Charging Time in comparison

[Jaypi]

Hey guys,

I'm about to spend some money for a L2 charger to speed up the charging process.

I live in the U.S. and therefore the charging takes probably 14-16h from 0-100%.

I'm interested in two different versions. The 32amp and the 48amp version. How much of a difference make each model? I couldn't find any time comparisons for those different models.

Both would be from ClipperCreek.

Thanks in advance
JP

 

[jhu321]

As far as the i3 is concern it would make no difference. You're limited by the i3's onboard charger rate of 32amp. The higher power one would theoretically be useful down the line should you want to upgrade to a different car with a higher rate charger.

 

[Jaypi]

As far as the i3 is concern it would make no difference. You're limited by the i3's onboard charger rate of 32amp. The higher power one would theoretically be useful down the line should you want to upgrade to a different car with a higher rate charger.

Thanks very useful! Getting a L3 charger (one of those fast chargers) is probably too expensive correct?

 

[PDXelectric]

As far as the i3 is concern it would make no difference. You're limited by the i3's onboard charger rate of 32amp. The higher power one would theoretically be useful down the line should you want to upgrade to a different car with a higher rate charger.

Thanks very useful! Getting a L3 charger (one of those fast chargers) is probably too expensive correct?

Yes, most homes couldn't handle the load and the equipment would be ~6000 on the cheap side.

 

[Jeffj]

$6000 if you qualified to get one of the BMW DCFC units. More like $15K-$40K for commercial units. Plus, getting 480V AC power to your house is non-trivial to impossible.

DCFC at home is a complete non-starter.

With a 32 Amp level 2, you'll see ~3.5 hours to full if you start at empty, but its really pretty rare to start at empty. Figure that the car gains ~35-40% of full charge per hour if its below ~80% charged, and then slows down pretty dramatically. So if you get home with 25% remaining, in about an hour you'll be up to ~60%. This makes anything faster than a level 2 at home pretty pointless.

 

[Jaypi]

$6000 if you qualified to get one of the BMW DCFC units. More like $15K-$40K for commercial units. Plus, getting 480V AC power to your house is non-trivial to impossible.

DCFC at home is a complete non-starter.

With a 32 Amp level 2, you'll see ~3.5 hours to full if you start at empty, but its really pretty rare to start at empty. Figure that the car gains ~35-40% of full charge per hour if its below ~80% charged, and then slows down pretty dramatically. So if you get home with 25% remaining, in about an hour you'll be up to ~60%. This makes anything faster than a level 2 at home pretty pointless.

That sounds great. Right now it takes easily 14h to get to 80%.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Even a newer car with a bigger battery and a bigger on-board charger will still work just fine with a 32A unit, but limited to about 7400W/hr. The second thing is the amount of power available in your power panel. In my case, the most I could support was a new 40A circuit (thus the hard-wired 32A unit). A 48A unit would require a 60A circuit. THe supply wiring is a lot more money...copper isn't cheap these days.

 

[lencap]

I have the Clipper Creek 40 Amp unit (32 useable) - highly recommended.

 

[NoMoreGas]

I drive 56 miles per day round trip in my 2014 REX. I arrive home with 17 to 23 miles range left. My ClipperCreek HCS 40 recharges me to full in just under 1 hour and 30 to 45 minutes. Very enjoyable and well made. Easy.