We got white with the 20 inch wheels. Which I think make s a big difference in aesthetics an handling. We also got the Bigger Nav and ACC (Active Cruise Control). It is quite impressive and I can see why being absent in Model S was a big deal. Previously, I didn't think much of it, but now after using it, has become more desired when spec'in out a car. Setting it and letting the car adjust the speed without engaging is amazing.
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BMW i3
- Thread starter gregincal
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We got white with the 20 inch wheels. Which I think make s a big difference in aesthetics an handling. We also got the Bigger Nav and ACC (Active Cruise Control). It is quite impressive and I can see why being absent in Model S was a big deal. Previously, I didn't think much of it, but now after using it, has become more desired when spec'in out a car. Setting it and letting the car adjust the speed without engaging is amazing.
rolosrevenge
Dr. EVS
wraithnot
Model 3 VIN #2942 Model S VIN #5785
I've played with the ACC on my wife's i3 a few times and I agree that it works really well on the freeway. But it has some trouble on the curved two-lane road near our house because it sometimes thinks a car in the other lane or in a turn lane is in your lane and slows the car way down when it shouldn't. It also doesn't understand the meaning of a stop sign and will dutifully maintain the distance to the car in front of you if they don't stop long enough for the ACC to disengage (or if they roll through the stop sign). And yes, I know ACC isn't intended for use on residential roads, but since the camera is smart enough to read the speed limit on road signs, I figured I would see if they taught it other signs as well. The ACC also refused to engage when I drove it on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge. Maybe the railings on the sides of the bridge confused it somehow.
We probably wouldn't have paid the extra money for the ACC if it wasn't bundled with the larger nav screen. But it is done well enough that I would probably use it for freeway driving even after the novelty wears off.
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BMW of San Antonio has a dozen i3's in stock now. I test drove one this morning. I believe it was a Mega World with REX.
Overall I was pretty impressed. The exterior appearance is odd but I could get used to it. I do like the unusual interior, but I'd probably want the wood trim and larger nav screen of the Tera World. Back seat headroom is good but legroom is tight, as you'd expect in a compact car. Trunk space is actually more than it looks like from the outside, and the seats do flop down. The car is quick and nimble enough on surface streets, obviously BMW went to some effort to make the car fun to drive.
The salesman I talked to was quite knowledgeable about the car, had been through some special training and spent quite a bit of time driving it around in both San Francisco and in San Antonio. He didn't try to steer me to a different model at all, he was happy to talk about the i3. As I said they had 12 on the lot and there was also one in the showroom with a special display including the Bosch EVSE that BMW offers alongside the car. So it seems like BMW in general and this dealership in particular are serious about selling i3's. He also mentioned they'd sold all 3 of the i8's that they had been allocated so far, and had a waiting list of 20 more people who want one.
The test drive route that the salesman guided me along was all surface streets. I had a strong sense that he thinks of the car as an in-city commuter that isn't really suited for interstates, even with the REX. He mentioned one owner who took the car out of town and was surprised by crippled performance once the REX kicked in. Though he did say that the car had a full load of 4 adults at the time. Perhaps the REX can keep up with highway cruising if the car is lightly loaded? The Car and Driver review seems to suggest that you can drive the car at highway speed on the REX, just not very far because the gas tank is small.
Though it's not a Tesla I feel like BMW has taken a big step with the i3. I'm impressed that they were willing to design an EV from the ground up rather than electrifying an ICE car like most manufacturers do. Using a carbon fiber bodyshell to offset the weight of the battery pack is a bold move. I actually like the i3's interior better than the Model S. It's smaller but I feel like it makes better use of space. If BMW comes out with an i5 with a 200 mile battery pack, and if they either get on board with Tesla Supercharging or build out their own J1772-Combo DC charging network, things could be very interesting in a few years.
