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Charging for TIME-OF-USE (TOU)

14K views 49 replies 22 participants last post by  ssh 
#1 ·
I am having trouble restricting charging to a TOU window of Midnight to 6AM.
I have setup up the 12AM to 6AM window under the settings. That was not sufficient and I had to add a regular departure time, which I set to 10AM (even though I do not leave daily on a regular basis).
Still, I just plugged in my car this morning outside of the charging window and it started charging right away. What am I doing wrong? And how can I get TOU charging only?

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#2 · (Edited)
It might be different with the i4, but my 330e did the same thing. if you have a departure time, the car will try to reach the charge limit by the set departure time, even if it needs to charge outside of the charging window.
If you don’t need to precondition the cabin, you could set the departure time at 6:00am and the car should charge only within the preferred time slot.
 
#3 ·
Does your home EV charger have configurable settings? In my experience that is a much better way to configure TOU or other scheduled charging routines. For the i4, I just leave at "charge immediately" and let the EV charger do the scheduling.
 
#4 ·
I recently got an X5 PHEV and noticed the same behavior. It kept trying to charge in the time window I was trying to avoid so I finally decided to have the charger (Wallbox Pulsar Plus) control the charging time window instead of the car.
 
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#5 ·
Ok, well as long as there is a workaround, I am ok with that. In this case, I will set the departure time to match the end of the charging window and report back if that does not work. I was kind of hoping the software would have improved since we got our first i3 eight years ago. TOU charging sounds like a missing feature; and it should be able to accommodate a longer window on weekends. The Tesla I traded could do that.
 
#6 ·
The car will always charge your car to the set level by the time of your departure time. If you have a charging windows set and you plug in before the window starts, then it will try to maximize charging inside the specified window. If by the end of the window it is still not enough for the set level, then it will keep charging - see the first point.

Technically, if the entire charging window + time from the end of the window and the departure time is insufficient to charge the car to the desired level, it should even start charging before the start of the set charging window. Not sure how that is actually implemented.
 
#8 ·
The question is: why is BMW restricting activation of the “charge in time slot” function ONLY when you have a “departure time” set? I see it as a bug, not a feature.

I believe they think the customer would be upset if the charge time window is insufficient for a certain charging target. And therefore the BMW engineers set it so it would override the window to achieve the charge target (as much as possible).

They should leave that decision to the customer though. Leave an option to set the “charge in time slot” WITHOUT having to set a “departure time”. Just give a warning message of setting a window without a departure time. The way that BMW has set it up only works well if you have a very consistent commuting schedule. That’s not very common nowadays…
 
#20 ·
The question is: why is BMW restricting activation of the “charge in time slot” function ONLY when you have a “departure time” set? I see it as a bug, not a feature.

I believe they think the customer would be upset if the charge time window is insufficient for a certain charging target. And therefore the BMW engineers set it so it would override the window to achieve the charge target (as much as possible).

They should leave that decision to the customer though. Leave an option to set the “charge in time slot” WITHOUT having to set a “departure time”. Just give a warning message of setting a window without a departure time. The way that BMW has set it up only works well if you have a very consistent commuting schedule. That’s not very common nowadays…
The question is: why is BMW restricting activation of the “charge in time slot” function ONLY when you have a “departure time” set? I see it as a bug, not a feature.

I believe they think the customer would be upset if the charge time window is insufficient for a certain charging target. And therefore the BMW engineers set it so it would override the window to achieve the charge target (as much as possible).

They should leave that decision to the customer though. Leave an option to set the “charge in time slot” WITHOUT having to set a “departure time”. Just give a warning message of setting a window without a departure time. The way that BMW has set it up only works well if you have a very consistent commuting schedule. That’s not very common nowadays…
I agree. I’ve written an extremely long email to BMW explaining our situation. I also believe setting a departure time is BS. serves absolutely no purpose. I’ve set my time to start at 10:05 pm and end at 5:00 am plenty of time to charge to 80% I set a departure time at 10:00 am every day which I really need. But I play the game. BMW said they will get back to me within 48 hours. Spent 3 sessions with the so called geniuses they couldn’t figure it out. I think this is a software issue. We’ll see.
 
