I think I hate my i3 Rex...

[cove3]

>>the computer needs to learn my driving habits a bit to show a more accurate range>>

Rather than rely on the computer to show the range left, why can't you verify the range left by calculating the kwh remaining (18.8 * what the fuel gauge shows is left, say 10kwh) * what the car is showing for your average or current miles/kwh? Say you're driving modus is getting 4.5 * 10 would show 45 miles left. You could then compare this to the computer and see if the computer is way off

Ron

 

[jadnashuanh]

The estimated range takes into account the last 18-miles driven and the current temperature (and maybe other things). So, when you park it, since it is generally coldest in the morning, your indicated range is likely to be lower than when you parked it the night before. I have often seen the estimated range stay essentially the same after driving 7-8 miles, and not drop at all, depending on previous and current driving and the current temperatures.

IOW, just like a gas gauge on an ICE doesn't reliably tell you how far you can go if, for example your current driving is stop and go in the city verses having just come off of the interstate, cruising at a steady pace, the distance to empty will very radically. I see the same thing on my ICE - it can easily be 200-miles off of maximum range on a tank if I've just driving somewhere on the interstate, and am now doing stop and go in the local city.

The thing with the i3 is, it's 'tank' is smaller than that on an ICE. It was designed primarily as a mega city vehicle where the average user drives less than 34-miles in a day. It easily surpasses that, even in super cold weather. Throw in the REx, should you feel it helps, and you should easily double that.

FWIW, I think that the software defaults to low power charging to ensure that you don't pop a circuit breaker in case the plug you use is shared with something else. It's a simple software check box, and unless you get new software, you'll never need to change it again...sort of like setting your mirrors and seat position...one setting does not satisfy all. It's just that it's new, compared to an ICE.

No single vehicle will satisfy all users...one reason why there are so many models out there. Even with that, you cannot please all people, regardless.

 

[stumbledotcom]

far as driving like a lincoln... maybe that was a touch of over statement. But the constant drag on the car (recouping energy right?), plus the slower acceleration between 40-60 etc. The car doesn't drive like 328. I know I know. That's a f*cked comparison. And if I wanted a car to perform like that I shouldn't have bought an EV or at least just got a telsa. BUT I feel like there's a compromise on performance. And I was down with it, my general driving habits are closer to an old man then a 16 year old kid, but the compromise without any procevied benefits. That's a bit of kick in the stomach.

I found your comments about performance puzzling until I remembered you mentioned driving in Eco Pro+ mode in your initial post. As others already have pointed out, try Comfort instead. The i3 BEV is the quickest vehicle BMW makes 0 to 35 or so. And the REX isn't that much slower. In the city stop light grand prix, I easily outpace other cars and give most motorcycles a run for it.

Also keep in mind that both Eco Pro and Eco Pro+ modes enable a speed limit. Meaning when the car reaches the limit, acceleration stops unless you hold down the accelerator pedal for several seconds. The driver can set the limit between 50 and 80 mph in Eco Pro. But in Eco Pro+ it's fixed at 55 mph. Personally, I despise the Eco modes. I've used Eco Pro only the handful of times I've taken my i3 on the freeway. As soon as I hit the exit ramp, it's back into Comfort. And I engaged Eco Pro+ exactly once to see the dashboard light come on.

 

[jadnashuanh]

The Eco modes also dull the responses to the throttle, which, if you aren't a very smooth driver, can improve overall efficiency. If you happen to be driving where there is a lot of snow and or ice on the roadways, Eco Pro can be useful. The logic will try to keep you from spinning the tires, but you don't need as light of a touch if you're in an Eco Pro mode and things can be smoother. Nothing manufactures traction, but it does help you to make the most of what you have.

 

[i3regret]

Hey guys, thanks for all the responses. Too many great things to respond to everyone individually. So I'll give a general update.

I've gone and made a number of adjustments and things (I think) are already getting better. I adjusted the recharge setting to be max. Probably why I didn't get a great charge from Whole Foods the first day. I also was super conscience about driving with one pedal. Trying not to brake ever. I think I got pretty good at it. I drove the car 89 miles today, mostly on the freeway, with little to no traffic. So not ideal for the i3.

I got about 30 miles out of the last 25% of my charge before the rex kicked in. Drove another 10 without the meter showing any damage on the fuel gauge. I recharged at 240 volt charging station for 2.5 hours and my battery got somewhere in the range of 80-85% (I made sure to adjust the recharge setting to max first). There was a two hour limit on the spot, so it may have stopped at 2 hours automatically. No way to know for sure.

