[Magicrat]

Yep - the 210 kW max charging only occurs at very low SOC (between 0%-20%), then tapers down to 150 kW after 20% and then down to 110-120 kW between 30%-40%.

I look at it this way; whether you start charging at 5% or 25% SOC, it generally takes about 30 minutes to get to 80%, assuming you have a 150 kW+ charging unit. I plan my charging stops for a 30-minute charge; this almost always puts me back at 80% (+/-). As always, be sure to program in the charging station as a destination or waypoint in BMW's nav system so the car can precondition the battery...that will be even more important during colder months.

Remember that even though the EA chargers says "350kW", the BMW i4 will ONLY except a max of 200-210kW so no need to use up a 350kW station. Let the Kia EV6, Ionic 5 and Porsche Taycan have those stations as the can charger at a much higher rate. This is proper etiquette, don't clog up the faster stations if you can help it.

 

[Masque]

Remember that even though the EA chargers says "350kW", the BMW i4 will ONLY except a max of 200-210kW so no need to use up a 350kW station. Let the Kia EV6, Ionic 5 and Porsche Taycan have those stations as the can charger at a much higher rate. This is proper etiquette, don't clog up the faster stations if you can help it.

Not sure about the ones near you, but around here they’re all either 350kW or they’re all 150kW.

My understanding is that the very best for the battery is to store it with 50 percent charge.

This is accurate for long-term storage. Like measured in months. For storing it day-to-day, any double-digit percentage is fine. Even single digits won’t be a disaster for a little while.

 

[Magicrat]

Not sure about the ones near you, but around here they’re all either 350kW or they’re all 150kW.

Most of the EA stations I have gone to are a mix of 150's and 350's............At those stations its not too cool to tie up a 350kW station when you can't get close to that speed with your car. Its even more infuriating when someone puts a Chevy Bolt on a 350kW station, Bolts are really slow charging cars. This is part of the etiquette we'll have to learn as part of charging EV's. There are even "procedures" at Tesla charging stations which are split and shared with the car near you, so to get maximum charging speed you don't split the station........won't be a problem for us until Elon decides to let non Tesla's charge at the Supercharger stations.

 

[Masque]

Most of the EA stations I have gone to are a mix of 150's and 350's............At those stations its not too cool to tie up a 350kW station when you can't get close to that speed with your car. Its even more infuriating when someone puts a Chevy Bolt on a 350kW station, Bolts are really slow charging cars. This is part of the etiquette we'll have to learn as part of charging EV's. There are even "procedures" at Tesla charging stations which are split and shared with the car near you, so to get maximum charging speed you don't split the station........won't be a problem for us until Elon decides to let non Tesla's charge at the Supercharger stations.

Looks like the Ioniq 5 has no real claim to those stations above the i4:

Hyundai Ioniq 5 DC Fast Charging Analysis: It Seems Impressive

Let's take a look at an example of a fast-charging curve of the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

insideevs.com

 

[Magicrat]

Looks like the Ioniq 5 has no real claim to those stations above the i4:

Hyundai Ioniq 5 DC Fast Charging Analysis: It Seems Impressive

Let's take a look at an example of a fast-charging curve of the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

insideevs.com

Hmmm............ Interesting. I'd have to compare the charging curve on the i4 to see where it lines up with the Ionic 5 and e-Tron. Has anyone published a charging curve for the i4?

 

[Masque]

Has anyone published a charging curve for the i4?

Has anyone posted a charging curve for the i4 yet?

Seeing that the i4 is now being delivered in Europe, has anyone done a detail charging curve for the battery? Knowing this info will give you an idea of how long you will be at charging stations when doing a long drive. If it charges slow at say 70% state of charge (SOC) it would be better to...

www.i4talk.com

 

[Magicrat]

Looks like the Ioniq 5 has no real claim to those stations above the i4:

Hyundai Ioniq 5 DC Fast Charging Analysis: It Seems Impressive

Let's take a look at an example of a fast-charging curve of the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

insideevs.com

Still.............those Chevy Bolts charging at a 350kW station is a pain.

 

[Magicrat]

Has anyone posted a charging curve for the i4 yet?

Seeing that the i4 is now being delivered in Europe, has anyone done a detail charging curve for the battery? Knowing this info will give you an idea of how long you will be at charging stations when doing a long drive. If it charges slow at say 70% state of charge (SOC) it would be better to...

www.i4talk.com

I crack myself sometimes The thread you posted, I was the one that posted the question!!!! But looking at the curve, it really starts to drop off after 60% SOC. I hope BMW adjusts the charging curve in the future.

 

[gsbaker]

Not sure about the ones near you, but around here they’re all either 350kW or they’re all 150kW.


