Guess what Mad_Lad got this time?

peposhi

Silent Running wrote: »

It's only a matter of time before you get a new car. You'll be on here again gushing on about how it's the best car in the world, ever. You know you will. :P

I look forward to it. It's fun.

So be it

Mad_Lad is a great part of the EV community!

Soarer

Petrol engine and amateur radio?

Think you were born in the wrong century!

icom

Soarer wrote: »

Petrol engine and amateur radio?

Think you were born in the wrong century!

Been a radio amateur since 1987, fantastic hobby.

Mad Lad, thanks for the use of your SDR, I use it regularly.
Will miss your posts about EV's, but look forward to seeing more on the ham radio front.

ei8gp

peposhi

peposhi wrote: »

Your passion will be missed, Mad_Lad.
You are some Lad and made a lot of people Mad on here

Thanks, yes I've had some heated conversations on boards and the time and effort I put into it to give the best advice I could but there is a lot more than me now who can fight the cause lol.

I started off in the motors section talking about electric cars, well, it was like the lamb to the slaughter, the abuse was mental but I persisted and persisted until I got the EV section. That alone was an achievement, a new sub section of the motors forum was born !

Some of the people giving abuse in the regular motors section actually ended up EV owners, another achievement.

Silent Running

Silent Running wrote: »

It's only a matter of time before you get a new car. You'll be on here again gushing on about how it's the best car in the world, ever. You know you will. :P

I look forward to it. It's fun.

I'll probably get another car sometime late 2020 so we'll see what happens, but that's two years away.

DrPhilG

Mad_Lad I'm glad you came back and mentioned the 11kw charger!

I got my REx last week and only just realised that it's a standard single phase cable with the car so I'll have to get a new one to take full advantage of the public chargers.

Soarer

Soarer wrote: »

Petrol engine and amateur radio?

Think you were born in the wrong century!

Lol, Amateur radio is big business and a very popular hobby that is increasing in popularity. The internet saw CB and Amateur radio interest decline but the internet isn't the big new thing anymore and there are digital modes Amateur radio enthusiasts can use.

As for Petrol, blame the ESB, there hasn't been a single new DC charger installed since 2015 when I git the Leaf.

icom

icom wrote: »

Been a radio amateur since 1987, fantastic hobby.

Mad Lad, thanks for the use of your SDR, I use it regularly.
Will miss your posts about EV's, but look forward to seeing more on the ham radio front.

ei8gp

You're most welcome, I have 2 online now. Not cheap I can tell you, Dennis Walters of Bonito Germany gave me a sample of their new Megadipol antenna, he noticed the good publicity I have given their Megaloop FX so he contacted me to offer me the megadipol to try out and if he could link it on his website , due to the low noise at my QTH so I happily said yes and since the Megaloop was now lying idle I decided to get another Kiwi SDR and put it back online.

Everyone seemed to have a Wellbrook so I decided to go against the Norm and go for the Bonito, glad I did, they're excellent antennas.

I am really sorry I never checked out that the November exam was the last until May.....

By the way, if you know a good way I can launch a rope up about 70 foot into a tree please let me know.

I haven't chosen a transceiver yet, leaning towards the Yaesu FT-450D good starter rig considering the cost of much older 2nd hand rigs even the FT-450.

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

Mad_Lad I'm glad you came back and mentioned the 11kw charger!

I got my REx last week and only just realised that it's a standard single phase cable with the car so I'll have to get a new one to take full advantage of the public chargers.

Oh congrats, thought you'd have gone back to ICE ? well done, congrats ! Fabulous car.

Yes I had to get a 3 phase lead but make a slight mistake by getting 16 amp instead of 32 amp, 16 amp will give the full 11 Kw on 3 phase but only 3.5-3.7 Kw on single phase , i.e 16 amps.

Anyway no big deal really. I have a 32 amp single phase lead I got with the car.

This is the cable I got.

https://evcables.co.uk/index.php/3-phase-coiled-charging-cable-green-g2.html

seems to be out of stock now. Black is in stock ?

