Charge rate

[sb1805]

Hi everyone. Is there a way to check the rate of charge on our i3's? I just installed a level 2 charger at the house, and want to see if the car is taking full advantage of the available power.

Thanks.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Not with many EVSE's. There are some that have built-in test/monitor displays, but they are in the minority.

If you have access to a clamp-on ac current meter and the ability to check the voltage as well, yes, you can figure it out easily: power=volts*amps. I put an inexpensive amp/volt meter on the input of mine, but the ammeter died, and it now only shows the voltage, so I can't use it. I guess I got what I paid for. There are certainly better quality ones available.

If you were using the OUC, Kill A Watt makes a plug in monitor you can buy for cheap on Amazon would work.

 

[jsmethers]

I also recently installed L2 EVSE at home, I did not consider sub-metering but could see from the estimated time to complete charge I was not getting close to 7kw/h. I also knew my car had KLE fix but when I parsed my software version from the usb profile export I could see an earlier version than the Jan fix. So likely the car had a problem but I wanted a better estimate of the actual rate of charge.

From this terrific forum I found there is a way to find the car's current charge level, which I checked and them put the car on L2 with a low SOC so that I knew it would be packing energy at fastest possible. I checked 30mins later, difference between charge levels *2 got me what I think is a reasonable approx of the hourly rate. In my case it was ~5.5kw, at least I could confirm a problem.

A few days later after a visit to the dealer and a software bump I did same test and now get ~6.8kw when it's packing. This is a ClipperCreek HCS-40P on a brand new gr6 run ending at a nema14-50, I am satisfied with this rate.

Thanks to other forum members, their links:
To find sw version: http://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1137

To find charge level: http://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1601

 

[sb1805]

Thank you!

 

[Mg012]

I have an EVSE that shows peak and operating voltage and current. I have the unit set to supply up to 42 amps at 240 volts. When I have L2 charge settings on the i3 at Maximum it draws 29.9 amps at 233volts (7kwh). When I choose Reduced in Settings it draws 19.5amps (4.6kwh). It's unfortunate the car will not provide this simple information.

Michael

 

[jadnashuanh]

I have an EVSE that shows peak and operating voltage and current. I have the unit set to supply up to 42 amps at 240 volts. When I have L2 charge settings on the i3 at Maximum it draws 29.9 amps at 233volts (7kwh). When I choose Reduced in Settings it draws 19.5amps (4.6kwh). It's unfortunate the car will not provide this simple information.

Michael

IMHO, most people are more interested in when will the car finish charging, which is displayed, verses how much power is instantaneously going into the thing.

 

[Mg012]

I have an EVSE that shows peak and operating voltage and current. I have the unit set to supply up to 42 amps at 240 volts. When I have L2 charge settings on the i3 at Maximum it draws 29.9 amps at 233volts (7kwh). When I choose Reduced in Settings it draws 19.5amps (4.6kwh). It's unfortunate the car will not provide this simple information.

Michael

IMHO, most people are more interested in when will the car finish charging, which is displayed, verses how much power is instantaneously going into the thing.

I agree, but it's helpful to know what the charge rate (in amps) in case something is wrong or has changed. (Am I getting the rate I expect?). Luckily you can have the app notify your phone if charging is interrupted which is the worst case scenario.