This is accurate for long-term storage. Like measured in months. For storing it day-to-day, any double-digit percentage is fine. Even single digits won’t be a disaster for a little while.

In NC the EA stations can be all 150kW or a mixture of mostly 350 with a few 150. The few times I charged I happened to get 150kW stations and was 80% charged before 30 minutes.

 

[gsbaker]

Most of the EA stations I have gone to are a mix of 150's and 350's............At those stations its not too cool to tie up a 350kW station when you can't get close to that speed with your car. Its even more infuriating when someone puts a Chevy Bolt on a 350kW station, Bolts are really slow charging cars. This is part of the etiquette we'll have to learn as part of charging EV's. There are even "procedures" at Tesla charging stations which are split and shared with the car near you, so to get maximum charging speed you don't split the station........won't be a problem for us until Elon decides to let non Tesla's charge at the Supercharger stations.

I won't hold my breath. In Europe Tesla was forced to convert to CCS plugs, and has a lot of competitor charging stations, so it was not a bad idea to open up.

Here in the US Tesla is asking federal money to add CCS plugs. They have opened only one station in Texas, paid for with a US grant.

So I will rely upon the expansion of EA (paid for by the VW penalty), and others like Chargepoint, who are also seeking out grants.

It is still hard to make money on DC fast chargers.

 

[i4m50Norway]

This is accurate for long-term storage. Like measured in months. For storing it day-to-day, any double-digit percentage is fine. Even single digits won’t be a disaster for a little while.

It is probable also the best for all the time. two solutions :

a) Since I have ordered my i4 with a tow-hitch, I can tow a small diesel generator to make sure battery is at 50 percent all the time.

b) The optimal solution - also fixes the 4 star NCAP issue :

A Mercedes can also bring driving pleasure

 

[BadgerGreg]

Remember that even though the EA chargers says "350kW", the BMW i4 will ONLY except a max of 200-210kW so no need to use up a 350kW station. Let the Kia EV6, Ionic 5 and Porsche Taycan have those stations as the can charger at a much higher rate. This is proper etiquette, don't clog up the faster stations if you can help it.

I think the i4 has just as much a right to the 350 kW units as the Taycan and Hyundai/Kia EVs. An i4 owner at a low SOC would absolutely benefit from the faster charging speed offered by the 350 kW units, and should have no qualms about plugging into one. This is especially true if you arrive at a charging station at 5% or under and need a quick charge to 30%-50%. In that case, you should certainly plug into the 350 kW unit. If you arrive at 40%+ SOC and plan to charge to 80%+, then you should leave the 350 kW unit open and plug into the 150 kW unit, as you won't benefit at that point in the charging curve.

 

[Magicrat]

I think the i4 has just as much a right to the 350 kW units as the Taycan and Hyundai/Kia EVs. An i4 owner at a low SOC would absolutely benefit from the faster charging speed offered by the 350 kW units, and should have no qualms about plugging into one. This is especially true if you arrive at a charging station at 5% or under and need a quick charge to 30%-50%. In that case, you should certainly plug into the 350 kW unit. If you arrive at 40%+ SOC and plan to charge to 80%+, then you should leave the 350 kW unit open and plug into the 150 kW unit, as you won't benefit at that point in the charging curve.

You're kinda wrong on this my friend. Have you seen the charging curve? You will only get the max charging speed which is around 200kW, and that will be for a very short time. The other cars I mentioned can hold that higher speed much longer than the i4, so you really don't get the benefit of that 350kW charger like the other cars. Now if the only charger that is open is a 350kW, by all means use it!!! It's just good form to use the 150kW if they are open and you need a deep charge, say up to 70-80%. Chevy Bolt users just don't plug in to a 350kW charger, LOL.

 

[BadgerGreg]

I've charged my car several times now, and the max charging speed of 210 kW I get at a 350 kW EA charger is certainly better than 150 kW at a 150 kW EA charger, and it holds a charging speed well north of 150 kW for a substantial time. I'm absolutely going to take advantage of that if I'm only charging to 40%-50%. Yes, the charging rate drops off quickly above 25%-30%, but I'm still better off with the faster charger. Although it's fair to say I won't get the same charging speed deeper into the curve than the 800V EVs, my charging time is measurably shorter using the 350 kW station when I'm going from 5% - 40%. This is a common scenario when I'm road tripping; especially on the final leg of the journey.

Many EV road tripping pros take that approach: charge at the bottom half of the battery pack and stop every 120 miles or so to charge back up again. With that strategy, it would be foolish to pick the 150 kW stall over the 350 kW stall.

If I'm charging using the scenario above, I won't feel a bit of guilt taking up a 350 kW stall. If I'm charging from 20% - 80%, I'll happily take the 150 kW stall, as the overall charging speed won't be that much different.

