i3 Rex test

[amateurish]

I had an hour's test in the Rex yesterday. I was interested to see how the range stood up after reading some pretty negative descriptions on this site over real world range. I drove the car for 55 miles. We only used the range extender. When we left, range was showing as 60 miles rex (full bars), 40 miles electric (3/4 bars). When we returned range was showing 40 miles rex, 40 miles electric.

We drove mainly eco pro, seater heater on, two up. I tried cruising at various speeds - 80, 70, 65, 60. It was all fast single and dual carriage way main roads, no urban at all. We used the A34 near Newbury which is pretty hilly. Temperature was pretty cold yesterday, maybe 5 degrees?

So all in all, pretty impressive.

 

[Plug]

Total range dropped only 20 miles even though you drove 55 miles ? I guess the car was recalculating based on your driving style being more efficient but it's encouraging to see how well it did.

One of the first things I want to do when I get my REx is turn it on whilst driving on a motorway and slowly keep increasing the speed until I can get a feel at which speed the battery range starts to decrease. I'm sure I've read that BMW quoted 120kmh (75mph) for this which will be fine but it's going to need some testing to get a feel for it.

 

[BrianStanier]

If the range is mostly based on the recent driving history (as the Leaf's seem to be) your result would suggest that the previous drive finished in enthusiast style and your's rather more sedately?

 

[amateurish]

Yes, it seems likely that I was driving more efficiently. Although I have to say that I wasn't driving particularly slowly. I never went below 60 and did spend about half the journey with cruise set to 70.

 

[BrianStanier]

That seems very encouraging. Four months to wait for ours!

 

[Jeremy]

My impression was the EV range held steady at around 70 on the level and dropped visibly at over 75 or on a gradient.

 

[TomMoloughney]

What I think is important is how low did the electric state of charge (or estimated range) drop during the trip. I know you ended with the same electric range, but did it drop much during the trip and then recover when you were driving slowly at the end.

This is important to those in the US because the REx won't turn on until the SOC drops below 6%. If the car basically held the state of charge the whole time that would bode well for it here. However if it dropped 10% while you were driving 70mph and then recovered at the end that isn't so good. Did you watch this during the trip?

 

[amateurish]

I didn't watch that closely, to be honest. I don't think it ever lost more than a couple of miles of charge.

 

[ecoangel]

Thanks for the info. Have to say i'm a bit of a skeptic though on the figures quoted.

Are you sure those were both for Comfort mode as is always displayed when first starting the car before you push EP or EP+ button?

If you ended journey in EP then the mileage would be based on that mode.

My own experience of a Rex yesterday indicated more consumption in EP with REX hold charge and I was feathering the throttle to gain max rolling efficiency over 80 mile journey.