DrPhilG

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Oh congrats, thought you'd have gone back to ICE ? well done, congrats ! Fabulous car.

Yes I had to get a 3 phase lead but make a slight mistake by getting 16 amp instead of 32 amp, 16 amp will give the full 11 Kw on 3 phase but only 3.5-3.7 Kw on single phase , i.e 16 amps.

Anyway no big deal really. I have a 32 amp single phase lead I got with the car.

This is the cable I got.

https://evcables.co.uk/index.php/3-phase-coiled-charging-cable-green-g2.html

seems to be out of stock now. Black is in stock ?

I was on that same site last night.

They have a 3 phase, 32a blue cable, same as the one with the car essentially but 3 phase insewd of single. £189 which isn't too bad.

Could sell the original one, or keep it for my Rolec untethered charger at home.

I'm considering a Zappi tethered upgrade though, depending on the spark price.

ELM327

Deleted User wrote: »

Oh congrats, thought you'd have gone back to ICE ? well done, congrats ! Fabulous car.

Yes I had to get a 3 phase lead but make a slight mistake by getting 16 amp instead of 32 amp, 16 amp will give the full 11 Kw on 3 phase but only 3.5-3.7 Kw on single phase , i.e 16 amps.

Anyway no big deal really. I have a 32 amp single phase lead I got with the car.

This is the cable I got.

https://evcables.co.uk/index.php/3-phase-coiled-charging-cable-green-g2.html

seems to be out of stock now. Black is in stock ?

No he's Dr Phev now, like yourself

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

I was on that same site last night.

They have a 3 phase, 32a blue cable, same as the one with the car essentially but 3 phase insewd of single. £189 which isn't too bad.

Could sell the original one, or keep it for my Rolec untethered charger at home.

I'm considering a Zappi tethered upgrade though, depending on the spark price.

Handy to have two cables just in case. I got the 10 meter green curled one but as they say on the site the max usable is about 7 meters. It's heavier than the blue one supplied with the i3 and it doesn't curl back up as easily if stretched out but it is dead handy for when you need the extra length. I can fit the two of them in the frunk.

unkel

DrPhilG wrote: »

Could sell the original one, or keep it for my Rolec untethered charger at home.

Turn your Rolec into a tethered charger by leaving the spare cable permanently attached

That's what I do - it is ever so handy.

mordeith

DrPhilG wrote: »

I was on that same site last night.

They have a 3 phase, 32a blue cable, same as the one with the car essentially but 3 phase insewd of single. £189 which isn't too bad.

Could sell the original one, or keep it for my Rolec untethered charger at home.

I'm considering a Zappi tethered upgrade though, depending on the spark price.

Probably a dumb question but how do you know the difference between 1 and 3 phase? I have the 32a blue cable.

DrPhilG

mordeith wrote: »

Probably a dumb question but how do you know the difference between 1 and 3 phase? I have the 32a blue cable.

This is what mine looks like. Does yours match?

mordeith

Ah so it's the three solid cores. Pretty sure mine (I mean the wife's!) has only the middle one. Must double check when I get home.

DrPhilG

mordeith wrote: »

Ah so it's the three solid cores. Pretty sure mine (I mean the wife's!) has only the middle one. Must double check when I get home.

Those pictures are of a single phase cable.

I've just nabbed a second hand Zoe cable, 3 phase 32a, second hand. 6m too.

Apparently the Zoe cables are quite compact compared to some of the after market 3 phase cables which are very bulky.

mordeith

DrPhilG wrote: »

Those pictures are of a single phase cable.

Thanks. I really should pay more attention to this side of things. Having three phase is probably not a major deal for us anyway as hardly ever use the public network. Will be good to know for curiosity.

DrPhilG

mordeith wrote: »

Thanks. I really should pay more attention to this side of things. Having three phase is probably not a major deal for us anyway as hardly ever use the public network. Will be good to know for curiosity.

I do use it a fair bit these days. I go to the cinema usually once a week and can charge there. Also if I'm up the town there is a slow charger handy.