#9 ·
I believe it is mostly made this way to avoid user miscofigurations with really bad results. Like someone setting just one hour charge time slot and then discovering that their car is still basically empty in them morning and they need to go somewhere. So the whole concept is geared to charge more, rather than charge less, in case of any doubt.
 
#10 ·
I agree, but it is frustrating nonetheles. The result is: those who have EV chargers with the option to set charging time windows will do just that instead. Obviously, this may equally lead to the bad results you describe. Even worse, in that case the car may precondition the cabin using car battery instead of the net when the EV charger time window has elapsed. With even lower state of charge as a consequence.

Hence, my suggestion of removing the restriction (requirement to set time of departure when wanting to set charging time window) and if BMW is really concerned about disgruntled customers, they could include a pop-up warning when they believe there is a risk of “misconfiguration”. Just my 2 cents…
 
#11 ·
I’m also very frustrated. I set my charge time to start at 10:05 pm. Rates in illnois are the lowest at 5 cents per kWh From 10pm to 6am. I set my charge time from 10:05pm to 2:05am. I also set a departure time of 10:00am as required. I get home around 7pm. Plug in my car and it starts charging immediately. So I unplug it and wait until 10pm. I’m up late so I’m ok with it for now. Am I doing something wrong? Anybody solved this problem? Thanks for any help
 
#13 ·
I did not find a workaround for this that works. Car will ignore the charging window in order to have the car fully (or partially) charged by your departing time. Still, 10PM to 2PM should be sufficient to fully charge the car.
I suggest we all use the BMW "suggestion/feedback" channels to pressure them to change it to be more like what Tesla is doing. BMW needs to get with the program and show some software agility or they will get crushed by the competition...
 
#15 ·
4 hours might not be enough to charge the car depending on the state of charge, so it might start charging immediately. You should try to set the charging stop time at 6:00am and see if that works better.
 
#16 ·
Spent an hour on the phone with a BMW Genius rep. We went through many steps, resetting data turning the car on/off. Etc. We went through every conceivable step. She gave up and said they will have a round table discussion on this subject to figure out the problem. I have a scheduled call back this coming Monday at 9:30am to see if they figured it out. I’ll repost on Monday to let everyone know the results.
 
#18 ·
This is my experience on my x45e. It's weird that BMW forces a departure time when you want to schedule a specific charging period. I just want it to charge from 9pm-9am, whether it can be completed or not. So now I set departure time at 12pm and it seems to work as intended.
 
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#19 ·
this is an email I sent to BMW, read below, if we all complain and write to them they will take it us seriously and if there is a fix they will tell us. If they don’t currently have one, maybe if enough of us complain, they’ll fix it.

I’m the owner of the new BWW i4 m50. Your software has a flaw it from my experience with the BMW GENIUS TEAM. They cannot figure out a solution which tells me there is a flaw in the software.

On my charging app you allow me to setup the time I want my car to begin charging and end.

Example: I want my car to start charging at 10:05 pm when electric is cheaper and turn off at 5:00 am.

You require me to select a departure time, I do and say 10:00 amdaily. Why the the reason for the departure time is a mystery but I comply and do it.

I arrive home at let’s say 7:00 pm. I plug my car in and instead of the charge starting at 10:05 pm it starts charging immediately when rates are higher.

I’ve gone through 3 sessions with your GENIUS DIVISION. We’ve tried every conceivable option.

Nothing seems to work. On Friday after trying all the options the Genius I was working said she would talk to their geniuses to see if they had a solution.

We had a call back session scheduled for today. Sh3 called and we went through another 1 hour session of different solutions. None worked

Are you aware of this flaw and are you working on fix?

I am getting tired of having to go into my garage at 10pm to start charging. I know there can be fix for the software. You delayed the delivery of my car for a couple of months to fix the software for the “valet software and the “rear latch “ software. You found a software fix for these problems, are you working to solve this issue?

