Planning a long trip

Serendipity, I found a nice solution to long distance trips. Planning a 700 mile trip from Huntsville AL to Stillwater OK wasn't working. The nominal gas range at 65 mph is ~80 miles (40 MPG.) Trying to map fuel stops using either MapQuest or Google Maps was turning into a nightmare. Then I realized the answer, 24 hour truck stops.

Enter into Google "<highway> truck stop <state>" and you'll quickly get a list of truck stops, most are 24 hour but check using their phone number. So far, they are running ~70 miles apart, well within the BMW i3-REx range.

First I'll make a spreadsheet with each truck stop details and address including the ones 'in between.' Then I will make a Google Map trip consisting of segments between each truck stop along the routes. Finally, export the route to my iPhone and the eventually the car.

In effect, the 'truck stops' are the islands or 'stepping stones in the creek.' My long distance trips will hop from stone-to-stone until we arrive. If we are able, we'll skip some of the shorter truck stop segments. But only if we have plenty of gas range left in the car.

The reason my first trip, 463 miles, worked is I knew the route. For years I had commuted between Huntsville AL and Washington DC and knew the route well with the exception of I-40. Once I reached Ashville, NC, no problem to Knoxville TN which was also downhill. But I suspected the I-40 segment to Ashville was well serviced and sure enough, there was no problem.

Bob Wilson

Try this: http://www.gasbuddy.com/TripCalculator.aspx
They don't have i3 in the database, but you can override the MPG and tank capacity.
The older version of the same calculator http://then.gasbuddy.com/Trip_Calculator.aspx

I would imagine if you stayed close to I-40, there would always be gasoline within reach. For the electron option, Plugshare's trip planner is a good resource in the U.S. Unfortunately, there aren't any useful DC charging stations on your route. That'd be a long trip via L2 charging.

gt1 said:

Try this: http://www.gasbuddy.com/TripCalculator.aspx
They don't have i3 in the database, but you can override the MPG and tank capacity.
The older version of the same calculator http://then.gasbuddy.com/Trip_Calculator.aspx

Click to expand...

One minor change is use the trip planner link on their home page. The URL didn't work for either FireFox or Chrome but the link on the home page worked great after I figured out:

make city MPG = highway MPG = 40 MPG (my benchmark value)

I still need to check hours of operation but this is an excellent start.

THANKS!
Bob Wilson

If you have iPhone or iPad, try the Trip Planner in the PlugShare App. This feature is only available in iOS version (for now - I hope). It is under "Me" (for whatever reason).

Someone mentioned the elevation tool in another page, I found it to be very useful. When you go up a mountain, the climb will take up energy and you can't recover 100% energy from re-gen.

https://www.doogal.co.uk/RouteElevation.php

I haven't found any trip planning tool that would take into account of elevation, the i3 onboard GPS included. When I came back down from Whistler last weekend, the i3 GPS keep telling me, it can't make it home, doh.

I haven't tried, but some of the total range to empty logic only takes into account the terrain IF you have a route entered. If you don't, it just assumes your path is exactly the same as what happened in the last 18-miles, but if you have a route, it knows you'll be going up or downhill, and can adjust maximum range.

May be there are different i3 GPS versions. Mine doesn't. I programmed it to go home and the route is over 2,000 ft drop, but it complained not enough range, the calculation is based on the consumption rate when I went up.

I'm posting this from our hotel room in Stillwater OK. I posted this at hybridcars.com:

• As a new owner of a used, 2014 BMW i3-REx, we just finished the first, 700 mile leg of a cross country trip. It is a lot like a motorcycle road trip.
  
  The two gallon tank means drive a little over an hour and refuel. We used our spare, one gallon gas can after discovering a closed truck stop. The short legs also gives a chance to refresh the biological units including wife and two dogs.
  
  I drove it at 65-68 mph using the adaptive cruise control to pace behind semitrailer trucks. The trip meter showed 55 mph while the total time including meals and other breaks came in at 37 mph.
  
  The 89 octane fuel was right on the numbers, 39.6 MPG or ~$0.61/10_miles without AC (mild weather.) Where we live the rest of the year, it runs $0.25/10_miles ... not including the 'free' charging stations.

One lesson learned is how to identify likely, 24-hour truck stops. If the interstate crosses a single road, it may or may not have an open gas station. But if that road has radiating roads, like cracked glass on the map, you'll likely find at least one 24-hour station and often more. The feeder roads concentrated traffic at that interstate intersection.

Bob Wilson

One recurring irritation was the flap covering the gasoline, filler cap, would not open about half of the time. There would be some sort of "99%" message that would go away and then nothing. So over half of the time, I opened the frunk and pulled the emergency release and continued my trip. I tried to use the search function but had no luck finding a technical answer.

One thing I noticed on the return trip, parking the car by the pump and handling 'biological necessities first' seemed to be more reliable in being able to have the normal flap opening work. Funnily enough, my first trip from Charlotte NC to Huntsville AL, 463 miles, I had no problem. So I'm wondering if my fueling technique might be a fault (i.e., two click guy.)

Our local BMW technician before the trip showed me the emergency release and said if it continues, to bring it in. He reports the progress "xx%" has to do with venting the tank. I will take it back but not right away. Regardless, I thought I'd ask the community.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

The i3 pressurizes the system, and won't let the flap and cap be opened until it releases the pressure. Depending on temperature and how empty the tank is, that can take awhile once you ask it to. It needs to strain all of the vapors through the vapor recovery system, and that can't take a huge pressure spike...therefore, I think the opening to it is fairly small, thus, the time required to bleed off the pressure...can't be dumping raw gas fumes into the atmosphere, plus, it's not particularly safe (flammable!) either.

I have the same issue with the door not fully opening and the need to use the release in the frunk. I've held the button to open the door for 10-20 seconds and still nothing. My only recourse is to take it to the dealer.
The times I need to open it is to dry the inside after I wash it. Have only added gas once since I got it the end of May.

can't be dumping raw gas fumes into the atmosphere

Click to expand...

...I don't think it's that big of a deal. Compare that to a volcano erupting. Now THAT is an issue that ruins all the numbers for global warming...I mean climate change. Just my opinion, don't get angry.