Advise for new i-miev 2016 owner for home charging station

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jmercier

New member
Joined
Sep 11, 2015
Messages
2
Advise for new i-miev 2016 owner for home charging station

will get my new i-miev 2016 tonight !!!

any advice to buy a charging station ? i don't want to spend 1500$ from the dealer...

i am from Montreal, quebec, canada
 
Hi JMercier

Welcome to the Forum - super group here with lots of information.

There is also a Quebec forum AVEQ (Association Vehicle Electrique du Quebec) with an i Miev sub forum that has lots of local activity and news.
http://www.aveq.ca/forums.html

We had a Miev gathering ( 6 of us were there) last night in St Eustache.

I personnally prefer the Dual 110v - 220v portable or stationary Turbocord
http://store.evsolutions.com/turbocord-dual-240v120v-p28.aspx

Many at the AVEQ like the Quebec made EVSE, - EVDuty

http://www.aveq.ca/actualiteacutes/une-borne-l2-100-qubcoise-evduty-evc30t

Hope you enjoy many happy electric Miles with Smiles
:D
 
jmercier, welcome to the Forum and congratulations on your new i-MiEV!

The answer to your question depends somewhat on the type of power available in the vicinity of your car parking location.

First off, to get you started, you will find that the Mitsubishi EVSE that comes with the car will initially be adequate - simply plug it in in the evening and you will have a fully charged car in the morning, good for about 50 miles (80km) with no worries. Do not be concerned, as, unless your situation is unusual, this distance is sufficient for most people's daily driving needs. If you drive consistently you will find the car's Range Remaining indicator quite accurate, and you will quickly learn exactly what your various typical driving distances are. If marginal, simply slow down!

There are a number of good reasons for obtaining a Level 2 (L2 - 240vac input) EVSE; for example, there are times when you may need to recharge at home during the day and would like to do it faster than Level 1 (L1). The recharge rate using L1 (12A setting on the Mitsu EVSE) is about 9km/rechargehour vs. about 20km/recharge hour using L2. The first decision is whether to keep the EVSE as a portable (or transportable) unit vs. a permanent installation.

A permanent installation results in a slightly-less-cluttered appearance, but otherwise offers little advantage (IMO) over a portable unit; however, it might be required by local codes. For myself, I have located a 240vac outlet (NEMA L6-30R) right next to where my EVSE is mounted and I simply have the male connector on the end of the EVSE input wire which plugs into that outlet. My EVSE (an older SPX Power Xpress, now marketed by Bosch) came with a nice bracket that allows me to remove the EVSE instantly.

For the i-MiEV, a 20A circuit and EVSE are sufficient since the i-MiEV draws less than 13A at 240vac, and thus, for example, a NEMA L6-20 plug and receptacle are sufficient; however, as part of this initial purchase, for future expansion you might consider both a higher-capacity circuit as well as EVSE since almost all BEVs going forward will undoubtedly have larger onboard chargers.

Incidentally, if you will be installing an EVSE in your garage, consider parking the i-MiEV against the right wall and putting the EVSE on that right wall just inside the garage door. This will allow you to only unwind maybe a metre of cable in order to charge (keeping everything nice and clean and quick), and also gives you the option of pulling out the cord to charge a car outside.

To answer your question, sandange has given you a number of good leads - the EVSE is a pretty dumb device and they all work, so price is probably a significant factor in your choice. My own preference is for the relatively-low-cost (here in US) Clipper Creek units http://www.clippercreek.com/products.html , simply because they provided me with a free much-needed charge at their Auburn facility during my long Christmas Day road trip last year. :roll:

All the best to you, and hope you get to enjoy your i-MiEV fully before winter hits!
 
jmercier said:
will get my new i-miev 2016 tonight !!!
any advice to buy a charging station ? i don't want to spend 1500$ from the dealer...
i am from Montreal, quebec, canada
Cool un autre propriétaire de i-Miev !!! :D

First, like sandange said, AVEQ is a good french site. However, specifically for the i-Miev, the current forum is THE best and has a lot more information !! ;)

Second, I'm sure you're already aware of the Charging Station Rebate from Quebec government ? Remboursement pour les bornes de recharge.

Now, one important thing to consider. The i-Miev is a bit sensitive to some L2 chargers when using the included remote. Some, like me, noticed that using particular brand/model of L2 EVSE will stop the charging process IF you use the remote and that even if you simply use it to "check" the battery level and don't send any commands. This problem is not seen with the original L1 EVSE. This is a known issue when charging on level 2.

Some L2 that have been identified are:
SPX Power Xpress
Eaton
EVSEUpgrade

Lastly, since I went with the purchase of L2 EVSE last month, here is a brief list of what is available and at what price (approx. incl taxes in CND $ without any gov rebate):

Bosch 16A 16A $549

EVI Portable 25ft 16A $550

ClipperCreek LCS-20 15A $551

EVI SMART V5 16A $569

EVDUTY-25 20A $665

Sun Country Highway LCS-25 20A $671

EVDUTY-25 20A $723

Bosch 30A 30A $725
 
thanks to all... great to be part of your family... ill be there to the next Miev Get together...
My choice will be then EV Duty 30A. Just need to figure out for antitheft solution.

merci a tous... je serai assurément au prochain rendez vous de Miev !!!
Mon choix s'arretera sur EV duty 30. Je vais essayer de mettre en place un système antivol...
 
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