Low fuel level warning issue on i3 Rex
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TheNickGuy
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Nope, no warning, just out of gas!
That's really weird, low fuel level warning is an US standard feature lised on some BMW dealer website:TheNickGuy said:
http://www.parkviewbmw.com/buildandprice/select-trim/2016-bmw-i3-1775-luxury-%20-%20-automatic-rear_wheel_drive-%20-%20.html#step1Menu
PhilH
Well-known member
Why would you need a separate warning when there's a huge display of estimated fuel range right in front of you?
TheNickGuy
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PhilH said:
Listen pal, here in America we always need someone else to blame when something goes wrong!
bwilson4web
Well-known member
One our 700 mile trip, Huntsville -> Stillwater and return, we ran out of gas twice. In both cases, I enjoyed watching the 'gas miles' count down to "dashes." The first one, I added 1 gallon spare can and continued to the first open truck stop. The second one, I was at the end of the turnpike and the first exit had open stations. So I just used battery and a percent or two of charge.
Bob Wilson
Bob Wilson
alohart
Well-known member
Did your car continue moving normally after running out of gasoline? Some have reported their cars losing power totally when the REx engine shut down. Those who tried cycling the Start/Stop button discovered that their cars would then continue normally until the battery pack's charge level dropped below ~2%. This behavior seems like a bug that might have been fixed in recent software updates because there's no obvious reason why the REx engine shutting down should prevent the car from continuing to be propelled by power from the battery pack.bwilson4web said:
bwilson4web
Well-known member
The first time, I was expecting it so I simply pulled to the shoulder quickly to maintain SOC and added the spare gallon. The second time at the end of the turnpike on our return, I thought the accelerator got a little 'soft' ... more like a remapping but not severe. But I easily was able to maintain speed, exit the access road, come to a complete stop at the intersection, and drive to the service station.alohart said:
My BMW i3-REx was built in December 2014 and I had the recall work done when I got back into Huntsville. One of the chargers was reported down (not that I could tell with the Level 1 EVSE.)
Because of the 463 mile 'pickup the car' drive, I knew that coming off the highway and especially when descending an interchange, the car would add up to 2% SOC. When the car was restarted, it would maintain the higher charge. Of course this leads an amusing thought:
- It is just before dawn and you are in Death Valley without enough SOC to climb out.
- Using the REx, you maintain SOC and accelerate to say 50-60 mph speed.
- When SOC reaches set value, lift off the accelerator so the car coast-down stuffs charge from regeneration.
- Turn OFF car; turn ON car, and; set maintain SOC to the 1-2% higher value.
- Repeat.
Personally, I think the right answer for those of us who live in 'fly-over' states would be a mode that would let the engine charge the battery even when stationary. I know, it would cause spontaneous hair combustion in some CARB admins, it would be useful if say you needed to later, quietly leave the area where we make our own 'ethanol.'
Guess I could just carry a portable generator around ... next time I visit a CARB meeting. Nothing like having a noisy, non-catalytic converter, dirty little generator charging an EV ... upwind of a CARB meeting. OHHHHH!!!! Diesel generator!! Better still, a coal fired steam engine driving the generator!!!
NOTE: I understand the 'funny' rules CARB used so BMW could maximize their credits. Just as BMW adds more hybrids and plug-ins, it would make sense to revisit the BMW i3-REx and 'make it right' for the fly-over states. I would be happy if it was GPS keyed so the CARB rules only applied in a CARB state. <GRINS>
Bob Wilson
My car continued driving like nothing happen. When the range indicator went to nothing, the engine stopped in less than a half of a mile- unlike the ICE cars that usually have 10 or more miles worth of gas left at that point.
Edit: My car was coded and I had a plenty of the battery power remaining.
Edit: My car was coded and I had a plenty of the battery power remaining.
jadnashuanh
Well-known member
To understand something like the i3 REx, you have to stop thinking like an ICE and all of the decades of experience you have had with it!
The car ALWAYS runs on electricity. The REx just is another way to put some into the car verses stopping and attaching to an EVSE or a CCS system. As long as the battery SOC is above the critical point, you can always continue, REx running or not. If you let the SOC run down too low, then yes, you will start to notice the car starting to protect itself, but it does not do this without some warnings. But, until you've reached one of those trigger points, it's all things normal. You only stop when the SOC reaches zero, but you'll have been restricted on the power output prior to that, and been warned that the SOC is low. If you ignore the low-fuel warning on an ICE, everything will be totally normal until you lose your power steering, power brakes, and come to a screeching halt! At least on the i3, you'll not only get warned that the battery is getting low, but also be reminded by it shutting down some less critical functions (like climate control) along the way to remind you of the impending issue. I think that is much more useful and graceful, but you have to understand what is happening. In the scheme of ICE, a low-fuel warning light is fairly new - you had to rely on a sometimes sluggish or inaccurate fuel gauge entirely by itself when I got my first few cars.
The car ALWAYS runs on electricity. The REx just is another way to put some into the car verses stopping and attaching to an EVSE or a CCS system. As long as the battery SOC is above the critical point, you can always continue, REx running or not. If you let the SOC run down too low, then yes, you will start to notice the car starting to protect itself, but it does not do this without some warnings. But, until you've reached one of those trigger points, it's all things normal. You only stop when the SOC reaches zero, but you'll have been restricted on the power output prior to that, and been warned that the SOC is low. If you ignore the low-fuel warning on an ICE, everything will be totally normal until you lose your power steering, power brakes, and come to a screeching halt! At least on the i3, you'll not only get warned that the battery is getting low, but also be reminded by it shutting down some less critical functions (like climate control) along the way to remind you of the impending issue. I think that is much more useful and graceful, but you have to understand what is happening. In the scheme of ICE, a low-fuel warning light is fairly new - you had to rely on a sometimes sluggish or inaccurate fuel gauge entirely by itself when I got my first few cars.
Brice
Well-known member
I experienced myself last week to run out of gas while I was on the highway, and I can assure you that nothing happened. The car continued to move with the 20% or so battery range left (it's coded). Besides the soft rumbling that stopped, I could have not noticed it at all.
Fully transparent.
Fully transparent.
alohart
Well-known member
Coded! I thought that all i3's outside of North America had Hold State of Charge standard so that no coding is necessary. Is that not true?Brice said:
I read on the forum about someone noticing a big power decrease or stall when their REx ran out of gas. Maybe a software glitch?jadnashuanh said:
I've run my car low on gas a few times and there were a few noticeable warnings letting me know that I had 'Total x miles of driving range'. Seems like a good enough low fuel light to me.
jadnashuanh
Well-known member
The issue with both the BEV AND the REx version, is if you get the battery SOC down too low, the car WILL slow down. People with the REx need to understand that (at least on the first two years), the output of the REx is a maximum of 34Hp...the i3's electric motor is 170Hp. Obviously, you rarely are using all of that, but when you combine things like the lights, heating, and other things while running at high speeds uphill, you will be using more energy than the REx can supply, and if you only have a small SOC when you start, yes, the car WILL slow down. It won't shut off until it drops the SOC to zero, but definitely will slow down after shutting things like the climate control and warning you of the impending problem. The way around that is to back off a bit, enough for the REx to either keep up, and preferably, rebuild the charge a bit.brorob said:
Brice
Well-known member
alohart said:
Indeed, you are absolutely right. Funny thing is that, my car is really coded, BUT I'm so used to read US forums that I mentioned it without even thinking that this has nothing to do with the actual thread of this forum. Because, like you said, it's not required at all for us folks in Europe.
Sorry for the confusion.
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