Electric charging points
Discussion
RossP said:
Yes, I've added DC rapid charge to mine too.
The Leaf rapid charge points aren't compatible with the i3...
One hopes that new UK DC chargers will support CCS in addition to CHAdeMO. Has BMW promised a CHAdeMO converter? It will take years for CCS to catch up.The Leaf rapid charge points aren't compatible with the i3...
http://transportevolved.com/2013/11/15/in-japan-bm...
c2mike said:
One hopes that new UK DC chargers will support CCS in addition to CHAdeMO. Has BMW promised a CHAdeMO converter? It will take years for CCS to catch up.
Forthcoming EU regs will stipulate a minimum of CCS 'Combo2' support for new infrastructure if the current drafts are anything to go by. Given that it's only really the Leaf that supports CHAdeMO in the UK and everything else from the mainstream OEMs coming to the market is Combo2, you'd hope that there's sufficient incentive there for the infrastructure to catch up - and fast.Ecotricity are rolling out CCS
"2014 sees the introduction of a new standard for charging – CCS or combi charging. We plan to introduce it during the next 12 months at selected sites. The first cars able to use this are the BMW i3, Volkswagen e-up! and eGolf.
CCS vehicles can use our 22kW AC charge points.
"2014 sees the introduction of a new standard for charging – CCS or combi charging. We plan to introduce it during the next 12 months at selected sites. The first cars able to use this are the BMW i3, Volkswagen e-up! and eGolf.
CCS vehicles can use our 22kW AC charge points.
So I very nearly went for the BMW Schneider unit but then read around a bit because of concerns over the size. Once I realised I could have a unit 1/3 the size for 1/3 the cost from ChargeMaster I was convinced. So today they are fitting a Polar tethered type-2 30amp unit for me. All for the princely sum of 95 quid which means I can buy the BMW type 2 cable for when I'm out and about and I still haven't spent what I would have done on the Schneider unit - happy days. ChargeMaster chap here today and all going well so far. Pics to follow.
I have today off work because I'm having the BMW wallbox installed at my house. I'd also take a photo but not sure I have enough depth of field on my camera to fit the whole thing in 
I considered the cheaper options but went with the BMW one because,
1. My gameplan is to keep the i3 for quite a few years and seeing as I'll be relying on the fast home charger on a daily basis I want to make sure I have the best support. If you read the LEAF forum there are a few reports of people experiencing red light errors and waiting 2 to 3 weeks to get broken polar units repaired (from chargemaster and BG). There's no guarantee that the wallbox will be any more reliable but at least I can lean on BMW if there are problems whilst I own the car i.e. beyond the warranty period of the cheaper chargers.
2. It's being installed inside my garage so I don't care what it looks like.
3. Tom Moloughney reported on his blog that BMW are going to offer an upgrade for the wallbox at some point. I asked him what and he was a bit sketchy but said the extra size was for a logging unit for recording usage stats like kwh's consumed etc. Doesn't sound too useful but might be ?
I had a 32A British Gas unit installed at my parents house last weekend and that was very neatly done. It cost £155 in total so maybe that makes me a mug for paying £160 more but it's too late now, the holes are being drilled downstairs as I type this.
I considered the cheaper options but went with the BMW one because,
1. My gameplan is to keep the i3 for quite a few years and seeing as I'll be relying on the fast home charger on a daily basis I want to make sure I have the best support. If you read the LEAF forum there are a few reports of people experiencing red light errors and waiting 2 to 3 weeks to get broken polar units repaired (from chargemaster and BG). There's no guarantee that the wallbox will be any more reliable but at least I can lean on BMW if there are problems whilst I own the car i.e. beyond the warranty period of the cheaper chargers.
2. It's being installed inside my garage so I don't care what it looks like.
3. Tom Moloughney reported on his blog that BMW are going to offer an upgrade for the wallbox at some point. I asked him what and he was a bit sketchy but said the extra size was for a logging unit for recording usage stats like kwh's consumed etc. Doesn't sound too useful but might be ?
I had a 32A British Gas unit installed at my parents house last weekend and that was very neatly done. It cost £155 in total so maybe that makes me a mug for paying £160 more but it's too late now, the holes are being drilled downstairs as I type this.
Arrived at 9.30 isn and finished by 12. Relatively straightforward I think - I had spare slots in my consumer panel and the panel is on the inside of the same wall we mounted on. Tom from ChargeMaster did a fine job. Car should be going into shipping to the UK this week so getting quite excited now - although I intend to be a parasite on the local free units so it probably won't get much use for a while!
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