BMW i3 - Why this little EV has big potential

Now, this is more like it.
2015 BMW i8: Sexy Plug-In Hybrid Sport Coupe Coming Later This Year

 

"Once the state of charge is low, it works very hard to maintain the 5% and prevent very low charge. To end this intermezzo about the REx something on fuel consumption. Exactly economical it is not. Doing 120 (75mph) on cruise gives you something of 15-16 km per litre (35-38 mpg us). Not too bad, not great. Taking 10 km (6 mi/hr) off the speed does wonders to this consumption however, but we kept it at 120 (75) where allowed. "

First Ever BMW i3 REx Road Trip Review – 1,100 Miles

 

Not sure I like the look of it now I've seen it. There's a big difference between carefully selectred manufacturers photos and normal ones.s

What was wrong with a BMW3 series electric? Why do most electric cars insist on looking weird? That i3 looks like it's been sandwiched between too trucks in a nasty accident.

 

I considered it until I saw it costs twice as much as a comparably optioned Prius.

 

The 3 series aren't made with a carbon fiber body(yet). A plug in electric drive are only part of why BMW released the i3 and i8. The other is to showcase their cheaper carbon fiber chops.

 

Isn't Toyota helping BMW on some project currently?

 

Is this what your are thinking of?
BMW-Toyota Pact: Hybrids, Fuel Cells, Carbon Fiber--And A Sports Car Too

I'd call it more a technology trade than helping. Yeah, Toyota helps BMW with fuel cells, but BMW helps Toyota with light weight, aka carbon fiber, manufacture. As BMW did with diesel for Toyota in past deals. This one also includes a joint sports car though.
More details emerge regarding BMW/Toyota sports-car partnership, new Z4, 'Supra' - Autoweek

 

Thats the one! BMW is one of the last family owned car companies around. Peugeot was also on that list until recently, when they sold out to a Chinese investor. Strange on how much auto companies share tech. with each other. Why BMW cant come up with there own power plant for the MINI is crazy to me?

 

IMO (& others I've spoken with regarding this car) the most useful thing about this read was showing the price. The car's starting price is pretty steep to begin with. Add the dirty little motor and presto ... it makes you go higher in price - ie Tesla, or you go lower in price, ie Chevy / Ford.

I thought it was intriguing how BMW chose to / got away with installing a tiny 'smoggy' motor - by (taking advantage of legal loophole) using an equally tiny gas tank - rather than install an appropriate sized cleaner motor. Hopefully in the future BMW will change that - & go with a 'less dirty' ICE design. And why no Chademo for God sake!!
.

 

They have. The 2014s will be using engine entirely made by BMW. As to why not sooner? BMW had never made a FWD car before. The engines in their RWD cars are turned 90 degrees from where an engine is oriented in a FWD one. The engines they made at Mini's launch probably wouldn't have fit in the engine bay once turned for FWD. Cheaper to work with someone that makes plenty of FWD vehicles and have the engines for them on start.

IMO, the pricing is because BMW positions itself as a premium brand in the US like Lexus. Where as in Europe it is both a standard and premium car brand.

So they charge more here to maintain the expectations of the targeted customer. See also the ELR.

Has there been any release on the engines emissions? In order to qualify as a BEVx, the emissions have to meet SULEV. I wouldn't call something in the same category as the Prius when running 'smoggy'. It is an option for the worry warts who don't want to have to plan their trips. I do wish that CARB's rules allowed a larger fuel tank and didn't hobble the range extender's use though. Then it would something I pictured when EREV was first spoken.

The i8 is for those that want a, I guess you could say, pure PHV from BMW.

As for Chademo, I believe BMW sided with GM on that fight.

 

BMW i3 REx Road Test Yields 34 MPG, Plus Noise Levels Of The REx In Operation (video) features a YouTube video where you can hear the noise of the BMW i3's optional REx engine running along w/a link to a review of the car in Spanish.

The engine noise does sound pretty bad from the outside and seems somewhat audible in city driving but seems not noticeable at all on the highway.

I would love to hear one in person, once they finally arrive in the US. It seems the European ones have just as small of a gas tank as the US ones. The rated capacity is 9 liters (or ~2.38 US gallons). And, it seems confirm the tank placement as being in the front of the car.

