Is there a onboard Timer on B Class? and the best EV charger

I emailed a person at MB who told me that the current vehicle (this was back in July-August) did not have delayed charging. He said, however, that it will be coming in a software upgrade. It's very possible that it seems that some of you may have it "sorta" working at this point. Some of you also have an E+ mode, that us original owners do not. So, obviously, there has been a software change along the line.

There's no doubt delayed charging is a beneficial feature, and it seems that it should be coming. Soon, I hope. In the meantime, I put a $50-$100 timer inline with my EVSE, and it works fine.

To me, delayed charging and departure times need to be independent. For example, my super off-peak hours here is 12AM to 6AM. However, if I don't want to leave until 830A, I don't want charging to end during the higher cost hours.

There is plenty of discussion on the MB Electric Drive forum on Facebook, that for those who live in very cold climates, that pre-heating, and not using the main heater while driving, but using the seat warmers can make a significant different in range. I don't have that problem here in Southern CA, however several people from NY and CT have made this comment.

PS: I would also add that I would like the ability to dial down the L2 charging rate, adjustable between 20-40A. There's cases where plugging in my Jesla cable would blow the circuit, and the ability to dial down the charging rate would be beneficial. The Tesla has this, no reason why the MB shouldn't.

rdavis0521 said:

In the meantime, I put a $50-$100 timer inline with my EVSE, and it works fine.

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Could you elaborate please?

I installed the Siemens level 2 charger when I bought my B Class in July and have successfully used it to effectively delay the start of charging. It has a button that increases delay time in 2 hour increments from 2 to 8. If I get home at 5:30pm then I set the delay to 6 hours and charging begins at 11:30 when the rate is $.10/kwh. The Siemens works great, but I would still expect the car to have some sort of delay or set timer feature built-in that works consistently.

I went to Home Depot and purchased an Intermatic Digital timer model: FM1D14-AV. The timer supports 120-277V AC, and took about 1 hour to wire inline with my plug for my EVSE. As I remember it was about $79. Note that there are several other mechanical timers for a bit less money. I liked the digital interface, and simply set mine to come on at 1215AM every day, and turn off at 6AM, which captures my TOU super off-peak hours.

http://www.intermatic.com/en/Products/TimeSwitches/ElectronicSwitches/Panel_Mount-DinRailTimers/FM1D14_Series/FM1D14-AV.aspx shows the timer itself, but when I purchased it, it was in a grey enclosure, ready to just wire in place.

I was going to attach a picture, but don't see a way to do this on this board.

rdavis0521 said:

I went to Home Depot and purchased an Intermatic Digital timer model: FM1D14-AV.

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This unit is GROSSLY inadequate to handle 40 amps. What exactly are you going to switch?


Supply Voltage:
12 VDC, 24 VAC/VDC, 120-277 VAC,
50/60 Hz
Switch Rating:
SPDT relay
N.O. Contact:
15A, 277 VAC, General Use

N.C. Contact:
15 A, 277 VAC, General Use

Strange. Maybe that's not the exact unit that I purchased? I'm only charging at 20A, however I was pretty sure I specifically looked for a unit that will handle 40A. I'll see if I can locate exactly what I have. I was going by looking online, since I don't seem to have the paperwork any longer.

OK, this is the unit I purchased http://www.intermatic.com/Products/TimeSwitches/ElectronicSwitches/Defrost_Timer/DTAV40E.aspx

good up to 40A, however my current situation is I have a 30A dryer circuit that was already available in the garage. I purchased a LCS-25 Clipper Creek, which is a 20A EVSE. It still gets me charged overnight during the TOU hours.

Sorry for the confusion.

tcoombes said:

I installed the Siemens level 2 charger when I bought my B Class in July and have successfully used it to effectively delay the start of charging. It has a button that increases delay time in 2 hour increments from 2 to 8. If I get home at 5:30pm then I set the delay to 6 hours and charging begins at 11:30 when the rate is $.10/kwh. The Siemens works great, but I would still expect the car to have some sort of delay or set timer feature built-in that works consistently.

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I installed my VersaCharge Gen2 ($549 from HomeDepot here in No Sales Tax, but still not NCAA Football Champs, Oregon) and am very pleased with it. I use the timer button (before I plug in) for TOU too. It is annoying, but now its reflexive so I don't see a difference from my LEAF.

However I am using a lot more juice everyday than I was with my LEAF (driving the same miles). I haven't had time to measure, but my wall-to-battery (I have a meter) appears to be higher. Can't wait for a CANBus App that will tell me how many kWh I actually use when driving (dashboard is way off or Wall-to-Wheels)

Just purchased Siemens Versicharge with delay timer of 2,4,6 and 8 hours. This way I can set the timer on to charge between midnight and 6AM (SCE super off peak rate time). 240V @30A (adjustable amperage feature) , indoor/outdoor for $549 @ Amazon or Homedepot.

