BMW i3 Battery Upgrade Program

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imkazaam said:
The REX is an electric car. The type of motor that drives the car, i.e., the motor that moves it, 100% of the time, determines the type of car it is.

The REX has two power sources that can both be used to power the car, and that is, by definition, a hybrid powered vehicle. The REX is a serial hybrid, where the one power source feeds into the second, and the second provides the final propulsion, and the first is optional.

The Toyota/Ford and a few others are parallel/serial hybrids where the propulsion can be entirely electric, or gas plus electric, but not gas alone (although the batteries are not strictly needed once the engine is running, the electric motors propulsion is mandatory and are used to mix the electric and gas power).

The original Honda Insight was a purely parallel hybrid system where the gas engine and the electric motor were always turning together, and either one alone could be powered, or both could contribute, however, when the engine was off, it did add drag to the system, unlike the serial/parallel system that could effective bypass the engine with virtually no drag.

It is wrong to say the REX is not a hybrid propulsion system. It would be just as wrong to say any plug-in hybrid such as the plug-in Prius is not a hybrid, just because they are capable of extended pure electric propulsion, while the gas engine sits non-rotating. The REX is simply less (WAY LESS!) dependent on the second energy source than most other hybrids.

Less clarity of hybrid/non-hybrid can be found with a fuel-cell-electric vehicle, especially if plug-in capable.
 
i3Alan said:
The original Honda Insight was a purely parallel hybrid system where the gas engine and the electric motor were always turning together, and either one alone could be powered, or both could contribute, however, when the engine was off, it did add drag to the system, unlike the serial/parallel system that could effective bypass the engine with virtually no drag.
Minor nit: the electric motor in our original Honda Insight cannot be powered alone with the engine off but turning and creating drag. Some later Honda Civic Hybrids featured this mode, I believe. When being propelled, our Insight's ICE engine is always running with the electric motor providing assist, regen, or neither (i.e., just turning without providing or consuming electrical power).
 
Smart to have the option to upgrade the battery, but is it really.....
Way too expensive, just trade in for a new model with larger battery (and you have a newer car).


The big benefit:
Once it's older and people get battery problems it can be easily removed and repaired (i3 battery has 8 cells) by other companies then BMW or even improved (you can even buy these cells seperate from BMW). So much cheaper to repair than most other EV's. Already seen complete BMW i3 battery packs for sale for cheap.
 
prettig said:
Once it's older and people get battery problems it can be easily removed and repaired (i3 battery has 8 cells) by other companies then BMW or even improved (you can even buy these cells seperate from BMW). So much cheaper to repair than most other EV's. Already seen complete BMW i3 battery packs for sale for cheap.
This is what happened with Honda and Toyota hybrid battery packs. Those owners with weak or defective battery packs could exchange them for a pack rebuilt with new, higher-performing cells for much less than the cost of a new battery pack sold by Honda or Toyota. I don't see why this would not happen for current EV's including the i3 whose battery pack modules make this easier.
 
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