2017 i3 BEV 94 ah range question

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hightower82

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2017
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7
What are some real world numbers for range on these BEV's? I'm considering one here in Ohio and the dealers here only carry the REX and give me all kinds of grief when I tell them I want a BEV and not a REX. They say the range is terrible in the winter.
I drive pretty slow generally. I will likely have between a 40 and 60 mile a day drive for work in the coming years. What kind of range do you see if you drive conservatively and in Eco mode most of the time? Our winters have been pretty mild lately, but there are plenty of days with temps in the 20's for a few weeks at a time.

Also, out of curiosity, what's the best BEV range you've ever achieved?
 
I drove in 60F weather on the highway, eco pro +, 148 miles round trip from Camarillo to Gaviota pass and back. This was after leaving a DCQC with 97% SOC. From a level 2 100% charge, I later got 7 miles from 100% to 97%. So I definitely could have gone a little over 150 miles.
 
A friend of mine drive a 2017 irex from Somis to Valencia round trip, 82 miles, with 60 miles remaining still showing.

Stats on my 2017 BEV Trip:

http://i.imgur.com/m0Ix5n4.jpg
 
That's awesome! That's exactly what I thought it could be if you dont drive in comfort mode and dont drive with a lead foot.
 
hightower82 said:
What are some real world numbers for range on these BEV's? I'm considering one here in Ohio and the dealers here only carry the REX and give me all kinds of grief when I tell them I want a BEV and not a REX. They say the range is terrible in the winter.
Range certainly decreases in cold weather, but if you would be able to heat your battery pack (precondition) while charging on a Level 2 EVSE where you park overnight (i.e., not the Level 1 EVSE included with an i3), the decrease in range would be considerably less even if you had to park all day in cold weather without being able to heat your battery pack. Also, a BEV's heat pump cabin heater is much more efficient than a REx's resistive heater unless temperatures are quite cold. Below a certain temperature, a heat pump's efficiency is no better than that of a resistive heater, so a BEV would use the same resistive heater that a REx uses at all temperatures.

It seems that most 94Ah BEV's that might have been destined for the U.S. market are being sold in Norway where demand is quite high due to purchase incentives that aren't offered for a REx. This seems to have resulted in few 94Ah BEV's being available in the U.S. which is a shame for U.S. customers but nice for Norwegian customers. BMW doesn't seem able to or maybe doesn't want to increase the production of 94Ah BEV's. The considerably longer range of the 94Ah BEV compared with the earlier 60Ah BEV makes owning a REx less necessary for many Americans yet they don't have the same option to buy or lease a BEV compared with a REx. Some dealers might be unfairly dismissing BEV's that they don't have in order to sell REx's or ICE vehicles that they do have.
 
There was a recent press release, and they're going to stop production of the 60Ahr battery option in April this year, if I remember the dates correctly. AT that time, at least in the USA, the base price increases $850. Might make it dicey if you then needed a new module, as you probably can't mix them. Not sure how long the original packs will be available as repair parts. Might be nice if it failed under warranty though and you ended up with the larger pack as a result!

Your range will vary radically based on how you drive and the options you have, and their use. Given that most people are averaging about 4-miles/kw, that's 250W/mile. THrow in seat heaters, rear window defroster, heating on high, stereo blasting, and that could easily drop in half or even worse on the miles/Kw. Lots of stop and go, especially if you use the brakes verses regen, and have a heavy foot, and it gets worse. This is somewhat true for any vehicle. On my ICE, I've seen spreads of in excess of 2:1 in MPG, and even worse on my BEV if I leave on a really cold morning, short trips, while trying to warm the thing up.

You can achieve nearly maximum range when you trip is continuous verses lots of stops where it can cool off in between. Some people can't keep the speed steady, at least on a micro scale, and if you watched the power meter, it would be bouncing all over the place. This is an area where the cruise control can help...it's monitoring things multiple times/second, and you'll get better economy and thus range, if you can use it verses trying it on your own. The adaptive cruise control option on the i3 is worth the price if you're trying to maximize range IMHO, but you have to use it.
 
hightower82 said:
That's awesome! That's exactly what I thought it could be if you dont drive in comfort mode and dont drive with a lead foot.

The lead foot has minimal impact on range. Speed is the range killer, as well as hills (inclines) and headwinds. The biggest problem with a lead foot is that you get to faster speeds sooner, leaving at higher speeds longer (higher average speed). The electric system is amazingly efficient at accelerating, loosing very little energy by accelerating quickly over accelerating slowly. ICE cars loose enormous efficiencies under power, but not our i3.
 
Given that the Rex is generally less efficient (it carries the Rex and fuel around and has no heat pump option) then Rex range is just as good an indicator. I have a 44 mile commute daily with no workplace charging. No issues at all doing this and neither would a 60 mile commute even in comfort (which I drive all the time) with low winter temperatures. I've just done it all winter including on days at or around freezing and in the dark with wipers / stereo and phone always charging.

Main consideration is having preconditioning at home to warm the cabin and battery before you leave and not trying to drive fast. As has been said, cruise is your friend and the lower the speed the better. I cruise at 60mph usually as it's busy anyway.
 
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