[GJHowell]

Hi all,

I’ve had my IX3 for about a month and am loving it, but as it’s my first EV there are still some things I’m learning.

I wanted to ask about charging speeds. I’ve used fast chargers a couple of times but don’t ever appear to get anything close to the 150KW claimed.

But I’ve just been plugged in to a 7kw charger for 1hr 40 mins and it charged about 2.3 kw. No change in battery percentage at all and app said it would take 35hrs to get from the 35% starting point to 80%

Is this normal?

[GDEvans]

Before getting my car, I hadn’t realised that the charge speed on the DC fast chargers drops as the battery gets filled up. You only get 150kW when the battery is quite depleted. As it charges, the charge speed tails off.

You should be getting better speed from the 7kW charger though.

[IX3 Vines]

Originally Posted by GJHowell

Hi all,

I’ve had my IX3 for about a month and am loving it, but as it’s my first EV there are still some things I’m learning.

I wanted to ask about charging speeds. I’ve used fast chargers a couple of times but don’t ever appear to get anything close to the 150KW claimed.

But I’ve just been plugged in to a 7kw charger for 1hr 40 mins and it charged about 2.3 kw. No change in battery percentage at all and app said it would take 35hrs to get from the 35% starting point to 80%

Is this normal?

When you were plugged into your 7kw EV charger what charge did it say you were receiving on the cockpit display?
Also check to make sure that you didn't have any charging time setpoints and the maximum charge set point is at 32 amps.

[gray1x]

I've had slow charges at a few places - but never at home. If it continues at different charge points then could be an issue

Also I had to reduce by AC to 30A as the 32A setting was tripping the RCD which they only installed at 32A.

However it seems that it can go over this as the voltage supply fluctuates.

[the_ape]

The charge profile of the iX3 isn't too bad, at Ionity cambs it got over 140kW starting at 25% or so, got to 85% in about 30ish mins while we had a sarney.

At home remember to make sure that the ampage is set to 32a and you haven't somehow knocked the 6a mode on. Car/settings/charging make sure the charge rate is unticked

[iX3 rijder]

Someone once explained me the charging as filling a theater with spectators. When all seats are empty it fills up quickly, however the last people to walk in will have issues reaching their seats.
I once was handed a graph (Thanks to Fastned) showing the charge curve for the iX3. Here you can see the charge speed in relation to the SoC. That is why HPC’s are best used till the drop point in speed. Beyond that they become over expensive and just as fast as the cheaper 50kW chargers.

My “record” is 157 kW charging speed for about 10 min, during a summer night with a SoC of 4% to start.

[GJHowell]

Thanks all this is all really helpful info.

Just to clarify, the 7KW charger was a public one, I didn’t see what speed it gave on the dash as we parked up and met some friends for dinner. Home charger is being fitted this week.

However, based on the tips above, I checked the settings and the “charge limit” box was ticked - have now unticked this off so hopefully I’ll see an improved performance when I plug it in at home for the first charge there later this week.

One more stupid question if I may?! The possible charging speed quoted, whether 7kw or 150kw - is that per hour, or am I misunderstanding?

Thanks all - responses here have been really helpful.

[The shadow]

Originally Posted by GJHowell

Thanks all this is all really helpful info.

Just to clarify, the 7KW charger was a public one, I didn’t see what speed it gave on the dash as we parked up and met some friends for dinner. Home charger is being fitted this week.

However, based on the tips above, I checked the settings and the “charge limit” box was ticked - have now unticked this off so hopefully I’ll see an improved performance when I plug it in at home for the first charge there later this week.

One more stupid question if I may?! The possible charging speed quoted, whether 7kw or 150kw - is that per hour, or am I misunderstanding?
Thanks all - responses here have been really helpful.

Yes figures are quoted as kWh

[iX3 rijder]

Originally Posted by GJHowell

Thanks all this is all really helpful info.

Just to clarify, the 7KW charger was a public one, I didn’t see what speed it gave on the dash as we parked up and met some friends for dinner. Home charger is being fitted this week.

However, based on the tips above, I checked the settings and the “charge limit” box was ticked - have now unticked this off so hopefully I’ll see an improved performance when I plug it in at home for the first charge there later this week.

One more stupid question if I may?! The possible charging speed quoted, whether 7kw or 150kw - is that per hour, or am I misunderstanding?

Thanks all - responses here have been really helpful.

The figure quoted at a charger is the maximum INSTANTANEOUS/AVAILABLE capacity with which it CAN charge. As per the graph above, the OBC (OnBoard Charger) will control the power towards the batteries. So as long as the batteries have “free space” to store power, the charging will take place at max allowable/available power. Sometimes the chargebox/unit will limit the charging to protect its’ own supply. In winter time it might take some time before the max is reached. But the charge power will always follow the graph above. Do not expect to charge at 135kW when your SoC is 75%. That will not happen.
Over 75/80% it is more efficient to charge at a cheaper 50kW charger. Even a 300kW charger will never go faster then what you OBC will draw. But the 50kW is way less costly.
In France it is double efficient; there you pay for every minute you are connected regardless of amount of power taken from the charger. Connecting to an expensive HPC when drawing 35kW is wasting money.

[GJHowell]

Just coming back to this one - have today had home charging box fitted (untethered). When connected, the car would not take a charge (type 2 connector) - nothing happened at all. Engineer used the manual “boost” option on the box and the car aborted the charge with a message coming up saying something about not enough power being discharged. Engineer had tested the box and confirmed all is ok with that.

