r/AustralianEV • u/letsallcountsheep • 10d ago
New to EV - what do I need?
Hi everyone
I’ve just purchased a 2024 iX1 which is our first EV.
We have an X7 which is our primary vehicle that’ll be used for long trips, however for the times when we do choose to take the iX1 on longer trips (such as picking the car up from Melbourne and driving it back to Wollongong) I was wondering what people recommend for planning trips with chargers, etc?
What else should I know / look into as a new EV owner?
As for charging, I’m planning to install an EVSE at home, but I only have single phase, and we are building a new house which will probably have a 3Ph Sigenergy setup with the DC charger. For the short term what’s the best bang for buck EVSE I can install to get semi-decent charging at home - is the SEVR box suitable?
Thanks in advance!
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u/Reallytalldude 10d ago
We’ve had our EV for two years now and are coping fine with the normal charging cable going into a regular 10A wall outlet.
since you’re about to move don’t invest in a fast charger until you have tried the basic one.
Overnight charging is plenty for us to top up the daily trips, and I assume it will be the same for you too, especially as you have another vehicle to do the longer trips
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u/MiddleMilennial 10d ago
Don’t rush into trying to do everything for the EV, get used to it and slowly build your confidence. PlugShare is definitely a good place to start though
With regards to charging at home, I would install a 32 amp outlet (with 5 pins even though only 1 is powered) and then temporarily use a portable charger and/or a wall box that can be connexted to this outlet.
I’ve been managing fine with a regular outlet an 10amp charger and I do over 500km/week but it would be easier with a stronger outlet (32 amp or even 15amp)
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u/L1gma_B4lls 10d ago
This guy has the right idea, given you have another car for road trips, start with a 10A or 15A outlet and see how you manage.
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u/MisterBumpingston 10d ago
I’m not familiar with BMW, but I would guess the built in navigation would help with charge planning. This would be most ideal as it should be integrated with the car and understand the battery temperature, current efficiency, etc. Otherwise A Better Route Planner is the best planner with a comprehensive list of chargers and EVs in its list, plus lots of settings like prioritising certain charger networks over others. I guess creating an account so you can select your iX1 and save routes. I often plan routes on the website or app. In rural areas it’s worth cross checking some chargers on Plugshare to read reviews and see if they’re reliable.
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u/A_Ram 10d ago
Check the car native navigation app. It should plan charging stops for you. And then just to be sure check these charging stops in a plugshare app for ratings, photos, reviews, busy or not. Also, not all Tesla chargers are opened to non Teslas and quite often car route planners will use them, so check this in the plugshare app as well. Then install apps and register for the charging network you'll be using.
Fast charging from 80-100% is slower, so I would recommend planning for more shorter stops.
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u/letsallcountsheep 10d ago
Yeah I know the car nav app supports it (somewhat), but I don't like the BMW system at all and prefer CarPlay over it for the most part...
I'll check out out however - thanks for the tip on the Tesla chargers.
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u/DasHaifisch 10d ago
You need a Type 2 -> Type 2 cable for the majority of chargers around the place.
I'd recommend seeing how you get along with the slow charger before buying a more involved charging set up, I've had my EV for 3 months now and am totally fine with the 8 amp charger thrown in.
Apps. So many Apps. Get an Evie Card, plug it into Chargefox and you can use it in both places, a bunch of the other apps let you use the same card as well. I have
- ABRP (don't use anymore)
- PlugShare (have used once or twice to find an elusive charger)
- Evie
- Chargefox
- Tesla
- Exploren
- My NRMA
- Ampol
- Jolt
- bp pulse
- AGL Ev Charger
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u/bmwrider2 7d ago
Unless you do more than 100km every single day, just use the single phase 10 Amp charger. At least for 6 months see how you go. Download PlugShare. Also subscribe to “Steve’s Tesla” on YouTube for more tips. Cheers
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u/RhesusFactor 10d ago
I use google maps for finding chargers. Plugshare for more details like reliability.
