Good idea to get an i3 for around 500 miles per week?

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rexpert

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I'm toying with the idea of purchasing an i3 Rex. My daily commute is up to 100 miles per day. I live in the Bay Area, CA. I wonder if I'm not thinking straight, and if I'm going to run into problems or maybe it'll work?

e.g. to get to Sacramento is around 90 miles from my home and then when in Sac, I'd be driving around a further 20 or so miles, then coming home. So total for that day trip would be around 210 miles. I might do this trip twice a month. Then to San Jose and back in a day - maybe around 100 miles round trip.

Then up to Santa Rosa and back, probably 110 miles round trip plus a further 20 or so miles, so total 130 for that day.

I've been told also charging at home, when you notify PGE you get a cheaper power account, than before you had the electric car. Does this sound right?

Lastly I have a 240v socket in my garage, but the service technician I spoke with suggests it'll still charge at the slow 18hour rate for a full charge. Is this correct? I'd like to avoid having to buy an extra charge station at home.

Any advice welcomed from those who might commute and drive a lot like me as to whether this is a good idea?

Thanks. :)
 
1. What's the amperage on the breaker for the 240 volt circuit in your garage? If it's a 30 am circuit, it won't take 18 hrs. even a 20 amp wouldn't take 18 hrs.

2. Is there a charger where you would be going on your long commute? Right now I'm getting 109 miles on a charge. The range extender adds about 75. For this trip you would need to refuel or recharge at least once.
 
RExingIT said:
1. What's the amperage on the breaker for the 240 volt circuit in your garage? If it's a 30 am circuit, it won't take 18 hrs. even a 20 amp wouldn't take 18 hrs.

2. Is there a charger where you would be going on your long commute? Right now I'm getting 109 miles on a charge. The range extender adds about 75. For this trip you would need to refuel or recharge at least once.
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1) not sure on amperage - need to check. I assumed it would be the 3 hour option given the voltage is higher?
2) Given I'm in the Bay Area - there's chargers all over, and after a test drive I assume I'll get around 80-90 miles on a charge then the REX. So I'm confident there will be enough chargers, and even the fast chargers in the areas I drive around, I guess it's more of a concern around the frequency and volume of miles.

i3s are probably more designed for intown city commutes, not longer drives. Understanding if others out there who are on the road a lot have gotten one and find it working would be great!
 
The i3 can accept up to 7,400W input on the acv inputs, which aligns with about a 32A EVSE with 240vac input. My 30A unit with my typical than input voltage (higher than 240vac) achieves about the same thing. A 30A dryer circuit can only support a 24A max EVSE because of the 80% rule that applies to our power installations for a long-term use, which an EVSE would be when charging an EV. WHen you have the full power available, it takes 3-3.5 hours or so to fully recharge an i3. Anything less, it will be slower. Start with a hot battery after a long drive, and it may take longer since it may need to cool the battery pack off first.
 
The garage: what is the current 240volt socket? If it is an L6-20 or L6-30 for welding then you can buy an evse to plug straight in and go, no need for an electrician. What's the breaker amperage?

For the PGE rates... If you are charging at home overnight then switching to time of use rates probably makes sense. If you can add solar panels then even better.

For that commute irregularity I would go for a Tesla model S CPO S85 for about $60k as my first choice... Gives you 250 miles of range and supercharging in San Mateo, Vacaville, etc.
An i3 Rex would still work for that, but it sounds like you would still need to visit a gas station or quick charger away from home a couple of times per week, which defeats the huge convenience benefit of going electric.
 
It's probably a bit of a stretch to do that trip regularly, so it depends on how comfortable you are with the limitations.

If you code the car to have the full 2.4 gal tank and the ability to manually enable REx hold mode it would be MUCH more convenient in my opinion. Then you could manually turn on the REx on the highway for 20 min or whatever each trip and turn it off. Keep a 5 gal gas can in your garage with premium and you don't have to stop at the station each trip. Personally I'm trying to never use the REx--it's solely for insurance.

Just some ideas. Electric is a lot of fun, but not perfect yet. Lots of chargers in your area so check your routes on Plugshare.
 
I'll probably be the contrarian here but I would not go with an i3 for the usage pattern you're describing. The i3 is designed to be a city car. It's at its best 0 to 40 mph, in congested areas where nimble handling matters, and where tight parking is the rule. While you could get by in a REX (or even a BEV given the CCS network in the Bay Area), I wouldn't recommend it after living with one for a year.