Anybody come across this? I changed the settings so the limit wasn’t restricted to 6a previously. The issues I’ve had have all been with type 2 connectors and untethered machines so I’m wondering if I have an issue with the charging lead or maybe the connection in the charging port of the car, although have had no issues with CCS connections.

Edited to add - just tried with a neighbour’s type 2 cable and same issue - error message is “mains power too low”.



Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts. Am going to take it into the BMW garage to see if they can advise.

[t41l589]

Originally Posted by GJHowell

Just coming back to this one - have today had home charging box fitted (untethered). When connected, the car would not take a charge (type 2 connector) - nothing happened at all. Engineer used the manual “boost” option on the box and the car aborted the charge with a message coming up saying something about not enough power being discharged. Engineer had tested the box and confirmed all is ok with that.

Anybody come across this? I changed the settings so the limit wasn’t restricted to 6a previously. The issues I’ve had have all been with type 2 connectors and untethered machines so I’m wondering if I have an issue with the charging lead or maybe the connection in the charging port of the car, although have had no issues with CCS connections.

Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts. Am going to take it into the BMW garage to see if they can advise.

Just a thought but have you got the car set to "Charge Immediately" as opposed to charging during a time slot?

[GJHowell]

Originally Posted by t41l589

Just a thought but have you got the car set to "Charge Immediately" as opposed to charging during a time slot?

Yep, have it set to charge immediately so it’s not that, but thanks for responding.

[supersebbo]

I too fell foul of the 'Charge Limit' setting which for some reason was set at 6Amps on delivery!

[Hud78]

Originally Posted by supersebbo

I too fell foul of the 'Charge Limit' setting which for some reason was set at 6Amps on delivery!

As was mine. Seems to be factory default for some silly reason. I also disabled all the charging noise restrictions.

[Tcourb]

Originally Posted by IX3 Vines

When you were plugged into your 7kw EV charger what charge did it say you were receiving on the cockpit display?
Also check to make sure that you didn't have any charging time setpoints and the maximum charge set point is at 32 amps.

Hi. I charge my ix3 with bmw wallbox and i noticed that my charge set point is set to16A. I can get max 10.5kwh during charging. Should i change charge set point to 32A? Will it make any difference?

[DaveCV]

Originally Posted by Hud78

As was mine. Seems to be factory default for some silly reason. I also disabled all the charging noise restrictions.

It’s the factory default because the OBC controls a Fast Charge and BMW has no idea whether the owner is using a 3.6 or 7.2kW EVSE or a 3.6kW single phase charging cable. The i3 is also delivered with everything set to the lowest charge setting. The problem is that EV handovers are probably not as detailed as they need to be.

[the_ape]

Yeah, plus in the UK they supply the granny as a charger, and that is unsafe on a lot of wall sockets if they draw over 8 or 10 amps. A nice shiny new wall outlet is fine for 10a sustained, most others though 6a sustained is a lot safer.

If using an EVSE then bump it to no limit, or just unstick the limit charging box

[iX3 rijder]

Originally Posted by Tcourb

Hi. I charge my ix3 with bmw wallbox and i noticed that my charge set point is set to16A. I can get max 10.5kwh during charging. Should i change charge set point to 32A? Will it make any difference?

Won’t make any difference unfortunately. The OnBoard Charger is designed to process 16A max (11kW) max hence increasing the value will have no influence.

I asked my BMW Genius as to the why there is a higher setting when her reply was: “maybe for future use”. But as this looks like a hardware limitation I do not see the reason to leave it.

[GDEvans]

Originally Posted by iX3 rijder

Won’t make any difference unfortunately. The OnBoard Charger is designed to process 16A max (11kW) max hence increasing the value will have no influence.

I asked my BMW Genius as to the why there is a higher setting when her reply was: “maybe for future use”. But as this looks like a hardware limitation I do not see the reason to leave it.

The higher setting is there for people with 7.4kW chargers.

You are correct that the maximum AC charge power is limited to 11kW, but this is not always 16A. It depends on the charger employed.

A single phase 7.4kW charger can supply a 32A current with a 230V electricity supply.

People lucky enough to be on a three phase electricity supply can utilise 11kW or 22kW chargers. However, a 22kW charger will on supply 11kW to the iX3 due to the limitation mentioned above. I believe I am correct in saying that this power is split across the three phases - hence each phase would supply 3.7kW. This is 16A with 230V.

Leaving the car setting on 16A will make no difference if you always use an 11kW charger. However, if you were to connect to a 7.4kW charger, you would only be able to charge at 3.7kW.

[lakmus]

Originally Posted by Elenawonder22

what is the best charger for an x3

I'd go with the new BMW Flexible Fast Charger - it has an option to connect to both ordinary plugs and high power outlets

[GDEvans]

Originally Posted by Elenawonder22

what is the best charger for an x3

I'm not sure there is an easy answer to that question.

It will depend on where in the world you live (I'm in the UK, so many of the chargers here will not be available in the US). It depends on what power supply you have - houses here can install 7kW as standard, and some can install 11kW or 22kW. And it depends whether you want a basic charger with no app control, or a more comprehensive app controlled one. Finally styling - the cheaper chargers tend not to look as nice, whereas companies like Andersen make lovely looking chargers, but you pay a lot for them.

[ggla]

What amp setting should i have the 3pin (UK) home plug adapter set to? I had it on 32 but it obviously tripped my circuit, so i dropped it to 10amp, should i set it to 16amp so that i dont need to change it when using AC charging out and about?