Charging at public station of Stadtwerke München

Deutsche Version
In the urban area of Munich the Stadtwerke München (local supplier) operate charging stations of different manufacturers. At sunday I tried out charging at a differnt type of charging station.
I was driving to the Landshuter Allee and spotted the charging station after a short search.
The Map of charging stations did not show the exact position.

Position of the charging station

Nevertheless I reached the charging station. Manufacturer seems to be a company called ESG.

SWM charging station at Landshuter Allee

The charging station has both at the left and right side two shut ports for the plugs and a small but sufficient display (indicating ready for use and a telephone number).

The activation of the charging process proved to be a challenge for an electromobile pioneer.

To use this type of station I got an identification card. Due to the card seems to operate with RFID-technology, I put it against the station underneath the diplay. No reaction. Next try left of the diplay, then right of the display, above the display, underneath again, on the SWM-letters, at the side underneath the closed ports... no reaction.
Maybe there might be a flap which has to be opened first? Going around the station several times, investigating every cavity for use as a handle or a card slot. Some soft-touch areas to open a flap? Negative!


Once more "scanning" the front of the device with the card and finally: as I positioned the card at a distinctive place which I just missed before between the display and the SWM-letters, the display says:
- proving authorisation

approximate position of the card activating the station

The lack of an adequate marking may be due to the recent installation of the charger. 
After positive identification the ports are opened motor driven.

Schuko-plug and IEC 62196-2 Typ 2 -plug

Please plug in

After plugging in the charging cord the three unused ports close one after another, combined with an importunate beeping. So the beeping occurs every time one of the ports is closing, the inexperienced user presumes a problem and panics, but in the end the charging station starts charging the car.
Anyhow, the sound of the beeping and the loudness seems not to be suitable for sensitive residental neighborhood.

Charging cord plugged in.

To end the charging the card has to be positioned at the descripted area once again, the charging operation is aborted and the plug is released to be disconnected.
Concluding the amount of kWh is displayed and the port is shut.

#014 charging at the Landshuter Allee

UPDATE 31.05.2011:
As I had again the chance to use this public station, there was a new sticker on the front side. This sticker marks the position for the identification card. In this case the login works perfectly if you know the meaning of the marked point. A detailed  instruction for a first-time-user like "Please apply your identifikation card here" would have been a little better.

additional sticker to mark the position of the RIFD-reader.

Standby power consumption

Deutsche Version
To have an idea, what is the standby power consumption of the wallbox and the car, I watched the electric meter that was installed with the new power cable feeding the wallbox in the garage. 
Due to the electric meter switches digitally in 0,1kWh-steps and I do not have higher sophisticated measuring equipment, this is not more than an estimated conclusion.

Monitoring the electric meter for several days without pluging in the car shows a power consumption of 0,1kWh/24h. This may be slightly more because of  the digital switch.
So the Siemens wallbox has a standby power consumption of about 4,2 Watt (or slightly more).
This is not a big value, but projected to the period I use the MINI E (9 1/2 month, 285 days) this means 285x0,1kWh = 28,5kWh. This is equal to a full charge of MINI Es usable battery capacity of about 28kWh. At a price of 0,207 Euro/kWh this is about 5,90 Euro for the powering of the wallbox during the test period.
Integrating some smart grid features, the power consumption may rise and developers and customers should have an eye on this.
Whenever I do not need the wallbox for a longer time, I shut it off via the circuit breaker.

Monitoring the electric meter with the car plugged in after achieving a SOC of 100% and the flashing charging light is gone, the effect is the same: 0,1kWh/24h combined consumption of wallbox and fully charged car.
So it seems that the MINI E has a negligible power consumption when it is fully charged and there is no need to plug it off to avoid some extra cost.

 

Siemens Wallbox with plugged in MINI E.

This issue changes with the next generation electric vehicles providing thermal management of the battery pack and preconditioning of the cabin.

I hope the driver may choose from different scenarios ranging
... from full range priority providing optimum battery temperature and fully conditioned cabin neglecting the energy consumption
... to an eco mode with priority to minium energy consumption providing just in time battery temperature sufficient for using the regenerative brake and a moderate cabin temperature.

Blogs of MINI E Pioneers

Deutsche Version
Some information I collected about other MINI E blogs.
I divided it up in users that still have a MINI E as far as i know (does not mean that it is updated regularely) and users whose lease had ended (does not mean that is is not updated regularely).