I then drove the remaining 48 miles, and now my guess-ometer is saying I have about 10-12 left. But it was cooler and at night (so my headlights were on). Hopefully I'll get another 15 out of it tomorrow.

The car, now that I was spending time outside of bumper to bumper does handle much better than I had thought. Overall much happier today and the tension is easing. Considering it was 80% freeway driving at 65-75 mphs today, plus I only got about an 80% charge, and made it nearly 50 miles with juice in left in the tank, this feels a whole lot better. I'm guessing this is closer to normal? Also never really touching the rex is good too.

So thanks for all the advice.

Quick question, if I do the software update and unlock the REX, does this effect my lease/warranty? I didn't buy the car. But I'd be down to hack it.

Also if you do the REX, when do you guys recommend engaging it? Freeway? Bumper to bumper?

Thanks again for all the great advice. Seriously. Going actually sleep tonight.

-Micky

 

[GeorgeJ]

Quick question, if I do the software update and unlock the REX, does this effect my lease/warranty? I didn't buy the car. But I'd be down to hack it.

Also if you do the REX, when do you guys recommend engaging it? Freeway? Bumper to bumper?

-Micky

I am leasing and so perhaps it is a roll of the dice. I have read many discussions and the preponderance of the remarks that I have read are that the laws favor and protect the consumer. I would not have gotten the car without it.

When I tried it out I was mostly within the city so a good deal of stop and go so it seemed the gas motor was starting and stopping frequently as well. My intent in how I would use it is to facilitate getting comfortably to destinations outside of town and retain much of the battery capacity as a reserve. As I mentioned this probably amounts to a couple of times per year. Day to day it is just too easy to keep a reasonable and planned state of charge. Just my plan and it remains to be used in practice.

The software switch to access the rex can be uninstalled prior to bringing it in for service as easily as it is installed. That being said I am assuming that if they look at the "black box" or access the car remotely it would be a no brainer to identify my car as one that has been hacked.

 

[nowtta60]

I wasn't going to reply when I read your second post though subsequent posts established a bit more empathy and understanding.

Same here... but I can now see it was initial frustration with what should have been an epic drive home. (FWIW My write up of my first day is here.... https://speakev.com/threads/my-first-electric-day-150-miles-and-no-tow-truck-required.6361/ )

I’ve been commuting 120 miles a day thru this miserable cold weather we are having in the UK and getting 80+ miles range just from the battery on EcoPro+. Eg today it was 0.5degC when I left (preconditioned) . iRemote is telling me I did 52.8 miles in on battery and have 36% left. (52.8/0.64=82.5). One thing that will help is to ignore the GOM (well sort of). In my previous cars I’ve always used the ¼ marks to give an idea of indicated tank range. The i3 is no different – I know the minimum I can expect to get from each ¼ bar is 15 miles. But on a good day that can be over 20. It can stop you getting in a sweat if you know that last ¼ means 15 miles to the REX kicks in.

You’ll learn to drive smoothly if you setup the main display to give EcoPro tips – it will tell you to coast up to a junction instead of driving up at Warp Factor 2, then expecting the regen to stop you and ending up needing the friction brakes. Coasting to slow is even more energy saving than using regen. The “swing-o-meter” will light up a the centre target for you so that you arrive just at the right speed. – However it’s not aware of traffic – so you’ll often find yourself having to lift off a bit more than it says. By coasting - there a sweet spot where you aren't accelerating - or regenning, but the car is slowing due to air/tyre resistance. You'll fin dyou get everywhere just as quick.

The speed limit isn' fixed on EcoPro+ - if you use Active Cruise you can go faster, and likewise if its in suspend mode (red) you'll be able to go faster than the set limit. If not using cruise a full pedal press will unlock it to you come back below the limit.

Another thing I’ll suggest to do ASAP… go for a drive when you aren’t in a rush to get somewhere and make sure you get the REX to kick when the battery is almost flat. I will stop the fear of reduced speed etc that people have complained about. I was able to keep up with traffic flow at motorway speeds – albeit heavy traffic that was going 50-70 and back again ;-) The worst that could happen if you see the SOC keeps dropping - slip stream a truck at 60-65mph for a mile or two.

