Quote:
Originally Posted by Bhuvi
There are several ways to make it work faster - I'm learning about it too (on the forum - thanks). I'm personally going to get a 14-50 NEMA socket built and buy a BMW OEM 220 V 40 A adapter (which fits the fast charger)that allows it to fully charge in ~2 hrs.
|
The on-board charging circuit in the 50e can produce a maximum of 7400W/hr. To do that on level 2 will require at least a 32A device (on a 40A circuit to follow the 80% electrical code rules). The battery in the vehicle has a bit over 20Kwhr useable, and, given charging is not 100% efficient (some power will be lost in the power supply, some due to cooling requirements that can include running the a/c and fans), charging a depleted battery in 2-hours just isn't going to happen, no matter how large your EVSE is. Think of it like plugging in a 50W light bulb...even though the circuit may support 1800W (15A*120vac), it still only draws 50W. In this case, the light bulb is the vehicle...regardless of what the source it, it can't go faster than that. The internal logic does allow you to 'throttle' the power coming in so you don't overload the source wiring (like having a 16A EVSE plugged into a 15A circuit just doesn't work unless you can tell the vehicle to pull less!). The internal 'throttle' logic does not work with all EVSEs, though.
New owners may not realize the actual charger is IN the vehicle...the EVSE is a fancy power cord.
FWIW, the 50e user's manual linked appears to be for a Euro vehicle. I've not tried to get one for a US vehicle.