Might as well make the most of them until costs come in for them in 2020!

dashoonage

Sorry to hijack the thread. But google has so many different answers

What a realistic range of an i3 94ah with REX then ?

Patser

dashoonage wrote: »

Sorry to hijack the thread. But google has so many different answers

What a realistic range of an i3 94ah with REX then ?

That's a complicated question - but to give you a simple answer about 140km on pure electric, about 100km extra with Rex.

Now comes the complications-

Are you driving foot to floor on lovely empty motorways -20% range roughly
Is it freezing cold outside -10% approx
Did you have car plugged in and preheated before you left back to normal range, and toasty warm
Are you commuting in Dublin rush hour traffic and a mild summer day +20%
Do you not really care about acceleration and are happy to drive in eco plus mode with speed and aircon limited +20%

Good thing is the sat nav will show your range, at current usage and adapt as you change settings and style of driving.

DrPhilG

I charged overnight and so far today have driven 117km using 61% of the battery. Its between 6 and 10 degrees, I live on a hill top, 65km of it was on cruise control at 105kmph. The heat has been on automatic and set to 22 degrees. And I'm generally a bit of a speed demon with a heavy boot.

So in winter on hilly ground with a lead foot I'd still get nearly 190km on battery. That's impressive. The GOM suggests another 120km on the REx.

DrPhilG

Ps, I just charged from 39-92% on a fast charger in 24 minutes. So much faster charging than the Leaf. I used to need nearly half an hour from 20-80% in the Leaf and that's a much smaller battery.

mordeith

It certainly depends on driving style. My wife did 54 km today and averaged 15.5kwh per 100km. The day before she cut just under 14kwh.
The last trip I did of 74km I used over 17.3kwh.
120kph zones are a killer! :-)

Patser

Yep, flooring it really drains battery on an exponential rate, especially over 120kmh.found this video (in Dutch I think) where the raced a Leaf, i3 and VW E Up around a track, with foot to floor to see how far they'd actually get per charge. E Up by far the slowest but went furthest, the i3 only managed just below 30km range flat out and Leaf even less (these are all 2014 models pure BEV so no Rex or upgraded batteries)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkU5OjMw0Os

One trick with the i3 is that to make sure and have the battery pre-heated before setting off in cold weather as with all batteries cold will greatly slow down fast charging.

I3 battery heater only kicks in when a depart timer is set along with precondition at least 4 hrs prior to departure.

It heats to 10 Deg C which allows max acceleration and regen but that still does not allow max DC charge rate but by driving the car it will be plenty warm by the time you need a charge.

Battery pre-heat only works when the car is plugged in, so if working all day or out all day and the battery gets cold enough charging will be noticeable slower on DC.

3 phase AC is always good and can charge from 20-90% in about 2 hrs 20 mins, this is the 33 kwh version, not bad.

DrPhilG

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I3 battery heater only kicks in when a depart timer is set along with precondition at least 4 hrs prior to departure.

3 phase AC is always good and can charge from 20-90% in about 2 hrs 20 mins, this is the 33 kwh version, not bad.

Never heard about the 4 hours prior to departure thing.

I have a departure time set for 8am every morning and preconditioning set to on.

As for 3 phase, I've bought a 6m 3 phase cable from Electric Autos. Originally from a Zoe. Good price at €170 second hand.

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

Never heard about the 4 hours prior to departure thing.

I have a departure time set for 8am every morning and preconditioning set to on.

As for 3 phase, I've bought a 6m 3 phase cable from Electric Autos. Originally from a Zoe. Good price at €170 second hand.

170 Euro's was a good price, I paid more than that, I'd have to go back to check my email to see exactly.

Yes, depart timer + precondition must be active at least 4 hrs prior to departure but to be honest unless it's very cold charging alone will warm it or the battery heater might only have to be active for a short time and it heats to max 10 Deg C unless charging brings it over that temp, charging at higher rate say 7 kw will help, 11 Kw even more. It's still not sufficient for max charging rate at the fast charger. But BMW engineers obviously knew that it was plenty that by the time you need a fast charger it will be at the temp to allow max charge rate when leaving from 100% and charging at say 50% or lower.

