Condensation in the front optics / headlights

[Prof_Pardal]

Hello from Portugal,

I am a very happy owner from Lisbon, Portugal. My CE-04 only has 222km! Was a little bit surprised with this, this evening... 15ºC outside temperature... after just arrived from a 70km trip.
By the way, was fast charging (3 x 10A) after arrived, and the active cooling starts... nice to know that something is being managed, temperature wise...

 

[subcyclist]

Bom Dia/Boa Tarde! Welcome to the forum.

That lens cover is not sealed, so air is able to move in and out of that space. I have found that when temperatures are warm during the day, accompanied by some humidity, this condensation forms when evening temperatures cool down significantly. Humid air moves in during the day, and the moisture in that air condenses inside the headlight lens. When your weather becomes warmer during the day and evening, you might see this condensation less frequently.

The cooling fan (working with the radiator) you hear when charging, is what regulates the temperature of the charger; and, this indicates that you most likely have the 6.6 kw charger option. I believe the 3 kw charger does not need active cooling. The fan and radiator also cool the electric motor, but the battery is air cooled only.

I hope you really enjoy riding your new scooter. Please, tell us what it is like to ride in your region of Portugal.

 

[Jojo]

Nice bike. My new CE 04 only has 460km on it. 3 x 10A? Do you mean 30A or 10A on 3 phase? On 3 phase supply you will only draw 1 phase.

 

[Prof_Pardal]

Nice bike. My new CE 04 only has 460km on it. 3 x 10A? Do you mean 30A or 10A on 3 phase? On 3 phase supply you will only draw 1 phase.

Hi Jojo,

Thanks for the compliment on the bike! My CE 04 haven't reach yet 300 km on the clock. When I wrote “3 × 10 A,” I meant 10 A per phase on a three-phase supply, which at 230 V amounts to 6.9 kW. On a single-phase system, it would draw 30 A at 230 V to reach the same power.

I opted for the Fast Charge package, which allows up to 6.9 kW charging via a compatible wallbox. In Europe, you can either deliver that 6.9 kW on one phase (30 A × 230 V) or split it evenly across three phases (3 × 10 A × 230 V), as I do at home.

Because I only hold a standard car license, I asked my BMW dealer to apply the optional software restriction that limits peak power to around ~ 23 kW—and caps usable battery capacity at about 6.1 kWh (31kW and 8.5kWh in the unrestricted model). The good news is, it charges from 0 % to 100 % in under an hour, which is fantastic. The wider top- and low-state-of-charge buffers also help preserve battery health, and the charging curve remains nearly flat at 6.9 kW all the way to 100 %, compared with the unrestricted model which takes more time to charge obviously, and the charging curve starts to cap around 80%.

I’m really pleased with it!

Cheers!

Here are some pictures taken today at the supermarket.

 

[Jojo]

Hi Jojo,

Thanks for the compliment on the bike! My CE 04 haven't reach yet 300 km on the clock. When I wrote “3 × 10 A,” I meant 10 A per phase on a three-phase supply, which at 230 V amounts to 6.9 kW. On a single-phase system, it would draw 30 A at 230 V to reach the same power.

Very interesting! I had assumed the 6.9kW charger would be on one phase only, like it is for most EV cars. They are usually either ~7kW single phase or ~11kW 3 phase. To date I have only charged at home on a 15A mobile charger but I just went and tried the bike on my 3 phase Tesla wall charger and yes, indeed it showed 3 x 10A on the bike screen (see pic). This maybe explains why the mobile charger supplied with the bike is rated for 11kW 3 phase but is limited to 8A single phase on the household plug tail provided. Maybe other tails can be purchased to use the higher outputs similar to the way Tesla does it with their mobile chargers. Weirdly, though, my Tesla App was showing only 4.5kW being drawn by the charger which works out to a total of 19A (2 x 10A maybe?). Not sure why.

 

[Jojo]

Hi Jojo,
...
Because I only hold a standard car license, I asked my BMW dealer to apply the optional software restriction that limits peak power to around ~ 23 kW—and caps usable battery capacity at about 6.1 kWh (31kW and 8.5kWh in the unrestricted model). The good news is, it charges from 0 % to 100 % in under an hour, which is fantastic. The wider top- and low-state-of-charge buffers also help preserve battery health, and the charging curve remains nearly flat at 6.9 kW all the way to 100 %, compared with the unrestricted model which takes more time to charge obviously, and the charging curve starts to cap around 80%.

I understand limiting the power but why do they limit the battery capacity at the same time. That doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Prof_Pardal]

Very interesting! I had assumed the 6.9kW charger would be on one phase only, like it is for most EV cars. (...). Weirdly, though, my Tesla App was showing only 4.5kW being drawn by the charger which works out to a total of 19A (2 x 10A maybe?). Not sure why. View attachment 5693View attachment 5694

I told you (about being able to charge both ways, one phase and three phase). Concerning the changing power limit that you observed (~4.5kW), I assume that you were already outside from the peak of the charging curve. I would say that when you tried, your battery was already at a higher state of charge. It is what I said already, and happens also with any electric car, the charging power drops near the end of charge. On the bikes that are power restricted, you don't see that high of a drop from 6.9kW, except in the last 1 or 2% before '100%' (in reality, it is not the 100% physically for the battery pack, it should be ~80% in the restricted ones).

 

[Prof_Pardal]

I understand limiting the power but why do they limit the battery capacity at the same time. That doesn't make sense to me.

In this case, I have a theory .

BMW offers both restricted and unrestricted CE 04s at the same price, so the only difference is software. My guess is that rather than develop a bespoke power-curve map for the restricted version, they simply limit the usable state-of-charge window. Because the bike only ever uses, say, up to 80 % of the cell’s full capacity, it naturally delivers less peak power as the state of charge drops—just like in my Tesla, where full-rated power is only available above roughly 80 % SOC, and falls off below that.

In practice, the performance feels nearly identical to the unrestricted model—any difference is barely perceptible—so I suspect BMW chose the simplest software tweak: shrink the usable battery buffer, which inherently reduces available power at lower SOC, rather than crafting an entirely new power map. Obviously, this isn’t official, but it seems the most straightforward explanation.

 

[Jojo]

I told you (about being able to charge both ways, one phase and three phase). Concerning the changing power limit that you observed (~4.5kW), ...

Ah, yes that must be it. Was at 80%. I guess I would have expected the display to show less current, say 3x7A but display probably not that sophisticated.

 

[Jojo]

In this case, I have a theory .

BMW offers both restricted and unrestricted CE 04s at the same price, so the only difference is software. My guess is that rather than develop a bespoke power-curve map for the restricted version, they simply limit the usable state-of-charge window. Because the bike only ever uses, say, up to 80 % of the ...

Again, you are making a lot of sense! Bit of a blunt way to limit power but a lot easier than changing the motor. You should get your moto license and I presume they will restore full power and battery.