Basic Physics...

[YondanRon]

I drove the GM EV-1 for five years. The failure mode when the battery neared the end was to ping loudly and drop available power to 10%. I took many long (carefully planned) trips and had this happen only twice.

My first interesting trip in my i3 was from Petaluma, CA to high in the Sierra Nevada mountains (50 miles NW of Truckee). My aim was to NOT use the Range Extender and that almost worked. I charged in Sacramento, Colfax (free charger at the train station), and Truckee. The interesting physics bit is that elevating the car 1000 ft uses around 1.1 KwH or about 5% of the battery capacity. The NAV system takes elevation changes well into account and predicts well. I must admit that I did cheat and drive a bit more slowly than normal as well as draft trucks in the truck lanes on long steep climbs on I-80.

The very end of the trip was a 9 mile 7% upgrade, which I reached just as the range extender came on. I busily calculated the usable Kilowatts from the 36 HP engine and the actual momentary usage in kilowatts (wouldn't it be nice to switch to that mode instead if Miles/KwH?) while squinting at the lower end of the battery charge display (the request elsewhere to have that expand when charge gets low is a great one). I pulled over once to let the charge climb back to near the magic mark, since I did not want to see what would happen with a pushy pickup truck behind me when the 3i decided it was time to protect the battery pack.

Many ideas expressed in this thread could be combined into a different "things are getting interesting" display mode showing the expanded lower 10% of the battery charge, actual momentary power output, and a good estimate of "time to reduced power"; the momentary input power to the battery would be interesting too, but the energy loss in charging/discharging inefficiencies would be confusing.

Ron Chestnut

 

[gregorydavidcooper]

Just a thought. If the REX is the same engine as the C650GT Scooter which is 44kw 60HP which would suggest that the REX could easily be tweaked.

I'm no physics genius but nearly double HP would allow the REX to push the car up to its top speed of 93. Climb Hills, Top up the battery.

Perhaps Superchips have an upgrade ECU and sports exhaust that will do the job.

 

[alohart]

Perhaps Superchips have an upgrade ECU and sports exhaust that will do the job.

They'd better include a larger fuel tank as well because that much more power would likely consume fuel at a significantly higher rate.

 

[ted99]

And a larger (and heavier) generator=more range lost, compared to the non-Rex. Pretty soon, we'd have a Chevy Volt.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Everything is a compromise. Trying to make the i3 into a long-distance cruiser was not in their design goals. Upcoming models are likely to be designed with that in mind. THat you can, to a degree, accomplish that with the i3 is, IMHO, a bonus that comes with some issues: more weight, slower acceleration, shorter unassisted battery range countered with the peace of mind for those that do need or want to go further than a simple charge will take them.

Throw in lots of fast dc charging opportunities, the usefulness gets better for longer trips, but, personally, I find the i3 great for what it is designed for, running around, or commuting, but lacking for a long-distance cruise. If for nothing else, I don't need to or want to have to stop as often to refuel, either gas or EVSE, or CCS opportunity. While you can find fuel, your success in an open, working EVSE or CCS opportunity along every route is less readily available (your results may differ), at least where I live, nor the time it would require to regain full operational status.