I try to keep this entry up to date at least as I'm involved in the MINI E project.

Some MINI E Pioneers

MINI E in active service
USA
#053: http://miniwink.com/
#111: http://petersminie.blogspot.com/
#140: http://electricminicooper.blogspot.com/
#183: http://electricmini.blogspot.com/
#230: http://coopere230.blogspot.com/
#249: http://cliffsmini-e.blogspot.com/
#250: http://minie250.blogspot.com/
#364: http://gotplug.blogspot.com/



Former MINI E Pioneers now driving a different EV
Chevy Volt
#304: http://drive-electric.blogspot.com/

Nissan Leaf:
#148: http://ev-nation.org/

Th!nk
#458: http://minie458.blogspot.com/

MINI E mission accomplished
#014: http://kathrynbakken.typepad.com/blog/
#017: http://mini-e-edju.blogspot.com/
#019: http://minie019.com/
#030: http://mini-eroy.blogspot.com/
#059: http://web.me.com/soareyes/Stans_Mini_E/Mini_E_Blog/Mini_E_Blog.html
#066: http://www.eanet.com/kodama/ev-chronicles/mini-e/index.htm
#085: http://www.genesisenergycorp.com/mini/
#116: http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/Vehicles/2009-mini-e/
#150: http://kenkuhl.com/mini-e-review.html
#167, #214, #228: http://www.calstart.org/learning-center/mini-e-blog.aspx?Year=2010
#203: http://digimojo.blogspot.com/
#217: http://electricride.wordpress.com/
#237: http://minielectricandme.blogspot.com/
#259: http://blog.honk.com/whats-it-like-to-be-an-early-adopter-for-new-car-technology/
#268: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/07/bmw-mini-e/
#269: http://mikegrahamjr.blogspot.com/
#277: http://www.stuartistry.com/my-mini-e/
#300: http://www.nygreen.com/MINI/
#339: http://mini-e-and-me.blogspot.com/
#348: http://myminie.com/
#353: http://mini-e-353.blogspot.com/
#380: http://mini-e-380.blogspot.com/
#402: http://mymini-e.blogspot.com/
#412: http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1021505_what-its-like-to-lease-and-drive-the-mini-e-electric-car
#418: http://mini-e-418.blogspot.com/
#466: http://thetruthabouttheminie.blogspot.com/
#484: http://magiccman.blogspot.com/
#486: http://myemini.wordpress.com/
#576: http://electricmini.tumblr.com/
#588: http://hubymini.tumblr.com/

MINI E Rescue Sheet

 Deutsche Version
Reading an article at www.energie-info.net I became aware of the rescue sheet.

Modern automobiles become more and more complex and sophisticated. In case of emergency or accident this makes it more difficult for the rescue personnel.

In order to give fire departments and rescue personnel basic information for a quick, effective and safe rescue, the ADAC (German automobile club) claims a standard sheet which gives a brief overview of a car with special information that may be helpful in case of an accident and rescue.
The data sheet contains information like position of hard to cut ultra high strengh steels, the position of the fuel tank or the location of a cars battery enabling a quick disconnection.
Further the locations of various equipment is shown that can be harmful to the rescuers like airbag gas generators or gas filled spring devices.

High voltage electricity in hybrid cars or battery electric cars is another group of objects that threatens both vehicle occupants and rescuers in case of emergency. This is a very new and up to now a very rare aspect. The rescue and fire departments have little real life experience concerning this special sort of automobiles. So locally available information about position of high voltage wires/components and information about shutdown procedures of the high voltage systems are crucial for an effectiv rescue.

www.rettungskarte.de  provides links to the manufacturers sites where the rescue sheet for their cars will be found. Some additional english information like a translation of the icons can be found at www.rescuesheet.info .
The ADAC recommends to store the rescue sheet at the drivers sun visor to make it quick available in case the rescue team does not have mobile internet access.

Following the links I found a MINI E rescue sheet. So I printed it and located it at the sun visor following the recommendation, because due to its limited number the MINI E may be a challenge for the rescue and fire departments.

Image of the MINI E rescue sheet. For full detail follow the links above.

The mounting to the drivers visor could not be organized in a useful way due to the MINIs vanity mirror. So I took a transparent envelope with the rescue sheet inside, put some self-adhesive hook-and-loop-tape (the hook-side) on it and fixed it to the roof lining.

Rescue sheet in transparent envelope fixed to the roof lining.