Can a REx owner in Europe please do a test for us in the US?

[tiburonh]

A common question across this forum is whether or not the REx is going to be worth the extra price in the
US. Some here have speculated that -- because in the US the REx will be limited to only turn on when the battery is nearly spent -- driving with the REx on will result in the kind of scary/dangerous underperformance that the infamous Telegraph reviewer encountered. I.e., because the REx can seemingly only maintain the charge, not add to the charge, the car will go into some sort of self protect mode and will refuse to go more than 45 miles an hour up a hill, will disallow the use of the heater, etc., etc.

Because the REx is not available yet in the US (I think all the test drive models have been the BEV), no one in the US has been able to prove or disprove this speculation.

So, my request to one of our (lucky!) REx-owning friends in Europe is, would you be willing to drive your car until your battery is nearly spent and only then turn on the REx and then drive for a good long distance and time on the REx, over a variety of conditions, and report to us how things went?


Thanks in advance for even thinking about this.

 

[johnmcilroy]

I've driven the i3 REX on a motorway/freeway with 3 miles of EV range left and the motor keeping the battery at that state of charge. I was in Eco Pro mode and was therefore limited to 70mph but it seemed fine at that speed; I actually had the cruise control turned on at 70mph, in fact.

Hope this puts your fears to rest.

Kind regards,

John

 

[Paul1886]

Actually this a question that has puzzled me too, I get my REx in about 3 weeks so hopefully will be able to demystify the situation then.

However I did have a REx on test for two days and my experience was that although the engine does not have enough power to let you go hooning around as if it had the 170bhp electric available it seemed very capable of maintaining the charge state of the battery while cruising around 70mph. As long as you maintain something in the battery it does not cut you back on available power, it's not like it loses power as soon as the REx kicks in.

I believe this is the same for any REx, the Chevy Volt/GM Ampera included..... if memory serves me right it is exactly what Jeremy Clarkson did with the Ampera on a circuit to prove his point??

Another point I should mention, it does not only turn on when the battery is spent, you can force it on at any point below 80% charge, it comes on automatically at 20% charge, so if you know you are going to use it on your journey you can turn it only earlier rather than later..... that way you are unlikely to ever deplete the battery to a point where power is lost.

 

[tiburonh]

Actually this a question that has puzzled me too, I get my REx in about 3 weeks so hopefully will be able to demystify the situation then.

However I did have a REx on test for two days and my experience was that although the engine does not have enough power to let you go hooning around as if it had the 170bhp electric available it seemed very capable of maintaining the charge state of the battery while cruising around 70mph. As long as you maintain something in the battery it does not cut you back on available power, it's not like it loses power as soon as the REx kicks in.

I believe this is the same for any REx, the Chevy Volt/GM Ampera included..... if memory serves me right it is exactly what Jeremy Clarkson did with the Ampera on a circuit to prove his point??

Another point I should mention, it does not only turn on when the battery is spent, you can force it on at any point below 80% charge, it comes on automatically at 20% charge, so if you know you are going to use it on your journey you can turn it only earlier rather than later..... that way you are unlikely to ever deplete the battery to a point where power is lost.

Thanks Paul. Unfortunately, in the US (in order to help the i3 qualify for things like car-pool lane access) BMW is indeed making it so you can not access the REx manually. Here the REx will only come on automatically and then only at the point when the battery is indeed nearly spent.

 

[Paul1886]

Sounds to me like a job for some good hackers to get you guys the Euro firmware!!

BTW One of the sales guys I spoke to told me the US was responsible for it only having a 9 litre tank too..... is that right?... you have a rule for that on EV's?

 

[noakey]

Sounds to me like a job for some good hackers to get you guys the Euro firmware!!

BTW One of the sales guys I spoke to told me the US was responsible for it only having a 9 litre tank too..... is that right?... you have a rule for that on EV's?

Hmmm.. I understood it was something to do with regulations in Germany....

I think the REX activation at 6% SOC was the US thing.

 

[fdl1409]

In Germany general opinion is that the i3 has a 9 litre tank because auf Californian regulations. Supposedly an electric car there must have a purely electric range which is higher than the REx range to qualify for incentives.

I would quite like a 20 litre tank....

Frank
Germany

 

[noakey]

In Germany general opinion is that the i3 has a 9 litre tank because auf Californian regulations. Supposedly an electric car there must have a purely electric range which is higher than the REx range to qualify for incentives.

I would quite like a 20 litre tank....

Frank
Germany

Ah I see... thank you for that. All the jigsaw pieces come together.