Why would have an option to set the time you can start your charging if it doesn’t work.

Thank you for listening and let me know if you are working on this problem and a solution is coming.

I am a very loyal BMW OWNER, this is my 6th consecutive BMW. My son has one, my wife has one, my brother has one.
 
#21 ·
After exhausting all other avenues I called my local BMW Dealer. Spoke to a service advisor. He told me that there was a software update. He said “ yours was done on July 27th “. I find that hard to believe because I picked up my car and drove it home that day. If everyone who has there car remembers that the software update was for the valet function not the TOU. He may of thought it was done, I think not because he said I’m the only call in with this problem. I don’t think he realizes that nobody has called in because I’m the only one that has an i4 from this dealership. All others are still on order. Long story short, he told me to bring it in, they’ll give me a loaner and they’ll figure it out.
Let me know please if anyone else went through this, brought there car in and it was corrected or there are cars out there without this problem. Thanks
 
#26 ·
Ok, just took my car to my Dealer to have to TOU analyzed on why it starts charging immediately in stead of waiting for the TOU to start charging. Supposedly mystery solved. Listen carefully and will run my own rest today. Here’s what supposedly happens, I’ll verify it and write back over the weekend. Our Charger that comes with the when plugged in starts charging to run tests on the charger you’re connect to whether it’s our BMW CHARGER, CHARGEPOINT, MALL CHARGERS ETC. After 5 to 10 minutes the car recognizes the charger, shuts down and then SUPPOSEDLY will start up again at the designated TOU. Hopefully this solves the problem. I’m going back to my dealer to pick up my car today around noon. They are charging it to 80% and washing it 👍. I will drive around today and probably run it down to 60/70 %. I will plug it in and watch the charger start up. I’ll sit in the car for the 5, 10 or 15 minutes to see if it shuts down. I’ll be posting back later this weekend with the results. Hopefully this ends the mystery of TOU.
 
#22 · (Edited)
I am having trouble restricting charging to a TOU window of Midnight to 6AM.
I have setup up the 12AM to 6AM window under the settings. That was not sufficient and I had to add a regular departure time, which I set to 10AM (even though I do not leave daily on a regular basis).
Still, I just plugged in my car this morning outside of the charging window and it started charging right away. What am I doing wrong? And how can I get TOU charging only?

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Unfortunately this is a feature as designed by BMW not a bug. In my mind this is one of the most annoying BMW Feature. Our 2015 i3 does the same. In order to set a charging window you need to set a departure time. I was hoping they fixed this with the i4. Why does charging time needs to be connected with departure time/ preconditions? If you want to take advantage of low night electricity rate without having any departure plans you should be able to just set a charging window. My Volvo did that. Precondition was independent.
 
#23 ·
I guess I'll have to rely on the charger itself to do this. That'll work, right?
 
#27 ·
If someone else can try this recommendation of waiting 5 or 10 minutes to shutdown after the charger is running tests, please do so, My dealer swears by this result. They ran tests with their machines and supposedly the charging stopped and was waiting for the time set in the cars app. Send feedback if you tried this. It’s important that as many of us try this to verify the solution. Thanks.
 
#28 ·
I’ve charged at home several times now and can confirm it will pause and start at your scheduled time. It starts immediately to calculate if it can complete the charge % in your specific time frame then will pause. It may start earlier if it calculates it cant complete the charge within your set window or depature time. You can use the bmwapp to monitor.
 