If like me sometimes you don't need to charge every day, I work shift so there are times I won't have to charge for a few days or more and if it's been very cold I will notice a slight reduction in acceleration, I haven't noticed a reduction in regen strength. But it's no problem for me because I'd be mainly doing local driving and don't need max power for tipping around.

If you leave the car a few days and not plugged charging and precondition then the battery can get quite cold and if there's a fast charger near you and you plug in then charging will be a lot slower as is the case with all BEV's. There's no battery yet that I know of that does not suffer in cold, not even fuel cell cars.

I think one day in work the chargers were broken and I went to charge in Naas on the way home and I think I saw 35 Kw being pulled from the charger that's a long way off from 59 Kw I normally see. I did not get battery temp readings.

Most of the time though you'll need to charge on DC after a long trip and you'll most likely leave from 100% charge with precondition set so by the time you reach 160-170 odd Kms it will be plenty warm, I noticed this last year when we went to Galway in December it was pretty damn cold that day and it charged at max rate.

One thing I would not be bothered doing is charging to 100% every night with precondition set just to have the battery warm, that's pointless because leaving it sit long enough will just see it get cold again and unless you depart at that time the car will warm up inside which is a real waste of energy as pre-condition and warming the cars interior can not be set independently.

Even the Ioniq has an electric fan heater that blows warm air into the battery but at what point I do not know , during fast charging ? I could not see how it could warm the battery in the space of a fast charge, most likely it warms it when plugged into AC but I don't know the conditions that allow it to warm the battery.

So charging an i3 is as slow as a 24 Kwh Leaf when the battery would be at the same cold temp. But when warm it charges a lot faster.

The real + with the i3 is you can fast charge it forever and it will never slow down charging like a Leaf and it does have the heater for when it gets very cold.

The 44 Kwh i3 should be available soon if it's not already released in Deutschland. At that point I think I would not require the rex but you never know as the charger situation here is a disgrace, no CCS within 50 Km radius of me. Carlow is still CCS only and it's about 4 Kms from me. We'll see what the ESb do for 2019 , they have plans to expand a high power network, 150 Kw I think. Sooner the batter.

Unfortunately , to the best of my knowledge BMW still refuse to allow more than 50 Kw on DC which is a real shame. If someone knows different please let me know.

I can't see myself in another car other than the i3 for a long time to come, the next one I get will be the 44 Kw S, it's just so much fun. shame they didn't make a 250 hp version.

Rumour also has it that the i3 will continue to evolve after 2021 when previously BMW had said it was ending production so lets hope that's true, it's a great car.

DrPhilG

[Deleted User] wrote: »

170 Euro's was a good price, I paid more than that, I'd have to go back to check my email to see exactly.

In fairness it was second hand, but still a great price for a 6m 3 phase. Best I was getting online was about £280 sterling for a new 3rd party one which is apparently quite chunky too compared to the Zoe one.

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

In fairness it was second hand, but still a great price for a 6m 3 phase. Best I was getting online was about £280 sterling for a new 3rd party one which is apparently quite chunky too compared to the Zoe one.

Ah I missed it was 2nd hand, nice.

I just checked, I paid 229 Sterling. Pricey alright but I've made good use of it it's my new way of fast charging, I use AC a lot more than DC. The extra EV range over the 24 Kwh also helps reduce the amount of time I need to charge.

So yeah you got a good deal, I couldn't find 2nd hand ones at the time.

Mine is 10 meters which is convenient.

DrPhilG

Is the 10m 3 phase not huge?

I have a 10m single phase from my Leaf days and that's pretty awkward.

It's a bit large alright but appreciated when I need it. Nowhere near as easy to curl up as the blue single phase lead supplied by BMW.

DrPhilG

I'm hoping that the the 6m Zoe cable will still fit in the front.

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

I'm hoping that the the 6m Zoe cable will still fit in the front.

Mine fits in the frunk along with the Blue single phase lead.

DrPhilG

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Mine fits in the frunk along with the Blue single phase lead.