Overall I was pretty impressed. The exterior appearance is odd but I could get used to it. I do like the unusual interior, but I'd probably want the wood trim and larger nav screen of the Tera World. Back seat headroom is good but legroom is tight, as you'd expect in a compact car. Trunk space is actually more than it looks like from the outside, and the seats do flop down. The car is quick and nimble enough on surface streets, obviously BMW went to some effort to make the car fun to drive.
The salesman I talked to was quite knowledgeable about the car, had been through some special training and spent quite a bit of time driving it around in both San Francisco and in San Antonio. He didn't try to steer me to a different model at all, he was happy to talk about the i3. As I said they had 12 on the lot and there was also one in the showroom with a special display including the Bosch EVSE that BMW offers alongside the car. So it seems like BMW in general and this dealership in particular are serious about selling i3's. He also mentioned they'd sold all 3 of the i8's that they had been allocated so far, and had a waiting list of 20 more people who want one.
The test drive route that the salesman guided me along was all surface streets. I had a strong sense that he thinks of the car as an in-city commuter that isn't really suited for interstates, even with the REX. He mentioned one owner who took the car out of town and was surprised by crippled performance once the REX kicked in. Though he did say that the car had a full load of 4 adults at the time. Perhaps the REX can keep up with highway cruising if the car is lightly loaded? The Car and Driver review seems to suggest that you can drive the car at highway speed on the REX, just not very far because the gas tank is small.
Though it's not a Tesla I feel like BMW has taken a big step with the i3. I'm impressed that they were willing to design an EV from the ground up rather than electrifying an ICE car like most manufacturers do. Using a carbon fiber bodyshell to offset the weight of the battery pack is a bold move. I actually like the i3's interior better than the Model S. It's smaller but I feel like it makes better use of space. If BMW comes out with an i5 with a 200 mile battery pack, and if they either get on board with Tesla Supercharging or build out their own J1772-Combo DC charging network, things could be very interesting in a few years.
wraithnot
Model 3 VIN #2942 Model S VIN #5785
After 1,158 miles on the odometer, my wife still absolutely loves her i3 BEV. Based on my experience with Tesla superchargers, I insisted on getting the optional SAE combo/CCS charging capability, but this was a bit of a leap of faith because there were hardly any CCS stations in the SF bay area when we leased the car in late September. eVgo has started rolling out CCS/CHAdeMO dual plug chargers fairly aggressively and now there is an ABB Terra 53 CJ charger 8 miles from our house at the northgate mall in San Rafael and another at the premium outlets in Petaluma. A BMW ChargeNow card also came with the car that gives us free fast charging at eVgo CCS stations through the end of 2015- provided we charge at least once before the end of 2014.
Since we now have a CCS station so close to our house, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to roll in to the station with a low state of charge and see what happens. We showed up with 11% SOC of charge and 8 miles of range on the i3’s “guess-o-meter” and other than having to wave the ChargeNow RFID card in front of the charger and lugging the monstrous cable over to the charge port, the experience wasn’t that different from a supercharger stop. Unfortunately the i3 doesn’t report things like charging power, charging current, and charging voltage and the iPhone app sometimes takes a few minutes to update so logging the data was a bit challenging. I ended up just taking a photos of the data on the ABB charger screen at different time points. I calculated the charging power by comparing the difference in delivered kWh and the difference in time between data points.
It took about a minute for the charger to reach full power and it stayed there until sometime between 60% SOC and 69% SOC (my wife and I had coffee at the nearby Peet’s coffee and despite sneaking out to the parking lot a few times, I missed a datapoint or two). I calculated full power to be around 42 kW which is a reasonable fraction of the rated 50 kW written on the plug. It turns out the free charging sessions only last for 30 minutes and then the charger shuts off. After 30 minutes, the state of charge was up to 88% with 65 miles on the guess-o-meter (probably would have been about 71 rated miles if BMW had adopted Tesla’s non guess-o-meter method of displaying range). The total power delivered was 13.85 kWh.