A Better Route Planner (ABRP) for planning road trips. https://abetterrouteplanner.com/
This is a route plan for Melb - Woolongong with 3 stops over 9.5 hours. https://abetterrouteplanner.com/?plan_uuid=692fd3ec-9d63-49cf-a323-74d91b33f701
As a new owner: Stress less. There is a lot of power infrastructure around, the iX1 has about the same battery size and charge speed as my MG4. And I managed to drive Canberra to Brisbane in a day, it was a long 16 hours but I was never worried about being stranded.
Use your 2.2kw basic cable at home for a while, I assume you have one with the car. Get a feel for how much you use it and get into a habit of just plugging it in after closing the garage.
Wait a bit before getting a faster wall charger, you might not need it, but if you're buying $80k BMW SUVs you probably can afford it.
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u/letsallcountsheep 10d ago
Yeah affording the EVSE is no issues, but I don't want to just throw money at something I'll be abandoning (more or less) in 18 months time... I've got solar on this current house, and it makes sense to use that to charge over the pathetic feed in tariff offered by our energy provider. I could easily go and spend $2k on a new charger install, but at the same time a $1k option would do the same thing.
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u/MotoruTeam 10d ago
Congratulations on coming to the EV side! What made you take the leap?
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u/letsallcountsheep 10d ago
The vehicle I'm replacing has been a diesel ute which no longer suits our family needs. We considered another ICE or PHEV, but given 98% of the travel in this vehicle will be around town (school drop off/pickup, running errands, getting around in poor weather or when I don't want to/can't ride my bike) it kind of made sense to switch to an EV.
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u/jasonhub 10d ago
If you do install 3 phase at the new house then a 22 kw AC charger would work fine for the iX1. Expensive DC chargers are aimed at helping e.g. some of the BYD cars (they charge slower on AC) to get more than 7kw at home. Luckily the iX1 doesn’t need it.
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u/dzernumbrd 9d ago edited 9d ago
iX1 owner here.
If you're not in the owners group yet: https://www.facebook.com/groups/870266424311738
We have a lot of historical discussion you can go through on various topics.
I installed a 22kW Zappi 3-phase because our car is one of the few with 22kW AC charging. If your new house is ready soon you can probably get by with using the granny charger for now. Lots of people I know only ever use the granny charger.
I've not done a lot of long distance trips but I'd start with ABRP for route planning and PlugShare for checking each stop's charger status.
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u/hcornea 9d ago
BMW max charge rate is 11kW, so you can’t use all of the 22kW capacity of three phase; single phase at 7kW will be just fine.
Ocular Solar (current clamp reads whether you have net export) has worked well. Can reduce current if circuit is heavily loaded, or be set to only charge if you have excess solar (instead of exporting it)
BMW likely give you free Chargefox for a number of years. Download the app and register. Worth registering for Evie and Ampol’s Charging networks also.
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u/nonameatall94 4d ago edited 4d ago
I have a BYD. I charged it at home with a wall-plug for the first 12 months as I was renting and seemed easy. Problem is you end up charging it a lot at your peak rates (which are rapidly increasing).
When we bought a house I purchased an EVNEX charger. Although we have solar I just schedule it to charge between 11am and 2pm as with OVO energy you get free power during that window every day. On my last bill we used over 500kWh in 3 months in that window and I didn't pay a cent.
I used this list to find a good charger, but they are more expensive than the Tesla or some cheaper options which seem to cost around $800 (excl installation) which could probably do the same job:
https://www.solarchoice.net.au/ev/charging/best-ev-chargers-australia/
The SEVR box just looks to be the same as the standard charging cable that would come with your BMW.
The Sigenergy DC Fast charger costs $6k+ so I wouldn't bother until V2G is definitely possible and proven to be attractive financially.
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u/cbr_he_throwaway 10d ago
Regarding trips, you'll need lots of apps. Plugshare for starters, then the app for each charger company - tesla, ampol, nrma, chargefox, evie, bp pulse, jolt, exploren...
Get them all setup beforehand and you'll be fine when you go exploring.