I just leased a B Class on Monday while trading in my Leaf SL. I am a long time OpenEVSE user. I made some tests on my installed unit.

First the car follows the J1772 spec. It charges just fine at 32A.

The Real Time Clock delay works flawlessly. You can set any start and stop times but the default works for most people. The default is starting at 5 minutes past midnight and stopping 5 minutes before 7 AM.

I didn't realize that the OpenEVSE had both a delay timer, and V/A output as well. Nice!

rdavis0521 said:

I didn't realize that the OpenEVSE had both a delay timer, and V/A output as well. Nice!

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OpenEVSE has options for the RTC. The power meter is a $20 stand alone meter from China via Ebay. This particular meter is meant for their internal market and it is marked for 50HZ only. The two that I have used worked fine at 60 HZ but I would not put that meter into an EVSE I built for someone else. It is great since it can measure watts, volt amps, and power factor.

Well finally I got my 50A circuit breaker from Ebay. I pulled new #6 wire and my B Class is happily charging at 39.6A. I will normally use the timer to charge late at night so as to not overload my poor 100A panel but I just had to try it. Gee, the meter disk sure whizzes by!

My TED says I am currently drawing 10.714KW. At least Anaheim has their own power and I am not paying Edison rates.

Bumping this thread up to inquire about a charger. Picking up car Thursday, 40 mile drive home from dealer in 20 degree weather at best. It will have a full extended range charge at delivery I'm promised.....

Anyway it will be long 120v charge after that....

Then I need to order a L2 charger to install about 2 weeks later when I'll have the time again.

Options are

JESLA (40A)
Clipper Creek HCS-40P (32A)
Siemens Versicharge (30A)
JAMP JR (40A) (depending on when Tony can ship them)
Leviton (40A)

I like the features and price of the Seimens, but what kind of charge times does anyone get with it? Will I wish I went for a larger amperage unit?

I expect the car sees a lot of short around town trips every day and plugged in in between.

Any insight will help and I'll order after that.

I have an older Clipper Creek 20A. I specifically picked that because it was the only one at the time that could fit between two of my garage doors (which is where my car's charging port is).

You can charge up to 40A so I would pick one of the three that can charge at 40A. I have not seen the JAMP JR yet but it should be powerful and inexpensive so I'd go with that if you can wait. That or rent a JESLA for a month. The Leviton is large (which is why I did not buy it) and it's more expensive than the other choices.

Mike
By the way, I'm fine with the 20A and I would say that I only wish I had 40A about once a quarter. That said, I'm thinking about upgrading this summer or when I buy my second EV.

This looks like a pretty good deal. $500 for a 30amp 240V charger with delay, plus $100 in Blink credit (if you can use it). I cannot talk to the quality of the charger.
http://blinkhq.com/?utm_source=Blink+Network&utm_campaign=05eca8845a-Blink+HQ+Back+to+%24499.99+2%2F25&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ac73587e35-05eca8845a-297042309&mc_cid=05eca8845a&mc_eid=7b43782b44

Interesting on the Blink, never thought of that. I'll check it out, but not sure there is any place around I can use the $100 credit.

Now I'm torn between building an 50A OPENEVSE from kit, or just buying the Siemens and living with 7.2kW.

Anything beats the 12A level 1 it is connected to in the garage right now.

For what it's worth, I have the Siemens Versicharge and love it. I have never encountered a scenario in which I wished it charged faster. It's really well-built, solid-feeling and the delayed charge function is super easy.

I don't think I've ever had to charge for more than two hours. However, I think the lowest I've drained my battery is 40%, so I'm also not charging up from full. I would imagine that if you were someone who completely depleted your battery on a regular basis, it might be nice to have the extra amperage in case you had to turn around and go back out again soon. Otherwise, I would think the practical differences between 30A and 40A aren't that much - they will both give you a full charge overnight with many hours to spare.

Electrons said:

For what it's worth, I have the Siemens Versicharge and love it. I have never encountered a scenario in which I wished it charged faster. It's really well-built, solid-feeling and the delayed charge function is super easy.

I don't think I've ever had to charge for more than two hours. However, I think the lowest I've drained my battery is 40%, so I'm also not charging up from full. I would imagine that if you were someone who completely depleted your battery on a regular basis, it might be nice to have the extra amperage in case you had to turn around and go back out again soon. Otherwise, I would think the practical differences between 30A and 40A aren't that much - they will both give you a full charge overnight with many hours to spare.

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