10m and the 5m?

I take it you removed the tyre spray kit?

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

10m and the 5m?

I take it you removed the tyre spray kit?

Both fit together, didn't remove anything I will take a pic and upload in an hour or two.

Forgot the pic will take it tomorrow.

Here's a pic of the 3 phase 10 meter AC lead along with the blue single phase lead + Tyre pump + Portable EVSE ( AKA Granny Lead )

ELM327

Why would you carry a 3 phase and single phase cable?

DrPhilG

Lol, we're you good at Tetris as a child?

Impressive. My 6m Zoe cable when it arrives is going to be bigger as its not the curly type (I don't think) but I'll see how it goes. I would like to pack the 10m cable at the bottom, then put the rest on top as the 10m is only for emergencies cause by ICErs

DrPhilG

ELM327 wrote: »

Why would you carry a 3 phase and single phase cable?

I wondered that too. In my case I'll do it because the single phase is 4m longer and can get me out of some jams caused by ICE. Whereas the 3 phase is shorter and more convenient for regular use.

For Mad_Lad though the longer cable is the 3 phase so I'd just leave the single phase out.

DrPhilG

Then again as it's a REx and I'll never actually be stuck, I might be better off just selling the 10m cable. The money I'd get for that would pay for a heck of a lot of petrol in the REx to make up for the few occasions that the ICE breaker saves me.

I don’t usually carry the two leads just showing that they can all fit in the frunk.

I made the mistake of getting 16 amp 3 phase instead of 32 amp which won’t give me more than 3.5 kw at single phase supply but gives me the full 11 kw at the majority of public ac points and in work.

Normally I leave the blue leaf in the home charge point.

ELM327

Deleted User wrote: »

I don’t usually carry the two leads just showing that they can all fit in the frunk.

I made the mistake of getting 16 amp 3 phase instead of 32 amp which won’t give me more than 3.5 kw at single phase supply but gives me the full 11 kw at the majority of public ac points and in work.

Normally I leave the blue leaf in the home charge point.

16a three phase should combine two of the phases to give 32a at single phase, no?

ELM327

ELM327 wrote: »

16a three phase should combine two of the phases to give 32a at single phase, no?

I don't think so, there's a notable increase in charge times from single phase 32 a to charging on the 3 phase on single phase.

KCross

From SpeakEV...

The 94Ah i3 has three 3.7kW AC/DC rectifiers. When connected to a single phase fast charger two of them are used in tandem for 7.4kW charging. When connected to a 3 phase supply there is a rectifier for each phase.

So, if you connect to a 22kW post with your 16A 3-phase cable you should get 11kW (16*230*3=11kW)

If you connect it to a 32A home charge point it will only be able to take 16A as thats what the cable is rated for and it has only one phase (16*230=3.7kW)

ELM327, the scenario you are talking about.... If you connect a 32A single phase cable to a 32A home charge point it will use 2 of the rectifiers to give 7kW (16*230*2=7.4kW).


Ideally, you need a 32A 3-phase cable and that would give the best of all worlds regardless of what charge point you are connected to. i.e. you will get the max rate on all charge points using that one cable.

KCross

KCross wrote: »

Ideally, you need a 32A 3-phase cable and that would give the best of all worlds regardless of what charge point you are connected to. i.e. you will get the max rate on all charge points using that one cable.

Yes, a 32a single phase wasn't even on my mind when I bought the cable, completely forgot about it. All I was thinking about at the time was 11 Kw 3 phase.

No big deal really because I got a 32a single phase lead.

DrPhilG

Well the boss lady wants to keep hold of the 10m ICE-breaker, so I'll do as I'm told.

Checked for size tonight. This has the puncture kit, the 10m single phase and the 5m single phase, and an extension lead for the granny which lives in the boot.



The 3 phase 6m will be a bit bigger but should still fit with some persuasion.

DrPhilG

@Mad_Lad my head is melting...

As the i3 veteran here, have you any thoughts?

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057933982/1/#post108761969

DrPhilG

3 phase cable arrived, looking forward to a blast at 11kw!