As we get the option to stick it on when we want I normally drive the battery down to 25% on the motorway , and then stick the REX on. Try and save the battery for near home in town. When the Sat Nav says home is within whatever range is left on the GOM I turn it off again. Basically running the REX at a fairly constant speed on highway traffic. Running it in stop / start heavy traffic means the engine is starting up and stopping all the time which is not the best way to run it. That and it’s much better for people with Asthma etc to use the REX when you are out of the city. EVs are not all about climate change (which some people may argue doesn’t exist) but urban air pollution does.

The no 1 reason I’d want to get it coded is to stop the utter embarrassment I had when I got to the end of the off ramp when doing my – “let the battery run down and let the car decide when to sick the REX on” experiment. Normally when you pull up as the lights with a decent SOC the REX turns off. As I had been doing about 65-70 and there’s a moderate gradient the last 2 miles of the motorway section I was about 5 of the tiny bars below the REX kick in point – it sat there revving away as if I was some crazy scooter rider about to do the traffic light grand prix. LOL. Same when I pulled up in town, I felt myself sinking into my chair in case anyone recognised me. LOL.

As others have said – Comfort mode is what you want to demonstrate the superiority of an EV motor over ICE. As well as sharpening up the pedal response I believe it unlocks full power acceleration. Feels like about another 50hp! If you want to get max acceleration from the line – don’t press the pedal – stamp on it – as the faster pedal travel will save another 0.1s ;-) In 3,400 miles I’ve yet to have any challenge from commuters. Normally 50-100 yards ahead by the other side of an intersection. You can then flip back to EcoPro+ to save the battery for more high speed runs

 

[SSi3]

You have to change your forum name now Micky

 

[CMYK4Life]

Haters gonna hate...

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

As the ad says in the UK, 'Should've gone to Specsavers'

Now that you like your i3 really !!,
I think he probably meant the above comment to be humorous. :lol:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=855987107794360

 

[uktechie]

Love my pet REX it ain't no dinosaur

Done 10000 miles and 70% electric.

The range in colder weather is only letdown.

But reason I got mine was the driving experience nothing to do with green stickers.

I borrowed one for 3 tests and was convinced and excepted some compromises to driving style on motorway.

But for city driving best car ever for me so much fun.

So real world range been 50-80 electric.

But if you don't like how it drives then yes very expensive mistake so you going to regret it

 

[drb]

The i3 REx was not built with the intention of qualifying for a white sticker. If someone told you this, you certainly have a bone to pick with him, her or your dealership, but just a little independent research would have told you that the i3 REx would only qualify for the green sticker.

I have almost 6,000 miles on my i3 REx and I love it as much today as when I first drove it off the lot. I was critical of the roll out and all the problems associated with it. But as for the vehicle itself, its a wonder. I drive across the Los Angeles basin twice a week--about 120 miles for each roundtrip. With the REx, no range anxiety. I drive the car in a manner in which it was intended--city driving on local freeways and city streets. I typically drive in comfort mode with the a/c on. For longer trips, I revert to a good old fashion gas guzzler or rent; 95% of my driving, however, is local as described above. The i3 has put the fun back into driving for me. I like the comfort and openness of the cabin--it just doesn't feel like a small car until its time to park it and then I have a great advantage. I love the cruise control and the regenerative braking not only recharges the battery but it puts a new and enjoyable spin on my driving experience.

Hope you have had time to learn to enjoy your car. Good luck.

 

[ivan]

I feel your pain, I've been w my rex for about a month now and such a HUGE disappointed in the following:
*150 miles range -- BIG FAT LIE
*Once that generator Kicks in -- LOUDER THAN A TRUCK ON STEROIDS
*I have never seen a FAST charger station, it's like a legend that never existed
*"Adaptive control" is awesome except for when all of the sudden changes to regular mode and it's trying to stop regardless of your traffic, and this one can really get scare...
I hope BMW fixes it, before it gets me killed!!!

other than that it's great!

 

[MikeS]

Can’t imagine who told you 150 miles - certainly not any of the official BMW documentation! Doid you listen to someone in a bar? Then again, maybe there is something wrong with your hearing as to describe the REX as 'LOUDER THAN A TRUCK ON STEROIDS’ is plainly ridiculous! I find it almost inaudible in the car unless it is working really hard.

As for fast chargers (I assume you are in the USA) I can’t comment for where you live but did you not check before you bought the car? I have a fast charger at home and have never needed to use a public one as I new what sort of journeys I was buy the car for.

