Convenience charging electronics KLE

[Koenta]

Hello i3 fans,

I'm new here and I'm getting an i3 with REX at the end of september.

I looked on this page and have readed that there are issues with the KLE (Convenience charging electronics).

I looked on: http://www.etk.cc/bmw/EN/search/selectCar/I01/MCV/BMW+i3+Rex/ECE/17/17_0768/

And I saw that the KLE is missing in the cooling circuit. It this part only aircooled?

What does this part exactly do? Does it arrange the AC charging and DC charging communications and are there some contactors inside to switch the AC and DC power to the rest of the electronics?

Does anyone have more information on this KLE (Convenience charging electronics).

 

[jadnashuanh]

The batteries need DC voltage to charge them. Unless you're using the DC fast charge option, the CAR must convert the acv to dcv to charge the car's batteries...the KLE is a fancy power supply as I understand it, and takes your acv input and makes something over 360vdc so it can charge the batteries.

 

[jasleinstein]

Yes. in a nutshell the KLE is a AC to DC converter. There are some pretty serious issues with them now. I had mine go out and it was replaced last week. BMW has modified the charging system to back off the charging rates %30 to keep from burring up more KLE. For some people the %30 is a big deal, like myself as I have a short charging window. I would guess for most people that plug the car in at night and have until morning, its not that big of a deal. BMW claims they will have the KLE re-designed by the end of the year. I expect that to be true as the technology is hardly rocket science.

 

[Koenta]

Yes. in a nutshell the KLE is a AC to DC converter. There are some pretty serious issues with them now. I had mine go out and it was replaced last week. BMW has modified the charging system to back off the charging rates %30 to keep from burring up more KLE. For some people the %30 is a big deal, like myself as I have a short charging window. I would guess for most people that plug the car in at night and have until morning, its not that big of a deal. BMW claims they will have the KLE re-designed by the end of the year. I expect that to be true as the technology is hardly rocket science.

I found out that the KLE is water cooled. It looks like the cooling system is not sufficient enough to cool this part? The cooling pipes to this component are much smaller than the cooling pipes to the other electric components. Maybe they need a higher flow at the KLE or a bigger cooling plate for the electronics in the KLE.

 

[ultraturtle]

Cooling of the battery system and electronics is actually R134a refrigerant based, not simple liquid cooling. To my knowledge, it is the only EV with such an advanced cooling system. Advantages include not only high efficiency, but low explodiness (water + lithium = intense fire).

The KLE, as well as other high voltage electronics components are included in the refrigerant circuit. Ref page 163 of the Technical Training Document: I01 High-voltage Components:

 

[Koenta]

Cooling of the battery system and electronics is actually R134a refrigerant based, not simple liquid cooling. To my knowledge, it is the only EV with such an advanced cooling system. Advantages include not only high efficiency, but low explodiness (water + lithium = intense fire).

The KLE, as well as other high voltage electronics components are included in the refrigerant circuit. Ref page 163 of the Technical Training Document: I01 High-voltage Components:

The KLE is water glycol (50/50) cooled. The battery pack is refrigerant R134a cooled