2014 i3 getting only ~40 miles on full charge

[Srivenkat]

I would be grateful for any updates from the OP on this. I am considering a 2014 BEV.

 

[jlangham]

I have a 2014 BEV. I'm in the Phoenix area. My commute is 40 miles roundtrip. My Batt. Kappa has been lower than the OP. I have posted my battery concerns on this forum. Took the car to BMW where they said my battery is 92%.

At first I was driving conservative, ECO Pro + and ECO Pro. Tried to keep it 65-70 in the slow lane. After my roundtrip, I would have approx. 25-30 % battery left. Now mind you, this was Oct. to Jan.-Feb. in Phoenix. Temps from 35-60 F.

So, I said screw it. Started driving in Comfort mode 100% of the time. Still drove "pretty conservative" but upped my speeds to 70-75. Enjoying the acceleration when I need it. Now that temps are rising, I still come home with approx 30% battery left.

All of this to say, I believe that my initial "range anxiety" was unfounded. The car seems to be doing well. There are many times I'll get in to go in the mornings after charging ( I do 110v charging every night) that my Guess O Meter says 72-74 miles!

I Love the car for what it is, a commuter car. BMW gave me free Chargepoint charging for the first year and there are plenty around Phoenix.

I don't regret buying this cool, unique car! Now my company has put in 110v charging outlets and I'm able to "top off" at work. Even better!

 

[n1o2c3a4c5h6e7t]

We've driven 7K miles in Texas on our 2014 BMW i3 BEV, and we get approximately 80 miles/charge with 4.2 kWh/mi. Most driving is in the city with occasional highways. The worst we've experienced was about 50-mile range when the temperature dropped to the 30s. Once we refilled the tire pressure, the range went up to about 65 miles.

We have a level-2 charger at home, and use a level-3 charger perhaps 2-3 times per year. Once the level-3 infrastructure improves, I'd even be willing to road trip this car, provided that chargers were spaced between 40-50 miles apart.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Once the level-3 infrastructure improves, I'd even be willing to road trip this car, provided that chargers were spaced between 40-50 miles apart.

So, about once an hour, you'd be stopping for about 30-minutes to gain back about 80% of your battery charge...not very efficient use of your time. Say while moving on the highway, you could go 60mph, in three hours, you'd have traveled 120-miles, or about an average of 40mph...not very good. Throw in a REx, and you'd still need to stop about that often to refill the tank after you turned the REx on (or the computer did).

IMHO, the i3 is a great car for running around, but not all that great for a long trip.

FWIW, level 3 is not a recognized charging regimen for EVs, although some people (incorrectly) refer to CCS charging as level 3...the industry does not.

 

[n1o2c3a4c5h6e7t]

Once the level-3 infrastructure improves, I'd even be willing to road trip this car, provided that chargers were spaced between 40-50 miles apart.

So, about once an hour, you'd be stopping for about 30-minutes to gain back about 80% of your battery charge...not very efficient use of your time. Say while moving on the highway, you could go 60mph, in three hours, you'd have traveled 120-miles, or about an average of 40mph...not very good. Throw in a REx, and you'd still need to stop about that often to refill the tank after you turned the REx on (or the computer did).

IMHO, the i3 is a great car for running around, but not all that great for a long trip.

FWIW, level 3 is not a recognized charging regimen for EVs, although some people (incorrectly) refer to CCS charging as level 3...the industry does not.

Depends how far you're going. For a 160-mile road trip (relevant to my purposes), I can go 60 miles on the first segment in comfort, followed by a 12-minute charge to maximize charging speed up to 65% (50 miles). (The first-generation i3 accepts a 45 kW charging rate until ~65%, dropping off steadily from there.) Then, I could drive 40 miles in comfort, followed by another 12-minute charge. Repeat that one more time. Altogether, there would be three stops, adding ~36 minutes of charging time.

Is this the most convenient option? Probably not. But it's not all that bad, and it works for the 4-5 times a year I make a trip that long. And it looks like fun to a nerd like me.

 

[i01guy]

Please see the post below if you are having range issues (or not) and take the associated survey.

Thanks!

https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16247

 

[sipabit]

Warning is that even if you're below 70% capacity, claiming it only brings it to 70%. It's not like they bring it back to 100%.