cold or very hot climate) and there will be nothing left to actually charge. Or there may even be a deficit. 120v makes no sense to charge an EV. You will want a 240v/50A outlet. Don't skimp here.

[NomoTesla]

Originally Posted by 02601_33859

I tried 120v charging yesterday and was disappointed to see that the iX apparently restricts it to "maximum of 10 amps" according to the car dash display. Plugging into a 20 amp circuit makes no difference. The only thing I could accomplish was reducing the charge rate further to either 8 or 6 amps via the mybmw app.

Do you have the AC charge limit disabled in the vehicle? If not, try disabling that.

[Paladin1]

As above, under the Charge Settings in the MyBMW app, set AC charging to "Unlimited." The car will then draw the maximum power delivered. Which with a 120v outlet is not much - charging to full could take a week.

[VirtualGuitars]

This is not a BMW thing, but it is an EV thing. As the others have indicated, you cannot rely on charging at 120 V. You need a NEMA 14-50 outlet with a 60 A circuit. It will only cost you a few hundreds dollars by any licensed electrician. Better yet, get something like a BMW Wallbox (or any other level 2 charger) hardwired to your breaker panel. That way you can keep the included charger inside your vehicle at all times for emergencies.

[deutsch100]

I tried Level 1 charging ONE time with my Jaguar I-Pace. 40 hours for a full charge :-o

[02601_33859]

Originally Posted by hugo_nz

What charger and power connector are you using?

Stock BMW charger w/ 120v plug. Have tried on both 15 amp and 20 amp circuits~ same result. And no, I do not have the charge restricted in the vehicle. My winter home actually has a 240v receptacle already installed so I have been able to charge already at level 2. My summer home currently does not so I am trying to see how it might do as is. I really don't do a lot of driving up there and some municipal charging is free (level 2). I realize all the limitations with 120v just really frustrated that it could be / should be 60% better (16 amps, not 10 amps).

[VirtualGuitars]

Originally Posted by 02601_33859

Stock BMW charger w/ 120v plug. Have tried on both 15 amp and 20 amp circuits~ same result.

That’s 120V for you. You’re only going to get about 3-4 miles of range per hour of charging - AT BEST. This is true for any EV - including Tesla.

See my previous post (scroll back 3 posts) on what you need…

[02601_33859]

Originally Posted by deutsch100

I tried Level 1 charging ONE time with my Jaguar I-Pace. 40 hours for a full charge :-o

That's actually pretty good compared to my iX experience. I'm getting less than a 1% increase per hour~ so maybe a 35% increase at best for 40 hours. Starting SOC at 50%: 9:09pm @ 50%, 11:40am @ 61%

[VirtualGuitars]

Originally Posted by 02601_33859

That's actually pretty good compared to my iX experience. I'm getting less than a 1% increase per hour~ so maybe a 35% increase at best for 40 hours. Starting SOC at 50%: 9:09pm @ 50%, 11:40am @ 61%

You cannot own an EV and only rely on 120 V charging. If you’ve spent anywhere near $100k (or more) on a new iX, what’s another $250 to get an electric dryer outlet (NEMA 14-50 outlet with 60 A circuit) installed in your garage? If you only plan to use a regular outlet, you are going to be sorely disappointed with the “charging performance” with any EV. Unless of course you drive less than I do (less than 5,000 per year).

[ggalanis]

Originally Posted by 02601_33859

Stock BMW charger w/ 120v plug. Have tried on both 15 amp and 20 amp circuits~ same result. And no, I do not have the charge restricted in the vehicle. My winter home actually has a 240v receptacle already installed so I have been able to charge already at level 2. My summer home currently does not so I am trying to see how it might do as is. I really don't do a lot of driving up there and some municipal charging is free (level 2). I realize all the limitations with 120v just really frustrated that it could be / should be 60% better (16 amps, not 10 amps).

Well, I could see why you would expect it to be 12A, 16A was not likely to ever happen. Does the plug on the BMW charger have one of the pins perpendicular to the other? (I honestly don't know cause I didn't look at mine yet) Because my understanding is that would be required to actually pull that kind of amperage from a 120V 20A circuit.

[jcolinzheng]

I do think charging at 120v can be useful when staying in a vacation cabin that doesn't provide 220v power access, which is most of airbnb in the US.

Rather unfortunately, the BMW charger is capped at 10 amp to reduce the chance of tripping breakers in case other things like garage door opener are on the same circuit. I guess one can purchase a different EVSE that can take 16 amp, which could charge up to 35-40% (assuming 20a outlet) each day during vacation.