 

[Masque]

But looking at the curve, it really starts to drop off after 60% SOC. I hope BMW adjusts the charging curve in the future.

They will not, and must not. You’re talking physics here. They’re pushing the battery as hard as they can without considering it a disposable option. If you want a car with an iPhone-like charge curve, you’ll end up with a car with an iPhone-like battery longevity.

No, thank you.

And if you look at the curves for other cars of similar capacity and chemistry, you will see similar maximums at higher states of charge.

The companies will boast of 300kW charging maximums and will never point out that such usage will be for only a few minutes at a time. Every bit helps, still — but the charging companies also need to be able to prove they can manufacture and support such capacity, as the 18-wheeler market really WILL use 350kW…

 

[Magicrat]

They will not, and must not. You’re talking physics here. They’re pushing the battery as hard as they can without considering it a disposable option. If you want a car with an iPhone-like charge curve, you’ll end up with a car with an iPhone-like battery longevity.

No, thank you.

And if you look at the curves for other cars of similar capacity and chemistry, you will see similar maximums at higher states of charge.

The companies will boast of 300kW charging maximums and will never point out that such usage will be for only a few minutes at a time. Every bit helps, still — but the charging companies also need to be able to prove they can manufacture and support such capacity, as the 18-wheeler market really WILL use 350kW…

True, but in my experience with the Volvo XC40 Recharge, Volvo did adjust the charging curve after they got more data on how the battery was reacting to being charged. So it can be done, it was nothing dramatic, but it did improve the charging curve.

 

[i4m50Norway]

I have also seen charging curves that have convinced me that the i4 can charge above 200 KW for some minutes independent of SOC - as long as SOC is quite low (less than 50/40 percent?). After 5 - 10 minutes it starts to slow down. This in my opinion points to some heat related issues (it might not be the battery?)..

This I will test more when I get my car, because it is easier to have a short charging stop planed for 25-30 SOC, instead of running down to 10 SOC - where you might not have a backup charger. But how much time do you loose ?

We also had a bad experience last winter where E18 (main European road) was closed 10 hours with 2500 cars due to bad weather - and many EV drivers had to be rescued, beeing cold with empty batteries. This is of cource not an issue if you have a full battery - then you can keep warm for many hours (more than 24?)

Politiet antar at 2500 biler sitt fast i kø på E18

Etter at opp mot 2500 bilar stod fast timevis i kø på E18 ved Tvedestrand er vegen no opna.

www.nrk.no

 

[Masque]

Depends on how cold it is and how warm you want to stay. The heat pump is augmented by a couple of big resistant heaters — 9kW was the number I heard. At that draw you’re probably in a very hot cabin even in -30 weather, but only for 8 hours or so.

I’d expect you can stay warm enough for quite some time. How long can a 430GC idle with a tank full of patrol?

 

[i4m50Norway]

Heatpumps dont work when it is cold. In the i3 it shuts down below minus 10 celsius. Expect i4 will be the same.
In my boat (probably 5 - 10 times inside volume of i4 ) I have a 5KW heater. Only needs to run half an hour on full capacity to get up the temperature - after that it uses very little energy to keep temperature.

This test with i4, from minus 5 to 21 degrees in 8 minutes.

Slik kommer du deg til Sahara på et kvarter

elbil.no

That should be less than 1.5KWH. After that consumption will be considerable less. so I think the i4 will last at least 24 hours in quite low temperatures. THe issue at E18 was because this is a road along the south coast of Norway - where you dont expect snow problems.

If driving mountain passes in bad Winter weather, with convoi driving. you will be stopped before departure without high SOC or at least half full fuel tank.

 

[gsbaker]

I've charged my car several times now, and the max charging speed of 210 kW I get at a 350 kW EA charger is certainly better than 150 kW at a 150 kW EA charger, and it holds a charging speed well north of 150 kW for a substantial time. I'm absolutely going to take advantage of that if I'm only charging to 40%-50%. Yes, the charging rate drops off quickly above 25%-30%, but I'm still better off with the faster charger. Although it's fair to say I won't get the same charging speed deeper into the curve than the 800V EVs, my charging time is measurably shorter using the 350 kW station when I'm going from 5% - 40%. This is a common scenario when I'm road tripping; especially on the final leg of the journey.

Many EV road tripping pros take that approach: charge at the bottom half of the battery pack and stop every 120 miles or so to charge back up again. With that strategy, it would be foolish to pick the 150 kW stall over the 350 kW stall.

If I'm charging using the scenario above, I won't feel a bit of guilt taking up a 350 kW stall. If I'm charging from 20% - 80%, I'll happily take the 150 kW stall, as the overall charging speed won't be that much different.

Right now we charge for free at EA. However, when we someday pay, the charge per kWh is 1/3 more for 350 vs 150 kW. So consider how much time is saved.