We then hopped in the car and headed to Petaluma. We started charging there with 55% state of charge and then checked out the premium outlets (and the bathrooms at the premium outlets). We would have had a bit more range left if the BMW nav system hadn’t gotten horribly confused about how to get to the premium outlets and I made sure to point this out since my wife tends to give me some grief every time the Tesla nav system doesn’t get things quite right. After 25 minutes, we were ready to head back with a 95% SOC and 7.35 free kWh.
Overall I was pretty impressed with whole the experience. The frankenplug is definitely not as elegant as a supercharger cable and 42 kW is far less than 120 kW. But the light little i3 goes farther on a kWh so the charging speed during the full power portion of the charge works out to something like 200 rated miles per hour. A supercharger adds range up to twice as fast, but 200 miles of range per hour is still pretty respectable. And having access to these chargers dramatically increasing the capability of the non-REx version of the i3. Thanks to these stations we’ll now be able to take the i3 to Healdsburg to pick up our wine club shipment. And since my wife likes driving the car so much, she’s offered to be the designated driver for any winetasting that might ensue
Since we now have a CCS station so close to our house, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to roll in to the station with a low state of charge and see what happens. We showed up with 11% SOC of charge and 8 miles of range on the i3’s “guess-o-meter” and other than having to wave the ChargeNow RFID card in front of the charger and lugging the monstrous cable over to the charge port, the experience wasn’t that different from a supercharger stop. Unfortunately the i3 doesn’t report things like charging power, charging current, and charging voltage and the iPhone app sometimes takes a few minutes to update so logging the data was a bit challenging. I ended up just taking a photos of the data on the ABB charger screen at different time points. I calculated the charging power by comparing the difference in delivered kWh and the difference in time between data points.
It took about a minute for the charger to reach full power and it stayed there until sometime between 60% SOC and 69% SOC (my wife and I had coffee at the nearby Peet’s coffee and despite sneaking out to the parking lot a few times, I missed a datapoint or two). I calculated full power to be around 42 kW which is a reasonable fraction of the rated 50 kW written on the plug. It turns out the free charging sessions only last for 30 minutes and then the charger shuts off. After 30 minutes, the state of charge was up to 88% with 65 miles on the guess-o-meter (probably would have been about 71 rated miles if BMW had adopted Tesla’s non guess-o-meter method of displaying range). The total power delivered was 13.85 kWh.
We then hopped in the car and headed to Petaluma. We started charging there with 55% state of charge and then checked out the premium outlets (and the bathrooms at the premium outlets). We would have had a bit more range left if the BMW nav system hadn’t gotten horribly confused about how to get to the premium outlets and I made sure to point this out since my wife tends to give me some grief every time the Tesla nav system doesn’t get things quite right. After 25 minutes, we were ready to head back with a 95% SOC and 7.35 free kWh.
Overall I was pretty impressed with whole the experience. The frankenplug is definitely not as elegant as a supercharger cable and 42 kW is far less than 120 kW. But the light little i3 goes farther on a kWh so the charging speed during the full power portion of the charge works out to something like 200 rated miles per hour. A supercharger adds range up to twice as fast, but 200 miles of range per hour is still pretty respectable. And having access to these chargers dramatically increasing the capability of the non-REx version of the i3. Thanks to these stations we’ll now be able to take the i3 to Healdsburg to pick up our wine club shipment. And since my wife likes driving the car so much, she’s offered to be the designated driver for any winetasting that might ensue
Excellent pics and cool new charging experience.
As long as the Charging Stations are at the right part of your routes, they should really open up your range.
As long as the Charging Stations are at the right part of your routes, they should really open up your range.
$38k list price. Could likely get one even cheaper?
http://www.cooperbmw.com/searchnew.aspx?model=i3
http://www.cooperbmw.com/searchnew.aspx?model=i3
Tedkidd
Member
Very nicely done.
