BMW i3 To Get 43.2 kWh Battery Pack In Late 2018 (Rumor)

[jadnashuanh]

I have the luxury of owning more than one car...but, my BEV is what gets driven daily...the ICE sits in the garage on a battery tender except for maybe 3-4x a year. In some ways, that's a waste, but it's paid for and really is better to take on a long trip.

I agree with our friend in Hawaii, for some, the range on the existing and original i3 is/was more than enough. Until high-speed charging network exists and the batteries can accept it, it does not make long trips timely. If you don't mind stopping and waiting, yes, they are viable today (especially if you have a Tesla, but their systems are not everywhere if you want to go off the beaten path). Today, the ratio of gas stations to EV charging locations is probably at least 10:1, and each of those gas stations typically has more than one pump...sometimes, a huge number, so wait time is minimal to non-existent. That is a very rare situation when it comes to an EV.

 

[alohart]

The moment you relocate again and needed more range.......would you look at another EV or upgrade the battery for 10K (cost in Europe)?

There is no relocation that would require more range. We live on an island and relocated from a more central location to the coast making a round-trip to the opposite coast impossible with our iMiEV unless we stopped to partially charge en route. Our i3 has the range to go anywhere on our island. We won't ever relocate off the island (we're old), so our 60 Ah i3 is sufficient.

When the inevitable battery pack degradation occurs, I would consider a 3rd-party battery pack after our battery pack warranty expires in 2022. I expect this battery pack to cost considerably less than a new battery pack sold by BMW and to likely contain more energy-dense cells giving us a comfortable range buffer which we don't currently have.

I would consider another EV only if our i3 becomes unreliable and/or expensive to maintain and repair.

 

[prettig]

Indeed a strong point for the i3: easy to upgrade battery and we will get aftermarket car batteries that are far better and cheaper, just a matter of time.

Combined with the i3's build/design: alu, carbon/plastic...... will last decades this car could be on the road for a long time. Just electronics left to fail.