BMW i talks about larger EV, increased i3 range in 2016

lucycan said:

Anyone heard an update on the updated range car? I'm looking to lease in DEC and the dealers are saying they don't have a clue when the new battery is coming out.

When do the 16s arrive?

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The 2016 MY vehicles started production 11/15, so it will be awhile before any of them start to show up in the USA at the dealers'. Maybe by the end of the year, but even if they make it across the Atlantic, that doesn't mean they'll be released immediately, and the west coast takes a bit longer.

Popped into our local dealers to arrange a few days test drive next week, upon talking to the expert there I mentioned the upgrade to the i3 range (meaning the 2016 battery refresh) and he said "oh yes, the new i3 will have 200 mile range" I questioned this as I had heard it would be just a 30% we have all heard about, he then back tracked and said he meant the 2017MY model update, he was pretty confident about the double the range of the present model.

He would not confirm anything about the battery upgrade coming soon though, I assume it is too close and might damage sales of the current model.

lucycan said:

Anyone heard an update on the updated range car? I'm looking to lease in DEC and the dealers are saying they don't have a clue when the new battery is coming out.

When do the 16s arrive?

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The 2016 model is already under production. Its description does not indicate that its battery pack capacity will be different from the 2014 and 2015 models.

InsideEV's suggests that the 2017 i3 could have an increased range with production starting in July, 2016, making the 2016 model year several months shorter than normal. The 2017 model would have a 125 mile EV range if InsightEV's is correct.

Those wanting a pure EV range of 200 miles would have to wait longer, but the range-extended 2017 version might have a 200 mile total extended range.

'16s are being manufactured now. Nothing really changed from '14s and '15s except some color changes and differences in "standard" equipment (that you pay for anyway). New batteries won't be available until the '17 model year (no official confirmation on this yet, but '16s are in production so they aren't getting new batteries) which goes into production in July. '16 model year is a short production run.

Boxbrownie said:

Popped into our local dealers to arrange a few days test drive next week, upon talking to the expert there I mentioned the upgrade to the i3 range (meaning the 2016 battery refresh) and he said "oh yes, the new i3 will have 200 mile range" I questioned this as I had heard it would be just a 30% we have all heard about, he then back tracked and said he meant the 2017MY model update, he was pretty confident about the double the range of the present model.

He would not confirm anything about the battery upgrade coming soon though, I assume it is too close and might damage sales of the current model.

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You believed a salesman ! I would wait,a bit longer as an 'Official' announcement was kind of promised for the end of the year ( possibly).

The MY 2016 is going to be a fairly short run for the i3. Take that in mind if you ever look back at the MY sales figures. US Federal laws limit how long you can call a car a certain model year, and it may be that the 2017 MY might be pushing the maximum limit since it will be introduced fairly early. BMW tends to start new MY vehicles in the fall, but the 2017 i3 will be in the summer of 2016. No idea when the 2018 will come out.

PluviaPlumbum said:

Boxbrownie said:

Popped into our local dealers to arrange a few days test drive next week, upon talking to the expert there I mentioned the upgrade to the i3 range (meaning the 2016 battery refresh) and he said "oh yes, the new i3 will have 200 mile range" I questioned this as I had heard it would be just a 30% we have all heard about, he then back tracked and said he meant the 2017MY model update, he was pretty confident about the double the range of the present model.

He would not confirm anything about the battery upgrade coming soon though, I assume it is too close and might damage sales of the current model.

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You believed a salesman ! I would wait,a bit longer as an 'Official' announcement was kind of promised for the end of the year ( possibly).

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He wasn't a salesman, he was the new i "expert" in our local dealers which has just started selling the i range, he had to go get a salesman to chat about money.

But, yes I take your point and usually I would take everything within a 500 yard radius of a salesroom with a vat of salt let alone a pinch!

It was just the way he came out with the statement without prompting or a twitch of his face :lol:

The 2016's specs do not call for larger batteries or increased range. As said, the 2017 models will start to be produced in the summer of 2016, so yes, in 2016, unless something radical changes, i3's with greater range will be available, but they will not be 2016 MY vehicles, they will be 2017 MY vehicles, maybe bought in 2016. So there are probably at least 8-months before they start to show up in the dealerships, and maybe 6 or so before you could order one and the specifications become clear.

I think I need to make it clear, when I said 2017MY it is the model which will be built for release either late '16 or early '17 as is usual for cycle plans.

The "2016 battery refresh" I asked him about (and which he denied any knowledge of) was this higher capacity battery update everyone in here is getting excited about, this is what I wanted cleared up as we are about to pull the trigger on an i3 and didn't want to have a two month old "out of date" model.

Boxbrownie said:

I think I need to make it clear, when I said 2017MY it is the model which will be built for release either late '16 or early '17 as is usual for cycle plans.

The "2016 battery refresh" I asked him about (and which he denied any knowledge of) was this higher capacity battery update everyone in here is getting excited about, this is what I wanted cleared up as we are about to pull the trigger on an i3 and didn't want to have a two month old "out of date" model.

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BMW has been asked this before during various interviews, and the consensus was, if it is economically feasible, they would consider offering this as an 'upgrade' option later on. My guess is that, no, unless you had a problem with the existing pack, most people would not find the exchange a viable endeavor. Whether that is even reasonable is unknown. The size of the pack is likely identical. Also, keep in mind, a larger pack might require logic updates to tell the computer the battery pack size so it could display ranging info properly along with time to charge. And, unless they enlarged the on-board charging circuits...charging a larger battery would also take longer. So, it's not just swapping the battery packs (from what I hear, about a 4-hour job). BMW has come up with plans to recycle used, but still viable battery packs, but how much, if any, credit they give to the customer is still unknown, since any pack replacements now going on are all under warranty, so as far as I know, nobody has needed to purchase a new pack, yet.

I was not talking about a replacement battery pack, but an interim upgrade to production vehicles to take advantage of the new higher density Samsung packs as has been announced by Harald Krueger.

The next model of the i3 will have an even bigger capacity pack giving the hopeful 200 miles, but a way off yet.

ANything's possible, but I doubt they will make that sort of running change except at MY changeover. Almost all manufacturers have a statement on their spec sheets saying 'subject to change'. I doubt you'll get much, if any, advance notice other than the MY change.

jadnashuanh said:

ANything's possible, but I doubt they will make that sort of running change except at MY changeover. Almost all manufacturers have a statement on their spec sheets saying 'subject to change'. I doubt you'll get much, if any, advance notice other than the MY change.

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Yes, that will be the new model 2017MY....the 200 mile range (if we are lucky, although I'll wager on more like 150).