After 1,158 miles on the odometer, my wife still absolutely loves her i3 BEV. Based on my experience with Tesla superchargers, I insisted on getting the optional SAE combo/CCS charging capability, but this was a bit of a leap of faith because there were hardly any CCS stations in the SF bay area when we leased the car in late September. eVgo has started rolling out CCS/CHAdeMO dual plug chargers fairly aggressively and now there is an ABB Terra 53 CJ charger 8 miles from our house at the northgate mall in San Rafael and another at the premium outlets in Petaluma. A BMW ChargeNow card also came with the car that gives us free fast charging at eVgo CCS stations through the end of 2015- provided we charge at least once before the end of 2014.
Since we now have a CCS station so close to our house, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to roll in to the station with a low state of charge and see what happens. We showed up with 11% SOC of charge and 8 miles of range on the i3’s “guess-o-meter” and other than having to wave the ChargeNow RFID card in front of the charger and lugging the monstrous cable over to the charge port, the experience wasn’t that different from a supercharger stop. Unfortunately the i3 doesn’t report things like charging power, charging current, and charging voltage and the iPhone app sometimes takes a few minutes to update so logging the data was a bit challenging. I ended up just taking a photos of the data on the ABB charger screen at different time points. I calculated the charging power by comparing the difference in delivered kWh and the difference in time between data points.
View attachment 63360
It took about a minute for the charger to reach full power and it stayed there until sometime between 60% SOC and 69% SOC (my wife and I had coffee at the nearby Peet’s coffee and despite sneaking out to the parking lot a few times, I missed a datapoint or two). I calculated full power to be around 42 kW which is a reasonable fraction of the rated 50 kW written on the plug. It turns out the free charging sessions only last for 30 minutes and then the charger shuts off. After 30 minutes, the state of charge was up to 88% with 65 miles on the guess-o-meter (probably would have been about 71 rated miles if BMW had adopted Tesla’s non guess-o-meter method of displaying range). The total power delivered was 13.85 kWh.
View attachment 63361
We then hopped in the car and headed to Petaluma. We started charging there with 55% state of charge and then checked out the premium outlets (and the bathrooms at the premium outlets). We would have had a bit more range left if the BMW nav system hadn’t gotten horribly confused about how to get to the premium outlets and I made sure to point this out since my wife tends to give me some grief every time the Tesla nav system doesn’t get things quite right. After 25 minutes, we were ready to head back with a 95% SOC and 7.35 free kWh.
Overall I was pretty impressed with whole the experience. The frankenplug is definitely not as elegant as a supercharger cable and 42 kW is far less than 120 kW. But the light little i3 goes farther on a kWh so the charging speed during the full power portion of the charge works out to something like 200 rated miles per hour. A supercharger adds range up to twice as fast, but 200 miles of range per hour is still pretty respectable. And having access to these chargers dramatically increasing the capability of the non-REx version of the i3. Thanks to these stations we’ll now be able to take the i3 to Healdsburg to pick up our wine club shipment. And since my wife likes driving the car so much, she’s offered to be the designated driver for any winetasting that might ensue
Flexible Mobility Program is finally rolling out.
Apparently BMWUSA hasn't had any publicity around this because availability in your area depends on the dealers. This is definitely on my list of things to ask about at the San Antonio dealer. Another reminder of why Tesla corporate wants to maintain direct control of the ownership experience.
Apparently BMWUSA hasn't had any publicity around this because availability in your area depends on the dealers. This is definitely on my list of things to ask about at the San Antonio dealer. Another reminder of why Tesla corporate wants to maintain direct control of the ownership experience.
Doogue
Member
BMW i3 Will Not Let Non-Owners Remove Plug upon charging complete!!??
Anyone else run into this? I was at Moscone Parking in SF, checked for open slot. The Chargepoint display showed "Charge Complete" for a plug that was connected to a BMW i3. However BMW does not release the plug? WTH? Anyone else run into that...?