 

The EPA numbers for the BEV BMW i3 are as follows:
138 MPGe City
111 MPGe Highway
124 MPGe Combined

1. 2014 BMW i3 BEV 124 MPGe Combined
2. 2014 Chevy Spark EV - 119 MPGe Combined
3. 2014 Honda Fit EV - 118 MPGe Combined
4. 2014 Fiat 500e - 116 MPGe Combined
5. 2014 Nissan LEAF – 114 MPGe Combined
6. 2014 Smart Fortwo ED Cabriolet - 107 MPGe Combined
7. 2014 Smart Fortwo ED Coupe - 107 MPGe Combined
8. 2014 Ford Focus Electric – 104 MPGe Combined
9. 2014 Tesla Model S 60-kWh – 95 MPGe Combined
10. 2014 Tesla Model S 85-kWh – 89 MPGe Combined

BREAKING: BMW i3 BEV Gets Official EPA Rating – Range 81 Miles, 124 MPGe Combined
How about the Sound of the REx Engine?

 

^^^
BFD. As an EV driver, frankly the MPGe numbers are basically worthless, IMHO. I assert that most EV drivers care FAR MORE about range and very few care about MPGe.

Click thru the cars at All-Electric Vehicles: Compare Side-by-Side and look at Miles on a Charge near the bottom and ignore the stupid MPGe numbers. BMW i3 w/81 miles on the EPA test falls short of these:
Fiat 500e: 87 miles
Spark EV: 82 miles
2014 Leaf: 84 miles (long story on that: 2014 Nissan LEAF: Mostly Unchanged As Range Technically Moves Up To 84 Miles | Inside EVs and 2013 Nissan LEAF Rated At 75 Miles. But 84 Miles Using The Outgoing 2012 EPA Ratings System | Inside EVs)
60 kWh Tesla Model S: 208 miles
85 kWh Tesla Model S: 265 miles
Fit EV: 82 miles
Rav4 EV: 103 miles (supposedly an average of the normal and extended (100%) charge modes, like the 2013 Leaf was bit with)

The i3 costs significantly more than all of the above except the Model S and Rav4 EV. Rav4 EV was available for purchase w/big Toyota incentives that made it cheaper than the i3 MSRP.

 

I agree that range would mean more to me, and probably most others.

To that end, I wonder if anyone is watching/comparing degradation of range over time for all of the players. I can see how a used Tesla S might be a hot item for many.

 

So true - so true ... just think ... You're 5 or 6 years & 90,000 miles into Tesla ownership and your range has degraded down to 'only' 200 miles ... Oh poor me - whatever shall I do now ...
I think I could suck it up and make do.
.

 

I disagree - mostly.

At this time the only people who are going to pay double the price of a petrol equivalent are not going to care how much electricity their new EV uses. But the MPGe do help compare electricity consumption against different models.

Also, the electricity cost in even the most expensive parts of the US are much cheaper and even half the cost of electricity here. Again, the MPGe figures may be worthy of consideration in a few years time when more BEVs are released.

European car ads have always concentrated on mpg figures, whereas until recently US car ads didn't even mention fuel economy, concentration more on power and performance. I'm seeing a similarity occurring again. You don't notice an $8 week difference in petrol costs, but for us that would be $16 or $24 a week. That adds up. Same applies to electricity in a BEV, $4 to fill up is nothing, $12 is still cheap but starts to add up.

 

I don't have time to rehash the discussion right now, but we've had plenty of discussion about the useless MPGe figure at MNL, esp. when the '13 Leaf was given a much higher rating than the '11 or '12.

See Compare Side-by-Side.

Do Bing and Google searches for these:

Code:

site:mynissanleaf.com mpge worthless
site:mynissanleaf.com mpge useless

More than once, the stupid MPGe numbers have lead to crazy garbage like My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - MIL: Dealer says "they've increased the range to 102 miles", because those numbers are large on the Monroney sticker and some salesmen are idiots/uninformed or trying to deceive. In the above case, the salesman saw the 102 number on the sticker and asserted that the Leaf's range was 102 miles (instead of the EPA rating of 75 miles.)

 

They're a way of comparing models, not guaranteed range. Been that way since fuel consumption figures were released decades ago.

So the Leaf uses less electricity to travel the same distance as a Tesla. Tell me something I didn't know The MPGe figures show that.

 

MPGe is just a conversion of the Wh/mi consumption into something more familiar to most people. For comparing efficiency between BEVs it is fine.

Changing in the way this consumption number is figured between model years or posted the BEV's range in smaller print isn't a reflection on mpge. Such things would undermine the figure even if it were in Wh/mi or kWh/100mi.

 

BMW i3 Lease Deal
BMW i3 REx Not Delayed By EPA Testing - BMW Expects i3 REx Deliveries To Occur By End Of Week