Official BMW i3 thread

[Beleaf]

Can you imagine stopping at a gas station and putting in 1.5 gallons? I'd feel like a total tool doing that.

If you felt like a tool doing that, you'd probably feel the same with the EU tank. The difference between the two is less than 2 litres.

I think the message is: This is not a Prius. You can buy a Prius at a Toyota dealer if you want one.

 

[TomT]

I think the bigger message is that Rex is simply a silly idea...

I think the message is: This is not a Prius. You can buy a Prius at a Toyota dealer if you want one.

 

[Berlino]

Interesting marketing strategy by the ONLY i3 dealer in all of Quebec.

i-dealers are supposed to have dedicated floor space for i-vehicles. Well, this one put their i3 "on display" in a distant corner, closer to the service department than anything else. Someone who went to the dealer only for the i3 had a hard time finding it.

When they did finally locate the vehicle, they found it locked up tight. It took 30 minutes for someone to find the keys so they could even sit down in the car.

An organization offered test drives of EVs over two days last week at the Gilles-Villeneuve race track in Montreal. Most of the cars were supplied by private owners, but help was needed for ones that don't yet exist in private hands in Quebec. For example, a Cadillac dealer offered two ELRs. BMW did supply an i3 for the first day, reserved for the media. However, unlike Cadillac, they didn't show up for the day reserved for the public. They also couldn't be bothered to have the i3 stay around an extra two hours the first day to participate in the World Record of 438 EVs in parade (the ELRs were there.)

Evidently, they've only been allocated 40 i3s for the entire model year, and they're all reserved, so they're not motivated to promote EVs.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

^ Can you blame them for not allocating prime showroom space to something they can't make any money on? (or at least any *more* money)

 

[DaveEV]

2014 BMW i3: What Staff Training Ride & Drives Revealed

Nissan, this is what a REAL battery warranty looks like:

* The lithium-ion battery pack is warranted at eight years/100,000 miles in most states, 10 years/150,000 miles in states with California emissions laws
* BMW also warrants the battery against loss of more than 30 percent of its energy capacity over the warranty period

10 year, 150k warranty on capacity? If the i3 had say 130 miles range instead of just just being LEAF-like, you could be confident in the car having a reasonable amount of range for a full decade.

 

[GRA]

2014 BMW i3: What Staff Training Ride & Drives Revealed

Nissan, this is what a REAL battery warranty looks like:

* The lithium-ion battery pack is warranted at eight years/100,000 miles in most states, 10 years/150,000 miles in states with California emissions laws
* BMW also warrants the battery against loss of more than 30 percent of its energy capacity over the warranty period

10 year, 150k warranty on capacity? If the i3 had say 130 miles range instead of just just being LEAF-like, you could be confident in the car having a reasonable amount of range for a full decade.

Agreed. Assuming there aren't a lot of asterisks and qualifications on the warranty, that is, and we won't know that until someone has one. For instance, is it like the LEAF warranty, i.e. only restoring it to at least 70%?

In any case, the warranty does somewhat boost the value of the i3, where virtually every other announcement regarding the car has reduced it.

 

[KJD]

Is the BMW i3 in CA dealer showrooms now ?

 

[Boomer23]

Is the BMW i3 in CA dealer showrooms now ?

Only during certain scheduled traveling drive event dates, and these are pre-production, Euro spec cars. Also note, some of the drive event cars have sun roofs, but that option will not be available in the US, at least at first.

 

[KJD]

Is the BMW i3 in CA dealer showrooms now ?

Only during certain scheduled traveling drive event dates, and these are pre-production, Euro spec cars. Also note, some of the drive event cars have sun roofs, but that option will not be available in the US, at least at first.

Dang, I was hoping that they would have sold a whole bunch of i3's this month. Sounds like they are still a ways off though.

 

[Boomer23]

Is the BMW i3 in CA dealer showrooms now ?

Only during certain scheduled traveling drive event dates, and these are pre-production, Euro spec cars. Also note, some of the drive event cars have sun roofs, but that option will not be available in the US, at least at first.

Dang, I was hoping that they would have sold a whole bunch of i3's this month. Sounds like they are still a ways off though.