#29 · (Edited)
All,
I have to take my BMW critique back. They actually do allow to decouple preconditioning. To take advantage of my cheaper electricity rate I set charging from 11pm to 6am. I did had to set daily departure at 6am which is not a big deal since I could opt out of preconditioning.
Below is a picture from the myBMW app but you could do the same in the car. Next I will try it out. Also that they Charger starts to communicate with the car for a few minutes upon plug in is normal. It won’t actually start charging until the time. My Volvo did the same.
Thanks
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#31 · (Edited)
I know this is not an i3 forum but I couldn’t test this on the i4 since I have 75%. However I was amazed that BMW is doing the same thing with the early i3‘s and probably every plug in hybrid since that time. Those pictures are from a 2015 i3 Rex. Basically I set departure time at 6am every day without preconditioning and set the charger window to 11pm until 6am when we have the lower electricity rate (picture shows 10.30pm since I didn’t wanted to wait so long). I think the i3 SW shows it actually better than the i4, those blue explanations are very useful. I plugged in, the charger went on for a few seconds and went back to sleep. Tomorrow I will do test the i4.
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#32 ·
I am having trouble restricting charging to a TOU window of Midnight to 6AM.
I have setup up the 12AM to 6AM window under the settings. That was not sufficient and I had to add a regular departure time, which I set to 10AM (even though I do not leave daily on a regular basis).
Still, I just plugged in my car this morning outside of the charging window and it started charging right away. What am I doing wrong? And how can I get TOU charging only?

View attachment 12128
After reading this thread, I'm definitely getting a ChargePoint Home Flex so I can control it
 
#33 ·
how long are you waiting? Let me explain, i had the issue and brought my car in. It was explained to the your car will show it is charging but what it is doing is checking your connection and settings. It will shut down after 2 to 5 minutes and then charge at your designated time. It worked. i brought my car home, set my departure time and TOU and it with through the steps i mentioned and then shut it self down and started charging with my settings. Try it. It should work
 
#34 ·
I started another thread for my issue, which is quite different in that my M50 used to quite happily when set to 'charge immediately' sit waiting for the scheduled slot on my wall charger. In the last month it seems to have defaulted to just failing after 20 mins after being plugged in - error in the car says charge failed and the only way to get anything to happen is to remove the charging cable and plug back in.

Anyway I decided to give BMWs implementation a go and use the advice posted here. I am somewhat confused by the results of my first charge. I set the charging window to be 00:30 - 04:30, complete charging by 17:00 weekdays with a battery target of 75%. The car was 23% at time of plugging. I changed my wall charger to not work on a schedule and plugged in, the car started to charge immediately and after 2 mins stopped as it reverted to the schedule - great! Unfortunately the next morning it had carried on charging to 06:30 until it had reached 75% (costing me 2 hours at full rate) - I was going to post a screenshot from my app, but this charge session seems to have completely disappeared! Anyway does anyone have a pearl of wisdom - I suspect it is something to do the time I have configured to be ready by? I would just like it to stop charging at 04:30

My dealer is picking up the car next week to take a look at why the charge immediately function isn't working with the schedule on my wall charger. Also it will have a software update but don't think this fixes charging?
 
#35 ·
The issue is that in the "cars" mind, you gave it two conflicting instructions. 1. You said charge between the set hours. 2. You told it you wanted it to charge to 75%. The car calculated that the set hours were not enough to get to the 75% target so it carried on charging to achieve this target.
It is rubbish. It should simply warn you about the conflict and ask you which one to prioritise. I have to set the target rate to be achievable in the set hours. I have to change it every day. Brilliant!!! My Polestar coped without this nonsense.
 
#37 ·
So... I decided to play with this a bit this week after re-reading the encouragement to "charge as close as possible to the departure time." So, I set my charger for full TOU (9pm to 6am), set my departure time for 5:15am (my real departure time), and set the car charge window to 3am-6am. This way, the charging started when it needed to in order to reach the target charge, which it did at 5:08am.

Note: I shouldn't have to do this. The car should shift charging to hit the target just before departure even if the window is wider than required.
 
#38 ·
This is my "hack": Given my charging habits, I set the charge window 12:00AM to 12:00PM and the departure time as 8:00AM. I typically charge around 10-20% SoC, the car starts charging either at 12:00AM or right before, and it always gets to 80% right before 6am (my real departure time). I shouldn't have to do this either, I can't believe it's off by 2 hours, but hey, I found a way to trigger the correct charge completion time.
 
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