Hurricane power?

[christopherjfrank]

Preparing for Florence and possible power outage:

SO if I plug my little inverter into the lighter to grind my coffee beans, etc., does it draw from the 12 volt or the main battery pack?

 

[i3Houston]

I think 12V

 

[CharonPDX]

12V, but if you leave the car "on" it will keep 12V "topped off" from HV.

 

[christopherjfrank]

OK......so how can I leave the car on without sitting in it? It shuts off automatically if you get out.....

 

[jadnashuanh]

The 12vdc socket isn't all that high powered. But, if you turn the car on and exit via the passenger's door, it doesn't shut down until the main battery dies. You could use it to recharge your phone.

 

[alohart]

But, if you turn the car on and exit via the passenger's door, it doesn't shut down until the main battery dies.

If you have the daytime running lights set to be on in iDrive, you might set them to be off to minimize the 12 V load.

 

[CharonPDX]

Good suggestions from others - get out passengers' side, turn off DRLs.

One other is that the cigarette lighter outlet under the center armrest has the highest-power fuse, although it's still not a ton - 140 Watts total for all three 12V sockets.

You could also tap in to the 12V directly through the fusebox in the passenger footwell, or even directly to the battery in the frunk, which could get you up to 500W continuous power.

 

[alohart]

You could also tap in to the 12V directly through the fusebox in the passenger footwell, or even directly to the battery in the frunk, which could get you up to 500W continuous power.

Probably the best and easiest place to connect to the 12 V system directly is under the floor of the rear cargo compartment. These official instructions on charging the 12 V battery show the 12 V terminals. These terminals are almost certainly not protected by a fuse. One would need to limit the power consumed so that the output capacity of the DC-DC converter that charges the 12 V battery would not be exceeded. I don't know the output capacity.

 

[mparz]

As Art indicated, the best place to connect is under the rear cargo liner.

FYI, according to BMW's training manual, the continuous output capacity of the DC/DC converter is 2500w.

It is outlined here on page 62: https://cdn.jack.sh/2014/08/06_I01-High-voltage-Components.pdf

The converter's temperature is monitored and output power is decreased if the converter's temp gets too high.

 

[EVMan]

Thanks for this info.
So the car has to be in READY state , so it will not turn off ? or can it it be in Non Ready state too ?

For that the day in CA, i have purchased a cheap non brand Chinese sine way 1000W inverter .
I just want to power up my refrigerator , and charge my laptops.

I will try this setup then only.

As Art indicated, the best place to connect is under the rear cargo liner.

FYI, according to BMW's training manual, the continuous output capacity of the DC/DC converter is 2500w.

It is outlined here on page 62: https://cdn.jack.sh/2014/08/06_I01-High-voltage-Components.pdf

The converter's temperature is monitored and output power is decreased if the converter's temp gets too high.

 

[alohart]

So the car has to be in READY state , so it will not turn off ? or can it it be in Non Ready state too ?

I believe that the only states in which the DC-DC converter remains on to charge the 12 V battery are when an i3 is in drive readiness state, when an i3 is being charged, or for the 30 minutes when stationary climate control is active. The DC-DC converter is on in operating and radio readiness states, but these states turn off after a few minutes.