In U.S. have REx activation take topography into account

[MarkN]

In the U.S. it will not be possible to force the range extender to engage, in order to comply with California Air Resources Board requirements, even on models sold outside of California. This makes the car less useful in mountainous terrain as the REx doesn't produce enough power for fast uphill travel with a depleted battery. The i3's navigation system and range map take topography into account, so the REx could be automatically turned on ahead of time to provide a battery power reserve for long, fast uphills based on the driver's chosen route.

 

[TomMoloughney]

In the U.S. it will not be possible to force the range extender to engage, in order to comply with California Air Resources Board requirements, even on models sold outside of California. This makes the car less useful in mountainous terrain as the REx doesn't produce enough power for fast uphill travel with a depleted battery. The i3's navigation system and range map take topography into account, so the REx could be automatically turned on ahead of time to provide a battery power reserve for long, fast uphills based on the driver's chosen route.

This would be an excellent feature. I know the Nav does take topography into account in calculating if you can make the destination or not, but this is the first I hear about the REX being able to turn itself on early if needed and would be a huge welcomed feature. Can you provide any proof of this? Where did you get this information?

 

[i3me]

I think that this is a "wish", not an actual feature!

 

[MarkN]

Yes, this is a wish.

 

[TomMoloughney]

Yes, this is a wish.

Oh Ok. I guess I read the post too quickly. Yes, I'm sure it could be done, but that defeats the reason they took away the ability to manually turn it on in the first place which is CARB compliance.

 

[MarkN]

Yes, this is a wish.

Oh Ok. I guess I read the post too quickly. Yes, I'm sure it could be done, but that defeats the reason they took away the ability to manually turn it on in the first place which is CARB compliance.

Maybe the REx could be engaged early only when the car is outside California based on the GPS? I was very interested in the i3 with REx as it seemed capable of doing everything we currently use our Mazda 3i ( :mrgreen: ) for, 95% of the time using just electricity. But a few times a year we need to take both of our cars for trips into the mountains here in Colorado and I don't want to leave my wife (it would be her car) stuck crawling up hill because the battery is dead and the REx can't produce enough power.

 

[TomMoloughney]

Yes, this is a wish.

Oh Ok. I guess I read the post too quickly. Yes, I'm sure it could be done, but that defeats the reason they took away the ability to manually turn it on in the first place which is CARB compliance.

Maybe the REx could be engaged early only when the car is outside California based on the GPS? I was very interested in the i3 with REx as it seemed capable of doing everything we currently use our Mazda 3i ( :mrgreen: ) for, 95% of the time using just electricity. But a few times a year we need to take both of our cars for trips into the mountains here in Colorado and I don't want to leave my wife (it would be her car) stuck crawling up hill because the battery is dead and the REx can't produce enough power.

It's not a do-everything car Mark. There definitely will be limitations, how much I don't know yet. I suppose it would be useful to know how many miles and up how steep a grade will you need to drive. Also, while this may not be the most convenient solution, if you could find a place with a charger to stop for 45 mins to an hour for a bit to eat before you start the long climb up the mountains you would then have no difficulty.