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BMW EV Flexible Fast Charger

53K views 70 replies 33 participants last post by  Deano07 
#1 ·
Very soon you'll be able to purchase this flexible fast charger for your iX SUV or i4 sedan from BMW.

"Introducing a new way to charge – at home or on the go. The Flexible Fast Charger – arriving first with the BMW iX and BMW i4 in 2022 – can be used on a 120V or 240V outlet. With up to 9.6 kW of AC power, it can charge as quickly as most Wallboxes."

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#4 ·
I think that it will be delivered with the car for no additional cost.
I got this in my order (M50) : "BMW Flexible Fast Charger with domestic plug (2,3kW/10A)". It can be useful as an emergency charger, if you have to charge on a standard socket. 10A is really low so you don't take much risk even if you don't know the plug capacity.

I suppose that we will be able to purchase additional plugs (P17 would be great).
 
#6 ·
I agree with Inception, the maximum 110V outlet can only provide 3.8kW with 35A (40A circuit). To get 9.6kW, you need a 240V/40A (50A circuit, higher current than a dryer outlet, so special installation). I am actually confused because BMW announced a max of 11kW in June (see other thread) but their Wallbox ony seems to support 7.7kW. So this Flex cable would actually be better than the Wallbox, but the car (preliminary, I guess) manual says the car maxes at 7.7kW on single phase AC and 11kW tri-phase (no home in the US has that as far as I know).
 
#7 · (Edited)
In the US to get 11kw you will need a 240v on a 60 amp single phase circuit to support a EVSE at 48 amps. I have a "Wallbox Pulsar Plus 48" installed in my garage in Texas. There are other EVSE that support 48 amps too. By doing the math 240v x 48 amps = 11.520kw.
 
#8 ·
The supplied NEMA 14-50 adapter is limited to 9.6kW due to limitations of the NEMA 14-50 plug itself running at 40A max.

Wallbox will be needed if your house can support above 40A and you want to maximize charging capabilities up to the cars 11.5kW Level II rating.

I'm interested to see if somehow BMW can do an OTA patch to allow for up to 19.2kW@80amps in the future. 2.5hrs to charge 60% would be a nice (but unnecessary) convenience.
 
#10 ·
I think one point that some are missing with this flexible fast charger, is the 'flexible' part. Anyone that's used EV chargers knows the plugs and wires are almost always bulky and awkward. It appears, from the picture at least, the wire is thinner and more flexible than any I've seen. That would be a welcome addition. Unfortunately, in the end, it won't help me since it's not a wifi charger that's mandatory if you have TOD (time of day) utility discounts. The only way the utility knows you're charging in off hours is if your charger is wifi and they have access to it.
 
#11 ·
for Europeans: has anyone found a blue 32A CEE (or P17) adapter in the BMW catalog?
I can only find a blue 16A, or a red (3-phase) 32A, but not what I’m looking for…
Maybe the flexible charger can’t manage 32A on one phase ? That would be disappointing compared to the Tesla mobile charger, Juice Booster, and all the cheap Chinese chargers which are compatible
 
#23 ·
I looked into using this in my garage and realized that my garage seems to have a 15 amp circuit for the outlets and may lights also. With lights on I may have less than 12 amps for charging. With 110 volts that is 1.3 kW max for me. The default above for 1.3kW at 6 amps works out to a 240 volt circuit.

So to charge 10-80% of the 80 kWh battery (56 kWh) will take 43 hours.

I will be installing a hardwired 50 amp charger (chargepoint) but one may want at least to check out your garage and consider getting an upgraded outlet, like a dedicated 20 amp outlet.
 
#26 ·
Very soon you'll be able to purchase this flexible fast charger for your iX SUV or i4 sedan from BMW.

"Introducing a new way to charge – at home or on the go. The Flexible Fast Charger – arriving first with the BMW iX and BMW i4 in 2022 – can be used on a 120V or 240V outlet. With up to 9.6 kW of AC power, it can charge as quickly as most Wallboxes."
View attachment 1684
Does anyone know the length of the cable (excluding the actual charger and the pigtail) for USA market?
 
#31 ·
Very soon you'll be able to purchase this flexible fast charger for your iX SUV or i4 sedan from BMW.

"Introducing a new way to charge – at home or on the go. The Flexible Fast Charger – arriving first with the BMW iX and BMW i4 in 2022 – can be used on a 120V or 240V outlet. With up to 9.6 kW of AC power, it can charge as quickly as most Wallboxes."
View attachment 1684
Sorry...I scanned over this thread but I didn't see this question asked. When I do a Google search I get this....