I don’t have adaptive control as I prefer to be in charge of the car.

 

[mlsstl]

Can’t imagine who told you 150 miles - certainly not any of the official BMW documentation! Doid you listen to someone in a bar? Then again, maybe there is something wrong with your hearing as to describe the REX as 'LOUDER THAN A TRUCK ON STEROIDS’ is plainly ridiculous! I find it almost inaudible in the car unless it is working really hard.

Just checked the BMW USA web site and it shows, for the REX, "up to 150 miles total range". So the earlier poster's comment is certainly not unreasonable. Your reply seems a bit overly catty - just what a prospective buyer wants to see! It implies: "How could you be so stupid as to believe what BMW says - everyone knows they've overstated the range!"

I'm at the stage where I'm strongly thinking about getting an i3 so have been doing a lot of reading and watching the user forums closely. I'm confident that a REX's range would handle 90% of my daily driving, but it is that last 10% that has me worried. I simply don't like the idea of being stranded or going though gyrations because an unexpected situation has taxed the range of the car.

If the 150 mile range is completely off, I'd rather find out now than the hard way.

 

[PhilH]

150 miles total range (including using the REX) is probably an underestimate. There is, anyway, always the option to fill up with petrol, which makes the total range infinite. We did a single trip of over 250 miles at the weekend.

 

[Schnort]

There is, anyway, always the option to fill up with petrol, which makes the total range infinite.

The default configuration in the US is mildly crippled in two ways:
1) The REX doesn't come on until the battery is nearly depleted (4%?), leaving you in limp mode if you have much drain on the battery at all
2) The gas tank is smaller than the UK

This was done to keep some California incentive having to do with the fully electric range had to be larger than the petrol range.

Apparently you can 'code' it to fix these issues, but...

 

[MikeS]

Can’t imagine who told you 150 miles - certainly not any of the official BMW documentation! Doid you listen to someone in a bar? Then again, maybe there is something wrong with your hearing as to describe the REX as 'LOUDER THAN A TRUCK ON STEROIDS’ is plainly ridiculous! I find it almost inaudible in the car unless it is working really hard.

Just checked the BMW USA web site and it shows, for the REX, "up to 150 miles total range". So the earlier poster's comment is certainly not unreasonable. Your reply seems a bit overly catty - just what a prospective buyer wants to see! It implies: "How could you be so stupid as to believe what BMW says - everyone knows they've overstated the range!"

I'm at the stage where I'm strongly thinking about getting an i3 so have been doing a lot of reading and watching the user forums closely. I'm confident that a REX's range would handle 90% of my daily driving, but it is that last 10% that has me worried. I simply don't like the idea of being stranded or going though gyrations because an unexpected situation has taxed the range of the car.

If the 150 mile range is completely off, I'd rather find out now than the hard way.

Well if its the range including using the REX then its in excess of 150 miles - with a full petrol tanks and battery mine is showing 162miles! Moreover, I clearly excluded it being a BMW statement………. Catty maybe (it was first thing in the morning).

 

[Jeffj]

"Real World" range on my i3 - Colorado, no coding to increase usable gas tank capacity, EcoPro @68 in the winter, now running Comfort @72, has ranged from:

December - 3.6 mi/kWh -> 65 + 50 for 115
January - 3.8 mi/kWh -> 71 + 53 for 124
February - 3.8 mi/kWh -> 71 + 53 for 124
March - 4.2 mi/kWh -> 78 + 60 for 138
April (to date) 4.2 mi/kWh -> 78 + 60 for 138

With the warming temps, I've seen the GOM go as high as 82 electric and 65 REx. I suspect that my real-world range in April/May/June will be nearly 150, maybe higher, but will come down a bit in high summer as air conditioner usage goes up.

 

[jadnashuanh]

ON a REx, use of the a/c is probably less than heating the cabin. On the BEV, in the USA, it has a heat pump standard for heating. The REx does not, so it must use 1:1 wattage to create heat. The BEV can get up to around 3-4:1 watts of heat for every input one.

When it comes to a/c, you probably will not notice a huge range hit unless you like to keep it like a refrigerator. All of these things are relative.

Like anything automotive...your results may differ from the test conditions used - same is true with an ICE on fuel economy as it is with a BEV on max range. Some people are averaging over 6m/kw, community average is closer to 4...their cars are not different and most of them are not defective. They chose to employ all of the possible tricks to maximize their efficiency...most people aren't.