Recent content by Northwestern

Chris: Thanks for the document! However, while your charging rates may be attractive, here in Southern California most of us will be hitting 30 cents/kwh tiers, making the i3 anything but efficient (costs more than a Prius). Now I only drive about 6,000 mi./year, and I can operate within the...

It's a long discussion. If you believe Tesla, then you shouldn't trust an ICE maker. After all, do you think BMW will make more money on a low-service EV or selling you a new wastegate for your 335i through an expensive brick-and-mortor dealer? OTOH, what Tesla has done doesn't seem overly...

With regards to the 80% charge number, does the i3 already have a cushion built in like the Volt (16 kwh but I believe it uses only takes 10 kwh, the other 6 used as a built-in cushion to enable longer battery life)? In other words, if the i3 has a 22 kwh battery, how many kwh does it take to...

Well, I need at least 85 miles of range DURING THE ENTIRE TIME I OWN THE VEHICLE, NOT JUST OUT OF THE BOX! Keep in mind the range will go down from day 1 at perhaps 2-3% per year. I also drive more freeway than most. Net net please give me an EV with 120 miles of range out of the box. The...

I'm thinking it doesn't matter what BMW charges for the REx, what matters is what you are willing to pay. My gut tells me the REx sits at $5,000 and moves at $3,000. If you don't need bragging rights on the i3 why not wait a bit and see how this shakes out? Is there any harm in bidding the...

Here in the US the Volt list price just dropped by $4,000-$5,000. The Leaf price dropped by about $6,000 in February. So with the Volt at about $35.5k and the Leaf at $29k, can BMW really get away with a $48k REx and $44k EV? I'm not sure I would want to own any EV right now because of...

One thing about the 120 volt/240 v charging debate, is the 120 has about 78% efficiency vs. 90% when charged at 240. This means if you need 10 kwh to "fill" your i3, you will need 10/.9 or 11.1 kwh from your electrical source (your utility) and 12.8 kwh if done at 120. Not only are you using...

Thanks, Tom. I've read a lot of posts on Volt/PIP forums and "garage adaptation" costs seem to be all over the map. In addition, my last google search of "San Diego TOU EV installation costs" wasn't pretty. SDG&E isn't very forthright about costs, either; one would think they could provide...

Just a thought, I have a licensed electrician/contractor at my house every now and then, so while he is at the house, why not ask him about what modifications I need to perform to charge the i3? A separate trip for a 5-minute "looksy" doesn't seem to benefit either party. So the i3 can be...

Parker: I'm most interested in expected range degradation because of the lithium battery over time. What type of reduction in range can one expect at the 1,3, 5, 10-year mark? When does the battery need to be replaced, or can you just run it forever but accept the reduced range? If it does...

http://www.hybridcars.com/kymco-will-reportedly-build-bmw-i3-range-extender/ This is the engine I was referring to, the photo (not the link) is the electric motor. Perhaps they only need 1/2 of the 450 cc m/c engine above (if the left portion is the gear box, which a generator does not need)...

Looks big to me; perhaps 100 lbs. of metal. Add the weight of the gas, gas tank, and hardware and you are lugging around the equivalent of another person every where you go? I think they should cut 2-6 kwh out of the battery pack. Even at 16 kwh I've calculated (allowing for range degradation...

QORM: I think you are asking questions above my pay grade. That said, I think you are confusing megajoules and horsepower. I think at full power (125 kw) of output you are using about 57 kw per hour of battery, so you can go 22/57 times 100 mph or about 39 miles out of the i3, which is 8.6...

QORW: Gasoline prices right now average $3.68/gallon and electricity costs used to calculate EVs empg are based on a national average of about 14 cents/kwh. So based on an ICE at 25 mpg the cost is about 14.7 cents/mile. For the i3, I'm using 96 miles per 22 kwh and assuming a 10% loss...

As I see it anything with a battery under 16 kwh is a waste here in the US. For example, the Volt 16 kwh gets a $7,500 Federal tax credit, the 4 kwh PIP $2,500. The formula for the credit is "straightlined" for battery capacity in between. So over 4 kwh the gov't will pay you $417/kwh, which...