[deep_420]

Picked up my wife's X5 50E yesterday and had a question about charging. We dont have a L2 charger or capabilities at home but she does have L2 charging capability at work so our thought is that we use the standard 15 amp circuit for L1 charging at home to 'top' off and use the L2 charger at work to do rapid charging.

After bringing the vehicle home yesterday, I plugged it in but received a charging error. I remembered the Genius at the dealership setting the AC limit to 32 amps (the finance guy who has a 45e also said in passing to ensure it was set to the maximum limit, i.e. 32 amps). I changed it to 10 amps, reconnected the cable and it started charging. This morning I noticed I could set the limit for AC charging to Unlimited, which I did while the vehicle was plugged in and it continued to charge.

So based on how we plan to charge, is leaving it at unlimited the way to go or should she be adjusting the setting when at home vs. when in the office? My thought is we leave it unlimited but was not sure why the dealership set it up at 32 amps and if there was an intentional reason to do so.

One other thing I noticed this morning, when I walked into the garage (without keys) I noticed the screen was on with the BMW logo in the center. The car was locked and had not been unlocked since the previous night. When I locked it, all the screens shut off eventually. Has anyone else seen this with theirs?

[nZtiZia]

while I have the 45e, charging is similar in some respects.

when charging at home using the included flexible fast charger at level 1, the vehicle can pull up to the FFC’s maximum charge rate which is 10A. the only time it’ll pull less than that is if you set it lower in the vehicle.

even by setting it to UNLIMITED, the 50e will only charge up to 32A max at level 2 even if you connected an EVSE rated higher than that. remember, the actual charger is inside the vehicle. when you plug an EVSE in, the on-board charger will accept up to 32A unless you set it lower in the vehicle. may wanna read your manual as to the purpose for setting it to UNLIMITED. I’m really not certain.

as for the display remaining on, I’m not 100% certain the logic is the same as the 45e, but in order for the 45e to shut down properly, you must first press the Start/Stop button to end your trip before opening the door (similar to pressing the button in a modern fuel-only vehicle to shut off the engine).

[jad03060]

Each EVSE sends out a pilot signal that annouces to the vehicle how much its maximum current setting is. It is then up to the vehicle to never try to pull more than that, so if everything is working properly, there's no reason to lower that limit from maximum. The reason it's there is that, especially with the level 1 device, it could be on a shared circuit, and the combined current from say the garage door opener, lights, and maybe the occasional vacuum cleaner, could easily exceed the circuit's capacity and trip the breaker. To avoid that, BMW chose to not set the EVSE up so it could pull the max (which is 80% of the circuit's capacity, i.e., on 15A common circuit, 12A). This is to help prevent nuisance tripping of the breaker, but less than ideal if you have a dedicated circuit.

The power supply is in the X5, and in the 50e, the max it can provide is 7400W (3700W in the 45e), which might take up to 32A, depending on your input voltage (power=volts*amps). Where I live, my typical input voltage is around 247vac, so my 30A EVSE can max out that vehicle, but might not if the voltage was a bit lower because of the current limit.

[aaaaaaaaaz]

Lol half of new thread on the forum is for 50e. Maybe it would be a good time for spin off a new sub-forum for us hybrid owners/potential owners to avoid spamming the main forum?

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by alanzyy

Lol half of new thread on the forum is for 50e. Maybe it would be a good time for spin off a new sub-forum for us hybrid owners/potential owners to avoid spamming the main forum?

Jason thoughts?

[deep_420]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

while I have the 45e, charging is similar in some respects.

when charging at home using the included flexible fast charger at level 1, the vehicle can pull up to the FFC’s maximum charge rate which is 10A. the only time it’ll pull less than that is if you set it lower in the vehicle.

even by setting it to UNLIMITED, the 50e will only charge up to 32A max at level 2 even if you connected an EVSE rated higher than that. remember, the actual charger is inside the vehicle. when you plug an EVSE in, the on-board charger will accept up to 32A unless you set it lower in the vehicle. may wanna read your manual as to the purpose for setting it to UNLIMITED. I’m really not certain.

as for the display remaining on, I’m not 100% certain the logic is the same as the 45e, but in order for the 45e to shut down properly, you must first press the Start/Stop button to end your trip before opening the door (similar to pressing the button in a modern fuel-only vehicle to shut off the engine).

Thanks for your response. Could not find anything in the manual but could have missed it, so going to scour it again.

In general what you say makes sense and I have always understood that the vehicle has the charger and does the work to determine capabilities. It charged fully without any issues - I think the test will be once my wife takes it to work and charges it there. I am leaving it in the Unlimited setting for now.

[deep_420]

Originally Posted by alanzyy

Lol half of new thread on the forum is for 50e. Maybe it would be a good time for spin off a new sub-forum for us hybrid owners/potential owners to avoid spamming the main forum?

I was thinking the same thing when starting this thread.

[tooloud10]

I don't think it makes any sense to make a sub-forum just for the 50e. If anything needs to change, add a sub-forum for topics related to the 45e/50e charging questions.

[aaaaaaaaaz]

Originally Posted by tooloud10

I don't think it makes any sense to make a sub-forum just for the 50e. If anything needs to change, add a sub-forum for topics related to the 45e/50e charging questions.

yea for charging and battery / range / hybrid mode behavior. These topics are probably not interesting to non-hybrid X5 owners on the forum and there are a lot recently

[SwissBeemer]

Originally Posted by jad03060

The power supply is in the X5, and in the 50e, the max it can provide is 7400W (3700W in the 45e), which might take up to 32A, depending on your input voltage (power=volts*amps). Where I live, my typical input voltage is around 247vac, so my 30A EVSE can max out that vehicle, but might not if the voltage was a bit lower because of the current limit.

