Lemonypye
Well-known member
So, I got the opportunity to take an i3 REX out for an extended test drive yesterday. I know there have been other reports on here of extended test drives so please forgive me 
The car was fully charged and also had a full tank of fuel. The display was showing 65 miles on electric and 62 miles on REx. Clearly this car had been given plenty of heavy right feet on various test drives
It was 6 degrees outside, and we had the AC and windscreen blower on, and we set off in Comfort mode.
I wasn't bothered about being all 'Eco' on this test drive, but I really wanted to see what the car is like when the REx kicks in. As the battery was at 100%, we set off in BEV. After about 20 miles or so of 60 to 80 mph the battery had depleted enough to switch on REx. We went into the iDrive settings and selected the battery charge hold setting. This can be activated at 75% charge, and the option is greyed out if your charge level is above this.
We were still on fast flowing A roads, and you could not here the REx. We then changed to EP mode to see how this affected the drive and handling. The car was still able to cruise in fast flowing traffic, and pull away for traffic lights with a decent lick of speed, however, all the driver input was muted, and the acceleration curve was much more gentle. I think this will be perfect for the commute to work. It added a noticeable few miles to the estimated range.
When cruising at high speed, the EV mileage did slowly drop from an estimated 43 miles to 39. But had probably covered about 8 miles during this phase of the drive. Once we entered a more urban environment, the REx really proved its value, and it did indeed charge the battery level back up to the original 43 miles range (where we had set the maintain battery charge). This means that without a doubt, on the odd occasion that an extended drive is required, you could engage the REx at 75% and just top the petrol up every 70 miles or so. Brilliant.
I also had the chance to test the parking assist package and let the car parallel park between two cars. WOW. It's blinking magic. Engaged the park assist when we were stationary and near the parking space. Took feet off pedals and hands of the steering wheel, and the car did exactly what the marketing blurb said it would do....it parked with zero driver input. It was a little disconcerting, but this is definitely the future.
If anyone has any questions then please don't hesitate to ask.
Chris.
The car was fully charged and also had a full tank of fuel. The display was showing 65 miles on electric and 62 miles on REx. Clearly this car had been given plenty of heavy right feet on various test drives
It was 6 degrees outside, and we had the AC and windscreen blower on, and we set off in Comfort mode.
I wasn't bothered about being all 'Eco' on this test drive, but I really wanted to see what the car is like when the REx kicks in. As the battery was at 100%, we set off in BEV. After about 20 miles or so of 60 to 80 mph the battery had depleted enough to switch on REx. We went into the iDrive settings and selected the battery charge hold setting. This can be activated at 75% charge, and the option is greyed out if your charge level is above this.
We were still on fast flowing A roads, and you could not here the REx. We then changed to EP mode to see how this affected the drive and handling. The car was still able to cruise in fast flowing traffic, and pull away for traffic lights with a decent lick of speed, however, all the driver input was muted, and the acceleration curve was much more gentle. I think this will be perfect for the commute to work. It added a noticeable few miles to the estimated range.
When cruising at high speed, the EV mileage did slowly drop from an estimated 43 miles to 39. But had probably covered about 8 miles during this phase of the drive. Once we entered a more urban environment, the REx really proved its value, and it did indeed charge the battery level back up to the original 43 miles range (where we had set the maintain battery charge). This means that without a doubt, on the odd occasion that an extended drive is required, you could engage the REx at 75% and just top the petrol up every 70 miles or so. Brilliant.
I also had the chance to test the parking assist package and let the car parallel park between two cars. WOW. It's blinking magic. Engaged the park assist when we were stationary and near the parking space. Took feet off pedals and hands of the steering wheel, and the car did exactly what the marketing blurb said it would do....it parked with zero driver input. It was a little disconcerting, but this is definitely the future.
If anyone has any questions then please don't hesitate to ask.
Chris.