Deliveries of the very first ones in the US will be in May. Most of these will be to the "Electronauts" who drove BMW's public test EV fleet of cars over the past two years.

Europeans have been taking delivery since last November.

 

[GRA]

So, insideevs.com reports:

http://insideevs.com/breaking-bmw-i3-rex-gets-green-hov-sticker/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

IOW, as rumored it's classified as a TZEV, same as the Volt, and doesn't qualify as a BEVx. Furthermore the article says that CARB is reporting all but 641 green stickers given out as of today (they've been handed out at a rate of about 42/day since April 7th), so they should be gone by the middle of next month at the latest. What a complete waste of effort.

 

[TomT]

And needlessly crippled by the small gas tank. I don't care what BMW says now, they clearly were planning on the white sticker with the Rex! Now, without it, it is next to useless and WAY over priced! I doubt they'll sell many Rex in CA...

What a complete waste of effort.

 

[GRA]

What a complete waste of effort.

And needlessly crippled by the small gas tank. I don't care what BMW says now, they clearly were planning on the white sticker with the Rex! Now, without it, it is next to useless and WAY over priced! I doubt they'll sell many Rex in CA...

Today, this:

"Green HOV Stickers Now Exhausted In California"

http://insideevs.com/green-hov-stickers-now-exhausted-california/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I _thought_ the numbers looked too low.

 

[redLEAF]

Of all things saw a new TV ad on the i3 tonight, playing here in the local Chicago market when we won't see any for ... how long now? we're not even among the launch states to get this

Ad involved a Dad explaining to his teenage son how quiet EV's are so the son sneaks out and takes the car out on a joy ride with his girl friend, at least it's entertaing, not sure if it's on You Tube yet

EDIT: found it ..


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoqdT6BY96c[/youtube]

 

[GRA]

Of all things saw a new TV ad on the i3 tonight, playing here in the local Chicago market when we won't see any for ... how long now? we're not even among the launch states to get this

Ad involved a Dad explaining to his teenage son how quiet EV's are so the son sneaks out and takes the car out on a joy ride with his girl friend, at least it's entertaing, not sure if it's on You Tube yet

Just caught the tail end of what was probably the same ad here, last night.

 

[GRA]

It's what we expected, but now we know. From insideevs.com:

"BREAKING: BMW i3 BEV Gets Official EPA Rating – Range 81 Miles, 124 MPGe Combined"

http://insideevs.com/bmw-i3-bev-official-epa-rating-range-81-mpge-124/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Golly, I'm so excited about that highest in the U.S. MPGe rating, I really don't care about the range.:roll:

 

[TomT]

Yep! The MB is looking better and better.

Golly, I'm so excited about that highest in the U.S. MPGe rating, I really don't care about the range.:roll:

 

[Valdemar]

Yep! The MB is looking better and better.

Golly, I'm so excited about that highest in the U.S. MPGe rating, I really don't care about the range.:roll:

Heck, I probably can still do 81 in my Leaf on a good day with some tailwind

 

[DaveEV]

Heck, I probably can still do 81 in my Leaf on a good day with some tailwind

Hah, 58.9 miles yesterday at 4.3 mi/kWh down to 34 GIDs. Assuming (big assumption?) turtle comes on at 8 GIDs and maintain 4.3 mi/kWh, that's another 8.7 miles for 67.6 miles to turtle. Yep, going to need a good tailwind.

 

[Valdemar]

Heck, I probably can still do 81 in my Leaf on a good day with some tailwind

Hah, 58.9 miles yesterday at 4.3 mi/kWh down to 34 GIDs. Assuming (big assumption?) turtle comes on at 8 GIDs and maintain 4.3 mi/kWh, that's another 8.7 miles for 67.6 miles to turtle. Yep, going to need a good tailwind.

I don't have a GID meter, but after a 60 mile round-trip to work at 4.3mi/kWh I usually have about 5 miles left on the GOM, 10 miles should be doable from that state. With more conservative driving at 4.7 mi/kWh from full charge 80 miles is not that unreasonable but I'm not going to make bets on it nor plan on it