And # of phases. While it can charge with 7.4kW using a single phase @32A it can also charge using 3 phases @~10.7A.

[jad03060]

Originally Posted by SwissBeemer

And # of phases. While it can charge with 7.4kW using a single phase @32A it can also charge using 3 phases @~10.7A.

The J1772 plug only has two pins for ACV, so is unable to use 3-phase when configured that way, but the Minekes plug supports 3-power lines coming in. I do not know if the onboard charging unit is the same, but it's not wired the same everywhere. But, yeah, where available, 3-phase power is possible as an input, just not in the USA (or Canada, and I'm not sure where else that plug is used).

[SwissBeemer]

Originally Posted by jad03060

The J1772 plug only has two pins for ACV, so is unable to use 3-phase when configured that way, but the Minekes plug supports 3-power lines coming in. I do not know if the onboard charging unit is the same, but it's not wired the same everywhere. But, yeah, where available, 3-phase power is possible as an input, just not in the USA (or Canada, and I'm not sure where else that plug is used).

Oh okay. I was refering to the mode 2 cable (I think it's called) which goes into a wallbox in Europe. Then there's also the flexible fast charger that supports both single and triple phase charging, depending on the outlet. But maybe that's all different in the states.

[RetSurfer]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

Jason thoughts?

I like the Idea.

Not only for charging but having the ID8.

That might be a good idea for all the 2024's, not just the 50e.

[Baze]

Couldn’t find it in the tread but does anyone have the part number for the 220v adapter to purchase separately to use with the charger that comes with the 50e? The salesman was telling me some just use a generic adapter that can be bought on Amazon. But would need the specs on the bmw adapter if I was to buy an equivalent one. Thanks

[jad03060]

The cord for the FFS has more than just the power lines going through...there are some extra pins that reprogram the FFS to allow it to change the pilot signal that tells the vehicle it can provide more power. IOW, just plugging the existing cord into an adapter would still double the power to the vehicle, but would still be limited to 10A. I do not know if it would be damaged, but probably not, by plugging the level 1 power cord into an adapter and then 240vac. Power=volts*amps, so 240 versus 120 would double the power, but not max the charging rate out.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Baze

Couldn’t find it in the tread but does anyone have the part number for the 220v adapter to purchase separately to use with the charger that comes with the 50e? The salesman was telling me some just use a generic adapter that can be bought on Amazon. But would need the specs on the bmw adapter if I was to buy an equivalent one. Thanks

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...&postcount=334

[deano17]

I have a question about charging to 80%. Dealer intro said yes, charge to 80% unless going on special trip. I have seen other comments the X5 has a buffer built in and you can charge to 100% all the time. If you use the 80/20 rule like on the i4, that 40 mile range drops pretty low. Any thoughts?

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by SwissBeemer

And # of phases. While it can charge with 7.4kW using a single phase @32A it can also charge using 3 phases @~10.7A.

I don't think the ampage for single phase divided by 3 is the 3 phase amapge. Because the phases are 120 degree, the voltage don't add.

Apple to apple comparison for ideal case (power factor = 1)

- US single phase 240V (RMS): peak to peak is 339V. At 32A, RMS power is 7.4kW
- 3 phase supply with peak to peak of 339V, to achieve 7.4kW, each phase needs to supply 12.5A.

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by deano17

I have a question about charging to 80%. Dealer intro said yes, charge to 80% unless going on special trip. I have seen other comments the X5 has a buffer built in and you can charge to 100% all the time. If you use the 80/20 rule like on the i4, that 40 mile range drops pretty low. Any thoughts?

full charge cycles decrease battery longevity, so in order to increase battery longevity, we decrease charge cycles.

the practice of the "80% rule" only applies to full EV that have access to the gross capacity. charging the gross capacity from 0-100% = 1 full charge cycle, thus charging to 80% is 0.8 charge cycle. this increases battery longevity because of a decreased charge cycle.

on the US 50e, you can safely charge to 100% because usable capacity is <70% of gross capacity, so charging the usable capacity from 0-100% is only 0.68 charge cycle. as you can see, battery longevity is built-in because of the decreased charge cycle when fully charging the lower usable capacity. this was likely done so the HV battery's capacity won't dip below 70% of the original (usable) capacity throughout its warranty period which can vary by state. FYI, EU and rest of the world allow their 45e and 50e to tap into more usable capacity, but this decreases battery longevity which is purportedly why their warranty period is shorter than the US (and Canada, i presume).

you can charge to 80% if you like, but it's unnecessary if they are advising it because of battery longevity on their PHEVs

[SwissBeemer]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

I don't think the ampage for single phase divided by 3 is the 3 phase amapge. Because the phases are 120 degree, the voltage don't add.

Apple to apple comparison for ideal case (power factor = 1)

- US single phase 240V (RMS): peak to peak is 339V. At 32A, RMS power is 7.4kW
- 3 phase supply with peak to peak of 339V, to achieve 7.4kW, each phase needs to supply 12.5A.

While they have a phase shift of 120° it is charging against ground using 230V not against each other with 400V. The X5 can not charge using 400V.