Anyone else run into this? I was at Moscone Parking in SF, checked for open slot. The Chargepoint display showed "Charge Complete" for a plug that was connected to a BMW i3. However BMW does not release the plug? WTH? Anyone else run into that...?
If the i3 is locked, the charge plug cannot be removed. This makes more sense in Europe where the cables are owned by the user, and not part of the EVSE. There is a software update "coming soon" that will optionally allow the charge plug to be unlocked when charging is complete.
Not quite. With J1772 the adaptor is locked to the car, but the charger can be removed.
Some versions of Chevy volt will sound the alarm (honk the horn repeatedly) if you remove the J plug while the car is locked.
Locking or alarming is rather annoying when someone else could make use of the plug. I can see locking while the vehicle is charging but when the battery is full it should automatically unlock it.
(Someone from GM once said that the J-plug should be left on the car in case someone wants to activate remote climate control, but that seems unfair to others waiting to charge.)
Locking or alarming is rather annoying when someone else could make use of the plug. I can see locking while the vehicle is charging but when the battery is full it should automatically unlock it.
(Someone from GM once said that the J-plug should be left on the car in case someone wants to activate remote climate control, but that seems unfair to others waiting to charge.)
Doogue
Member
That's right, Gregincal. Look forward to the BMW i3 doing the same, definitely feels like the most reasonable solution. Volt alarm is absolutely annoying, but I can live with that while I'm charging, but something else must happen to Volt's b/c I have found owner's leaving notes on my car after I removed the plug from their charged car. I know it is charged b/c ChargePoint display tells me so. However, ChargePoint should do more to avoid disagreements, like retaining records of the last 3 charges - previous charger, Volt, 3:12 fully charged; Tesla, 4:15 fully charged; etc. A couple of times some irrate Volt users has left a nasty note on my car about removing their cable, when in fact someone before me must have b/c I pulled it off the cradle.
Lastly, EV owners can be incredibly arrogant. Some of these notes wreak of entitlement. Sort of reminds me of the Blues Brothers line - 'we're on a mission from god' - not really, your parking your car. Period.
BMW i3 and the empty space in the rear...
Quick question:
I have been rolling this around in my head for some time now, so I thought I would ask since I am new to the forum. BMW is offering the option of a $3500 (Give or take) range extending engine for the i3. How many KW's would $3500 get you?
Just wondering if the i3 could have eventually been the first potential 120 mile range electric vehicle, if they gave a second option of a bigger battery pack to fit in the space reserved for the engine... (I am an MS85 owner)
Thanks!
Quick question:
I have been rolling this around in my head for some time now, so I thought I would ask since I am new to the forum. BMW is offering the option of a $3500 (Give or take) range extending engine for the i3. How many KW's would $3500 get you?
Just wondering if the i3 could have eventually been the first potential 120 mile range electric vehicle, if they gave a second option of a bigger battery pack to fit in the space reserved for the engine... (I am an MS85 owner)
Thanks!
Here's an article that addresses your question to a certain extent, but also has decent pictures of the i3's chassis with and without the REX engine:
Why BMW's i3 Electric Car is Really a Plug-in Hybrid | MIT Technology Review
Article said:
Thanks for the pictures! never seen these... Okay, with $3500 one could purchase around 1/3 of the current battery pack (which could be engineered to fit in the space where the engine is located) This would give you roughly an additional 25 miles per charge which could take you above the 100 miles per charge.
My original question was why not have the option to increase the battery size option along with the engine option and fit which ever you would choose in the same space. I think I would have opted to pay the additional $3500 for those extra 25 miles. Personally I would have liked 120 miles which would bring the i3 up to the 95% of my driving habits.
My original question was why not have the option to increase the battery size option along with the engine option and fit which ever you would choose in the same space. I think I would have opted to pay the additional $3500 for those extra 25 miles. Personally I would have liked 120 miles which would bring the i3 up to the 95% of my driving habits.
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