"The BMW iX and i4 come equipped with a Flexible Fast Charger, which is capable of charging at 9.6 kW, and can be plugged into any Level 1 three-pronged home outlet (120V) or Level 2 charger (240V). The optional BMW Wallbox is the ultimate in electric convenience. "

...from the Canadian BMW website. So in Canada this comes with the car but in other markets it doesn't? Seem like in Canada we're getting a bargain on this car. Our M50 as ordered comes out to 6700 USD less than the same in the USA.
 
#33 ·
@Ultrachrome, 9.6kW requires 40A on 240V, so you'll need a special circuit and outlet (NEMA 14-50 I think). It is true that you don't need an EVSE, and while the BMW charger looks like a "dumb" charger, the car has most of the intelligence that you might need. In my case, I have a solar installation, I plan eventually to add a battery back-up so I do want an EVSE that I can interface with the rest of my home "energy grid", and I do want to have an independent source of tracking the energy I put in there, but of course not everybody will go there.
 
#34 ·
My 2 cents. The max level 2 charge rate is limited by the capacity of the charger that is built into the car. All the level 2 wall "chargers" simply provide power to the real charger in the car, which in the US has a maximum capacity of 11KW or about 48 amps. This takes a 60 amp hardwired circuit (no plugs/sockets) to a dedicated J1772 charger. There are many 40 amp systems on Amazon (50 amp circuit - plug in capable) ranging from $350-$500. The have usually have cables that are either 20' or 24' long. If you have the power available, best to install a permanent charger/plug so you can leave the "portable" charger in the car. I happen to have a tesla wall mounted charger already in the garage (for my son's, not my car). I'm planning on simply using a tesla to J1772 adapter for the BMW. Just FYI, some of the original Tesla Model S cars had 2 on board chargers and could accept 80 amps 240V which requires a 100 amp circuit. My understanding is Tesla no longer offers this and is also limited to 11KW level 2 charging.
 
#38 ·
Very soon you'll be able to purchase this flexible fast charger for your iX SUV or i4 sedan from BMW.

"Introducing a new way to charge – at home or on the go. The Flexible Fast Charger – arriving first with the BMW iX and BMW i4 in 2022 – can be used on a 120V or 240V outlet. With up to 9.6 kW of AC power, it can charge as quickly as most Wallboxes."
View attachment 1684
This charger comes free in UK. I borrowed an e40 overnight and this was in the boot still bagged up. I plugged it into my standard 240v outlet in my garage. It gave me about 5miles per hour charge. I see it as an emergency top up… if I’m away for the weekend with no decent charge facility, grab a 10m ip65 rated extension lead and charge it from the garden or garage outlet. Arrive Friday night and you’ve got a good fill by Sunday afternoon… subject to not using car much. It felt like a chunky well made piece of kit. About 2m long from the black box shown in picture to the type 2.
 
#49 ·
I know for sure because I saw it on YouTube that you can set the current in iDrive8 up to 48 amps, which is 11.5kW, and BMW itself advertises the car at 11kW, screenshot and link to their online collateral:
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#50 ·
Will the included charging cable support plugging into a 240V socket or is it just 110? I too was considering buying an L2 charger (Juice box 40) in part to get the longer charging cable but if its not necessary because the included cable supports both plug types perhaps its not worth buying.

Sorry I see this question was already addressed. Its great that they have support for both.
 
#51 ·
@iipabrewer, BMW gives you the flexible charging cable plus 2 "adapters" that plug into the rectangular box. The standard cable rolled near the flexible charging cable plugs into a standard 110V outlet, and the NEMA 14-50 Adapter plugs into a NEMA 14-50 plug for 240V/40A max charging. Please note that this is a bit different than a dryer plug, those are NEMA 10-30 (240V/30A, looks almost the same except that the bottom prong (neutral) is a 90 degrees angle instead of a straight blade.
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#53 ·
I checked out the m50 demo car this afternoon. I took out the flexible charger and measured it. It was 6 metres of cable then the plug and the charger. The 110 and 240 adapters were about 18 inches each. The 240 is a nema 14-50 plug. They don't look like the ones in the picture as the 110 is actually shorter and the 240 longer.
 
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#59 ·
I’m trying to find out if the flexible fast charger comes free with the i4 edrive40?
I’m waiting for an edrive40 to be delivered in Greece in May 2022.
My dealer believes it comes bundled with the car but he’s not sure…
I have already installed a 3phase 16amp red plug in my garage, in order to achieve the maximum 11kw charging.
The situation with the included charger maybe different in every country.
Any info, especially from those that have received the car already, will be very much appreciated!
 
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