Visual differences between 33kw & 42kw i3

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Mickymousei3

New member
Joined
Jun 17, 2021
Messages
2
Hi,

I'm looking to buy a 42.2kw i3, and some of the listings say they are 33kw, when they are clearly 42kw and vice versa. Are there any visual differences between the models when the 42kw battery was introduced?

I'm looking for late 2018 early 2019 when they first went on sale, and there are some early registered cars and also old stock cars registered in 2019, so its difficult to know unless you have the chassis number. Not all listing show the instrument cluster.

Thank you.
 
Checking the VIN is the only reliable method I know. The only visual telltale I know is the 2018 facelift, and as you're finding, that's not enough to tell the difference.

I had a similar experience when searching for my 2017. A majority of ads listed the wrong battery size, so I relied on plugging VINs into mdecoder to know which was which.
 
Don't they give the battery capacity in Amp Hours like the BMW literature? That would be 60 Ah, 94 Ah, or 120 Ah. Did they make a 2018 model with a 120 Ah battery? Did they make a 2019 model with a 94 Ah battery? I thought that 2017 was the only model year where you could get two different sizes of battery: 60 BEV, 94 BEV, or 94 REX. If the battery capacity doesn't match the model year, I would be suspect of both.

Specifying the battery size in Kilowatt Hours (kWh) is a little vague because each battery had two kWh ratings: Gross (theoretical capacity) and Net (the capacity you could use without damaging the battery.
60 Ah -> 21.6 Gross kWh, 18.8 Net kWh
94 Ah -> 33.2 Gross kWh, 27.2 Net kWh
120 Ah -> 42.2 Gross kWh, 37.9 Net kWh

Sounds like you are talking about the 94 Ah and 120 Ah batteries.
 
The 120ah 42.2kw battery only model was launched in September 2018, so here in the UK there are "68" plate registered cars that are 94ah 33kw & 120ah 42.2kw. All the REX models from 2017 onwards are 94ah in the UK. In the USA they have 42.2kw & Rex.

In the UK, 120ah could be registered on 68, 19 plate etc... as could some old stock early 2018 LCI models.

I'm not 100% sure, but visually I think the 42.2kw 120ah models do not have the E-Drive badge on the left of the boot lid. I think all 94ah models do, as do 94ah Rex models.

Does anyone have a 120ah 42.2kw model that has this badge?

Thanks
 
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