Battery warranty - 2014 i3 - range after charge?

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ericblz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 13, 2014
Messages
62
After searching the forum I am unable to find the number of miles I which I can bring it in and have them replace the batteries.

When I went in for service I asked him to check the batteries and all they did was charge it and see that it said 70 miles of range remaining which is ok by them. I really get about 50-55 miles, thank goodness for the REx.

I ran to the process to find that I have 15.4kwh of capacity. I believe I saw that 13.1 is where they might replace? What charged range would they want to see?

Thanks!
 
The warranty is for 100K miles or 8-years, whichever comes first, the battery must hold at least 70% of the original capacity. Now, exactly what procedure they use to determine that, I'm not positive.

Your actual range isn't necessarily a good measure of the battery, as your driving may consist of nearly all high-speed travel, or up/down steep hills. IOW, just like in an ICE, your efficiency depends on your driving technique and where you're driving.
 
ericblz said:
What charged range would they want to see?
The E.P.A. rated range for your REx is 72 miles. So under the conditions of the E.P.A. test, the range would need to drop below 72 miles x 0.7 = 50 miles before the replacement of a bad battery pack module or modules (likely not the entire battery pack) might occur under warranty. However, as jadnashuanh suggested, your driving conditions almost certainly differ from those of the E.P.A. range test, so range is not the criterion that BMW would use to determine whether too much battery pack degradation has occurred. The Batt. Kapa. max value would not be used, either, because it is a very imprecise value. BMW dealers have a way of testing battery pack capacity which would determine the pack's health.
 
The battery capacity on my 2015 i3 RE is 17.8 but the range I am getting now this summer is around 55 miles before REX kicks in. I set the AC to 68F. And use pre-cooling for 15-20 minutes per charge. Most of the miles are freeway miles at 65 miles.
 
i3Houston said:
The battery capacity on my 2015 i3 RE is 17.8 but the range I am getting now this summer is around 55 miles before REX kicks in. I set the AC to 68F.
If you're not already doing so, you might try setting the A/C to manual recirculation (the 'M' setting) to avoid the extra work of cooling and dehumidifying Houston's hot, humid air. I plan to try coding our i3 so that it remembers the last recirculation setting rather than always defaulting to automatic recirculation (the 'A' setting) that recirculates only when the system somehow detects bad air entering from outside.
 
alohart said:
i3Houston said:
The battery capacity on my 2015 i3 RE is 17.8 but the range I am getting now this summer is around 55 miles before REX kicks in. I set the AC to 68F.
If you're not already doing so, you might try setting the A/C to manual recirculation (the 'M' setting) to avoid the extra work of cooling and dehumidifying Houston's hot, humid air. I plan to try coding our i3 so that it remembers the last recirculation setting rather than always defaulting to automatic recirculation (the 'A' setting) that recirculates only when the system somehow detects bad air entering from outside.


I do it too but its so hot that is almost impossible to miss that because the car just wont cool on A.
 
i3Houston said:
I do it too but its so hot that is almost impossible to miss that because the car just won't cool on A.
Having grown up in College Station before air conditioning was common, I understand your challenges :D Fortunately, Honolulu's weather is not nearly as hot or humid at any time of the year, so the A/C in our i3 works fine in 'A' mode, but I'm guessing that range might be negatively impacted a bit compared with 'M' mode.
 
alohart said:
i3Houston said:
I do it too but its so hot that is almost impossible to miss that because the car just won't cool on A.
Having grown up in College Station before air conditioning was common, I understand your challenges :D Fortunately, Honolulu's weather is not nearly as hot or humid at any time of the year, so the A/C in our i3 works fine in 'A' mode, but I'm guessing that range might be negatively impacted a bit compared with 'M' mode.

ha ha...that true. But then even on cooler days, I can smell the exhaust from other cars in 'A' mode. Something unfortunately specific to Houston.
 
Smells can be worse if you don't have the cabin air filter changed when required. If the a/c drain gets a bit plugged, or the evaporator gets dirty, that will affect the air quality, sometimes, radically.
 
What are the odds :) ! There are sitting on my table; Going to replace them this weekend!

Thats is one thing I forgot to negotiate with the dealer. :(
 
In some hot, humid areas, the evaporator can accumulate a lot of pollen and other organic crud and that can smell pretty nasty after awhile.

The activated carbon in the air filter does, eventually, get 'full', and may collect dust, but won't absorb any more odors.

Let us know if that makes any difference.
 
These are great, if anyone is looking for the i3s cabin air filter -

BECKARNLEY 042-2219 Cabin Air Filter (Pair)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J98XLFE/ref=psdc_15727101_t3_B0115MT93K
 
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