Recent content by woof

For the record, you brought up the 150 mile range, which doesn't happen unless using ReX. And, also for the record, after alternately driving the i3 BEV and the Tesla Model S 85kWh on my daily commute, I find the i3 is 48% more efficient than the Tesla (as measured by both car's "energy usage"...

Yeah, but the +31% difference is only good for the first 70ish miles. The rest is -44% (assuming ReX gets 40MPG on gas). Model S drives the whole distance on battery and uses less overall energy at the end of the same 150 miles. --Woof!

Sranger is correct. The DC power from the Tesla Superchargers is created from AC input power by multiple gangs of 10kW AC/DC converters. The exact same ones used in the Model S (one or two, depending on the dual charger option) to create DC when the car is charging on AC. And those "chargers"...

So I asked the finance person at the dealership several times and kept getting different answers. Then I asked using the "My BMW" login at bmwusa.com. The answer is: The Mileage Adjustment Program is not available on Owner's Choice (with or without Flex). We'll see if that is still the...

Hotter temps cause better range (because hotter batteries are more chemically active, thus more energy)...assuming you don't use any additional energy in cooling yourself, and/or the batteries. Most of us will have the AC on at 90-100 F, so that takes energy, and that comes from the battery, so...

Any new car model, or even a major refresh of an older model, has issues. Some way worse than this. "Never buy the first year of a car model" is a standard refrain, as it takes time to work out the bugs. On previous cars I've had it they fixed it on the next years model, but never...

If you have any skills at parallel parking, don't bother with automatic. The i3 is so easy to maneuver and has great visibility with the backup camera (that is a must!) that you can do better by yourself without the angst. My i3 has auto parking (it was bundled with the backup camera that I...

One way to ensure the fob you want is used is to unlock the car by pressing the button on it. The fob that unlocks the car is the one that counts. You lock/unlock the car with the correct fob if the wrong one is initially selected when comfort access is used. --Woof!

Sorry, not yet! ActiveE had 30% reduction (70 miles winter vs 100 miles summer) here in Mass., which includes -10C for some of it. I could easily get 90 miles on very cold clear winter days if I ran sans heat, so 20% loss due to heating and 10% due to other. Snow days I stayed home. No way...

Hooray! Let the mileage race begin (again). We need a wotnogas i3 edition. (But sans the FB only login). I wonder when he'll pass me. I'm 10 days in and 760 miles... --Woof!

To disable active cruise control, with cruise control "on" hold one of the "closer/farther" buttons down for a few seconds. It will then switch to standard cruise control for the rest of the trip. --Woof!

I've noticed that the regenerative braking is significantly reduced if the steering wheel is turned. I first came across this while exiting a freeway ramp and was using regen to slow down from 65 MPH to a stop at the end. There is a slight curve near the end of the ramp and instead of slowing...

BMW ActiveE, "Activate The Future": March 4th 2012-May 8th 2014 Tesla Model S, "Zero Compromises": December 24th 2012- BMW i3 BEV EE, "Born Electric": May 8th 2014- She's Here! Stable Mates: And lets raise a glass to the poor departed ActiveE, may she rust in peace. --Woof!

A123 is not the supplier. BMW showed us that it was Bosch. The ActiveE was SB LiMotive (Bosch/Samsung JV), and Bosch retained the rights when the JV was disolved. http://www.bmwblog.com/2011/04/19/innovation-days-%E2%80%93-electrification/ --Woof!

Every BMW I've driven (and I got to drive a lot of different loaners over the 2 years of ActiveE ownership) has displayed speed exactly 3 MPH faster than the actual speed (as determined by iPhone GPS apps, as well as stop watch timings) above 25 MPH. Interestingly, the odometer was not off at...