[Pictor]

Originally Posted by 02601_33859

Stock BMW charger w/ 120v plug. Have tried on both 15 amp and 20 amp circuits~ same result. And no, I do not have the charge restricted in the vehicle. My winter home actually has a 240v receptacle already installed so I have been able to charge already at level 2. My summer home currently does not so I am trying to see how it might do as is. I really don't do a lot of driving up there and some municipal charging is free (level 2). I realize all the limitations with 120v just really frustrated that it could be / should be 60% better (16 amps, not 10 amps).

Your stock BMW EVSE is limited to 10 amps using 120v. This has little to do with your car. It's the EVSE limiting the rate to 10 amp.

I've seen reputable EVSE makers offer 12 amp from 120v and less reputable options on Amazon offering 16 amp from 120v so you could always try and throw money at the problem for occasional use on the road. As I'm sure you understand, you're better off investing in a L2 EVSE for your summer home.

[Croddlebopper]

You need the volts to push the amps.

In the U.K. we have 230v AC and can charge from a domestic wall plug at 13 amps - approx 3kwh. When you have a 100kwh battery even this supply would take 35 hours to charge. Not much good!

So most of the EV owners here have a wall box which can carry 30 amps at 230 Vac - then that is only 7kwh but that is our supply maxed out. That is suitable for overnight charging.

The best option for AC is 3 phase which is 3 x 30 Amps at 230vac which is 22kwh - that’s ideal …. Until you realise that the IX without AC Pro is limited to 11 kwh ! AC Pro is able to suck the full 22 kwh.

But these are very large batteries with very large appetites and TBH the DC charging network is the best option.

[02601_33859]

Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars

, what’s another $250 to get an electric dryer outlet (NEMA 14-50 outlet with 60 A circuit) installed in your garage? Unless of course you drive less than I do (less than 5,000 per year).

$250 I wish! It cost me over $400 two years ago to install a 30amp RV circuit on the outside opposite the breaker panel- and I supplied the new box. Probably closer to $1k to run a new line to the garage IF the old panel can handle it. I doubt I'll exceed 2500 miles over the 5-6 summer months, so if I could have gotten 16 amp it might well have worked out. C'est la vie...

[boogysbmw]

Running a 240 line is not cheap at all. I got a quote from two electricians and they wanted over $1200. Did it myself by following the same path the electrician was going to use for $400. 80% of the cost was the romex 6awg wiring.

My panel was in the basement and had to do a 30 foot run to the garage. Since didn’t want to do major drywall work, I ran the wires though some electrical PVC pipes and into a Nema 14/50 outlet.

I eventually got a hardwired EVSE and removed the 14/50 outlet so I can use the 60amp line to its full potential of a 48amp charge

[NomoTesla]

Electricians try to rip you off when they see a BMW in the garage or know it's for EV charging. My sister got two estimates, both over $1,000, and she eventually found someone who would do it for a much more reasonable $400. The electric panel was even IN the garage!

[boogysbmw]

Originally Posted by NomoTesla

Electricians try to rip you off when they see a BMW in the garage or know it's for EV charging. My sister got two estimates, both over $1,000, and she eventually found someone who would do it for a much more reasonable $400. The electric panel was even IN the garage!

I didn’t even have an EV at the time. I had a ram truck and a BMW X5 but I guess they may have assume I was made of money which I am not I am made of debt hahaha

At the end of the day it’s a pretty easy to run the line yourself especially if the breaker box is in the garage. I highly encourage watching a few creditable YouTube videos and give it a try

[VirtualGuitars]

I used Qmerit to install my BMW Wallbox since that’s who BMW has partnered with. Depending on the complexity of the installation, their lowest charge is $799 for simple installations like mine. I felt it was necessary to maintain the warranty on the BMW Wallbox since they are an authorized installer (even though they just farm it out to any licensed electrician).

While the guy was here, I asked him to also add the NEMA 14-50 outlet and 60 A circuit and he only charged me an extra $250. I wanted a backup just in case the BMW Wallbox failed or if I ever need to charge a second vehicle.

[ggalanis]

Originally Posted by boogysbmw

At the end of the day it’s a pretty easy to run the line yourself especially if the breaker box is in the garage. I highly encourage watching a few creditable YouTube videos and give it a try

HARD disagree.

It is also pretty easy to do something wrong and cause one of the connections/wires/breaker to get too hot and eventually cause a fire.

I get that there are tons of DIYers and that it is conceptually simple to do. Hell, you might have already done something similar to add a standard 120V plug in your garage and this feels like it is about the same... But an EV charging circuit pulls a continuous high load for very long periods of time, which is much more likely to cause a fire if you did something even slightly wrong.

You also might not be covered by your insurance if you do this yourself and have an issue, let alone how you'd feel if this were to cause serious damage or injury.