Don't get me wrong, I love my i3 for driving in SF proper, which is 90% of my mileage. And while I've taken mine to both Santa Rosa and San Jose, I've decided that if a trip involves more than about 15 minutes on a freeway I'm going in my 3-series. It handles better at highway speeds, has much greater range, and is just more comfortable for medium to long distance travel.

The most efficient option for what you describe is probably a diesel. Maybe a Volt if you must have an EV.
 
i would test drive it first. i normally get around 70-75 miles on a charge at around 4.2mkwh you would have to drive pretty slow to get more you wouldn't be keeping up with the freeway traffic.
 
It's a personal decision...yes, the car could get you there and back, and, yes, even if the REx does need to run, it's not bad on fuel, but there are cars that can better its mileage when the REx needs to run, and be more comfortable on a longer trip. Everyone's threshold for comfort and convenience is different. Personally, if I had to travel 100 miles one day, I'd be more comfortable in my ICE. If you're trying to pinch every penny, from a fuel standpoint, the i3 would still win most of the time, but the convenience factor to be able to pull into a gas station and come out in less than 10-minutes with maybe (in the case of my ICE on a long interstate trip) 500 more miles of range means stopping only when I want and where I want; not dictated by what effectively is a very small tank, whether you consider the actual gas tank on the i3 or that in combination with the battery pack. Seems you can almost always find a gas station, but finding an open and working EVSE or CCS unit is much less reliable...and, then the time to recharge is not inconsequential.

Some have no issues taking a long trip in an i3. Even if I could, I wouldn't particularly want to. It's comfortable to me when used as intended, and IMHO, long range is not as intended.
 
appreciate everyones insights here. After driving the car for a few days, I'm inclined to lean towards it not just for economy reasons but actually I really enjoyed driving it - and did quite a few miles during the test. I compared it to the Tesla, which is a strange comparison, and take aways were: Tesla was more luxurious, definitely more roomy (obviously!), the range aspect meant I didn't feel I was "range spotting" every few minutes so I felt a bit more comfortable and relaxed, but, and this is the clincher - the Tesla wasn't as fun to drive. The i3 is definitely for a certain sector of people, and I think I'm one of them. Still yet to confirm a deal but once I do, I will put it to the test!
 
BMW will let you do an "extended test drive" for 2-3 days. Maybe that would help you test it in your real world use. Just keep in mind you could install a level 2 charger at home.
 
jadnashuanh said:
It's a personal decision...yes, the car could get you there and back, and, yes, even if the REx does need to run, it's not bad on fuel, but there are cars that can better its mileage when the REx needs to run, and be more comfortable on a longer trip. Everyone's threshold for comfort and convenience is different. Personally, if I had to travel 100 miles one day, I'd be more comfortable in my ICE. If you're trying to pinch every penny, from a fuel standpoint, the i3 would still win most of the time, but the convenience factor to be able to pull into a gas station and come out in less than 10-minutes with maybe (in the case of my ICE on a long interstate trip) 500 more miles of range means stopping only when I want and where I want; not dictated by what effectively is a very small tank, whether you consider the actual gas tank on the i3 or that in combination with the battery pack. Seems you can almost always find a gas station, but finding an open and working EVSE or CCS unit is much less reliable...and, then the time to recharge is not inconsequential.

Some have no issues taking a long trip in an i3. Even if I could, I wouldn't particularly want to. It's comfortable to me when used as intended, and IMHO, long range is not as intended.
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i have to agree if i needed to go more than 120 miles each way without charging i would not use my i3.that's why i have 2 cars my ice only gets used maybe once a month.
 
I live in the SF Bay, Los Gatos area. I am a medical sales representative, and I use my i3 to cover San Francisco, the Peninsula, San Jose and Monterey Bay. I cover about 500 miles a week on average, and I charge while I can while visiting the various facilities.

Your situation is definitely do-able, but I would code the car to hold the charge while driving those long distances. Otherwise I am committed to working around charging stations and using the REx only when necessary. It's different, but I knew that going in.

Good luck with your decision, PM me if I can be of any help.
 
From your driving profile, I'd be more inclined for a 50 mile plug in hybrid like the 2016 Volt or some of those under development with more than the typical 15-30 range. 50 miles is to a phev as 200 miles is to a bev. 50 miles makes it worth the trouble to charge it. With 50 miles, it's more an electric car than it is a gas car, since most trips are under 50 miles. In effect you're just buying a bev with a bigger Rex, and with no range anxiety because even the i3 Rex has some due to the small gas tank requirement

The 2016 Volt is only 3540 lbs and around $34,000 before 7,500 credit. But there will be others coming.

Ron
 

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