adric22 said:
ILETRIC said:
Honestly, I don't understand why smart company like BMW would go through all the hoops to produce a world-class automobile with a Leaf range.
With an 80-mile range (based on its battery size) I would not consider it even if it was gilded in gold.
I would agree if not for the available range extender. Small though it may be, it makes the car infinitely more useful than a Leaf, hence the reason I'm considering an i3 for my Leaf replacement come June...
As much as I love my Leaf, I have decided I don't want another BEV unless the range is at least 100+ real world miles. Really it would probably have to be closer to 125 for me to seriously consider. In the meantime, a PHEV of some kind makes more sense for me.
Interesting to note that as more of the details of the i3 "city car" emerge, I (unlike others) have been losing interest in the ICE RE option, and am more intrigued by the BEV version, for my own rural/mountain driving use, with only the very infrequent need to drive over 100 miles a day.
This is primarily because, IMO, BMW (as directed by CARB) has botched the RE option (wrong fuel, wrong operating cycle) but has actually designed what looks to be a very good BEV.
...A functional range extender would consist of:
A small displacement (200-600 CC) ICE generator, run at highest-efficiency rpm, to recharge the battery pack. Generator output would not be sufficient to drive the vehicle, just enough to extend the battery pack range to the next convenient recharge location.
It would not run on gasoline, but a less polluting, and more stable fuel, such as propane (easier refueling) or CNG (lower cost). 5 gallons of Propane, for example, would probably offer about 200 miles of range extension for a LEAF-sized BEV.
The fuel would also be available to a combustion cabin heater, the one use for which battery energy storage is particularly inefficient...
The “range–extended” EV (BEVx) considered
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6847" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
But the BEV i3 could offer significant advantages for me over my 2011 LEAF.
I do get ~"real-world 100 mile"
Summer range from my LEAF in both slow-speed mountain (~6,000 ft. of ascent and descent) driving:
...The results from the third test on 8/04/13, ~20,200 miles on odometer, were:
100.3 miles to VLB, 101.9 miles in total, by the odometer, ~193 minutes drive time...
Use CW report from range test to determine battery capacity
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=9064&start=30" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
And I also can get ~100 miles range, by choosing a slow-speed route, on the ~200 mile trip to the nearest DC chargers, at which point range per charge becomes largely a non-issue, for me.
...About my only disappointment from the trip was that heading into a stiff breeze all the way South, I might not have made my hoped-for ~106 miles from Orland to the Vacaville DC without the brief L2 stop I made at Winters (at ~90.6 miles, and ~7.1 miles past the first LBW, from my "100%" charge at Orland)...
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=3319&start=20About" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I would expect the much lighter weight of the i3 and smaller profile could produce significant range improvements over a LEAF at slower speeds and in trips with large ascents and descents, which pretty much describes all my long-range driving.
And though it is retrograde engineering IMO, the ATM on the i3 will surely result in a lesser loss of range in Winter for the i3 than I experience with my LEAF.
I "had to" drive an ICEV (for the first time in a year) on a Bay Area trip last week.
I hated the experience even before I managed to kill the battery and run out of gas on the same day...
If I'd had an i3, the improved (?) range (as well as heat pump and faster charging I could also get in a 2013 or newer LEAF) might have allowed me to avoid the ICEV.
And once there are DCs (assuming they are SAE capable, or I could get a CHAdeMO adapter for my i3) on this or most other trips up 150-250 miles, I probably wouldn't want an ICEV or a i3 BEVx (with its inherent BEV efficiency limitations) anyway.