$70 Charging Port Cover for US i3's: Wokeby Indigogo Campaign Seeking $10k

[eNate]

This would be compatible with Canada, Mexico, and Australia i3s as well — any i3 with a CCS1 port.

It appears Wolfgang Kern has finally had enough of CCS1 owners bugging him for a charging port cover. In previous communications he declined to pursue this as the i3 program was coming to an early end in the US and he didn't believe there was sufficient consumer interest to spend time and money on its development.

For those of you not familiar, Wolfgang owns the Germany company Wokeby, the maker of the i3 trunk extension, a frunk cover, this charging port cover, and frunk inserts for a few other BMW EVs. I don't recall him running funding campaigns for his other endeavors, so my guess is this is sort of a "grass roots" type of experiment where he's gauging if the community interest really exists to go forward with this. He's got the engineering chops and product catalog to vouch for his work so I believe his fundraising goal and April 2025 delivery timeline are realistic.

Just for clarity I stumbled upon this campaign from a post by a member of an i3 Facebook groups, I'm not affiliated in any way with Wokeby, Wolfgang, or Indigogo. It appears the campaign was launched last week and runs a total of 60 days.

www.indiegogo.com/projects/bmw-i3-charge-port-flap-us-version#/




Installation video of the EU CCS Type 2 version of the Wokeby Charge Port Flap

 

[robthebold]

What problem does this device solve? My US i3 has a flap covering caps covering the charging ports, which is already a belt and suspenders IMO. AFAICT I haven't had any charge port seal problems.

 

[eNate]

I won't make the case that it solves anything; it's a fashion accessory.

It does get rid of the dangling caps, but whether that ranks as a "problem" I suppose is up to the individual.

 

[Dutchi3]

BMW did provide a solution for the upper cap to keep it from dangling, but not many people seem to know this...

You can then also close the flap a bit to prevent that someone that try to pass damages the flap.

 

[tob1as]

BMW did provide a solution for the upper cap to keep it from dangling, but not many people seem to know this...

You can then also close the flap a bit to prevent that someone that try to pass damages the flap.

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I am/have been aware of this (and use it). The Wokeby flaps would match newer BMW icars. In cold weather the rubber plugs are annoying and inelegant (still tend to flop down and hit the side of the car on occasion), so I appreciate this option and hope that enough people sign up on indiegogo.

 

[Mondomensch]

Thanks for posting this! I signed up as it seems useful, although perhaps not really a necessity as others have commented. Then again, no cold weather here…

 

[tob1as]

Thanks for posting this! I signed up as it seems useful, although perhaps not really a necessity as others have commented. Then again, no cold weather here…

True, not a necessity, just like the other Wokeby items, but nice to have (waterproof frunk and more trunk storage (for the BEV only, not for Rex equipped vehicles).

 

[eNate]

The hopeful news is the campaign is only 1 week in and is 20% funded.

Like with any other Indiegogo campaign if they don't reach goal in 60 days, all contributions are refunded.

And since Wokeby is a known entity with a good track record for design execution, I'm not at all concerned about Wolfgang's ability to see this through to completion and delivery.

 

[JohnnyCakes]

I have joined the campaign.

Do I need this? No.
Do I need a BMW i3 when cheaper EVs will get me from Point A to Point B? No.

But I WANT it!
Style -- yes.
Flip the cover closed rather than lining up removeable covers -- yes
Is it cool? -- yes.

I'm all in.

 

[tongsli]

bumping this up to help exposure. I think for those who find it useful it's a great product.

 

[JamesInLondon]

I don't quite understand why there is an Indigogo campaign, they are already making and selling them. Mine arrived whilst I was in France.

 

[eNate]

Wokeby designed this for the CCS2 version of the port in Europe. In previous correspondence he says the CCS1 version looks like it would need to be substantially different - not just a different cover and cutout.

"It is very hard to develop something without having access to check it.

"According to the pictures I received the US version is far more different than I expected. So I would need to create everything from scratch and the tooling costs would be even higher than for the EU version."

 

[tob1as]

Video going live shortly:

Now we just need another 100 people to fund the campaign and we’re off to the races