2016 REX Owner

[Shakil Haider]

Hello, Just got used REX, 2016, I think i got "tricked" by dealer advertising 70 miles on electric. My electric range only shows 50 miles at full charge and 60 with gas? Any suggestions on why this maybe or i just got one w/ a bad battery?

 

[Dutchi3]

Maybe you -as a new owner- enjoyed to floor the pedal because it's fun? Spirited driving does take a hit on range and as the range is adjusted to your driving habit, it may show a lower range after charging.

 

[alohart]

Hello, Just got used REX, 2016, I think i got "tricked" by dealer advertising 70 miles on electric. My electric range only shows 50 miles at full charge and 60 with gas? Any suggestions on why this maybe or i just got one w/ a bad battery?

The E.P.A. range estimate, combination of highway and city, was 72 miles, so maybe that's what the dealer was quoting. If you change the driving mode from Comfort to Eco Pro to Eco Pro+, you'll see the range estimate increase. As Dutchi3 wrote, the range estimate is dynamic using the last 30 km or so of driving to extrapolate to your future driving. The range estimate will change if you enter a destination into the navigation system because the road speeds, hills, etc., would then be included in the estimate. So it's difficult to draw any conclusions from a single range estimate.

All lithium ion battery cells lose capacity over time and charge-discharge cycles, so the usable capacity of your 8 year old battery pack is less than it was when new. A battery pack with a reduced capacity isn't "bad", just degraded a bit. This degradation is usually a very slow process after an initial faster decrease, so you probably won't experience much degradation in the near future.

Your judgment should be determined by whether your i3 does what you need it to do, hopefully mostly using energy stored in your battery pack, but augmented by energy produced by the REx system when needed.

 

[ME2SC]

Welcome to the world of used i3 ownership ... I'm new here myself! (June 8)

For the sake of comparison: The 2014 i3 BEV had an advertised range of 81 miles with 100% battery condition. I am quite certain that this was accomplished in "ideal condition" testing (flat road, moderate temperature, limited accessory usage, correct tire inflation, no head wind, blah, blah, blah.) That's reasonably good for the small battery pack, in my opinion--though I wish BMW had launched with the 94Ah pack instead! There's something about triple-digit range that just ticks a box in my head ...

Anywho, I was lucky to find a LOW mile, one-owner, trade-in car locally that had been extremely well cared for, charged properly, recalls performed timely, etc. That said, my daily commute is approximately 20 miles over quite hilly terrain at a maximum speed of 45mph. In Eco+ mode, I am able to get just over 70 miles per charge ... though I am assuming the final dozen or so miles are legit as I've kept the charging above 10%.

70ish from 80ish is approximately 12% battery degradation over a 10-year time span. If that trend holds out for the next 10 years that I own it, it should still be capable of over 60 miles on a charge, which will still be viable for my use around the city where I live.

I will close by adding that how one drives has a HUGE impact on range, so getting as much regen as possible through one-foot driving is the way.

Prost!

 

[jfran2]

My 2016 Rex with 80,500 miles on it typically shows a range of 55-63 miles with a full charge on a warm day. That drops to closer to 50 in the winter here in Missouri. The beauty of the Rex, assuming you code it to Hold State of Charge, is that you can turn it on manually below 75% power if you're taking a highway trip somewhere to save that battery power for the car's best use - driving around town!

John Francis
Rolla, MO

 

[fauxparisian]

Another thing is if you’re blasting the AC, the range shown will adjust accordingly. I got my i3 two days ago and panicked a bit when I saw 52mi range at 75% charge. I was doing max AC at the lowest temp and once I adjusted that the range went back to something more expected.

You can also check battery capacity apparently:

 

[alohart]

For the sake of comparison: The 2014 i3 BEV had an advertised range of 81 miles with 100% battery condition. I am quite certain that this was accomplished in "ideal condition" testing (flat road, moderate temperature, limited accessory usage, correct tire inflation, no head wind, blah, blah, blah.)

We bought a 2014 BEV new because I told our BMW dealer that we would buy it if it could circumnavigate Oʻahu, ~100 miles, without stopping to charge en route (5.5 miles/kWh). Not only were we able to drive 100 miles without charging, but we had 5 miles of estimated range remaining! This was without A/C with 2 occupants driving 5 mph over the fairly low speed limits. The route includes a 1,000 ft ascent and descent. Our range estimates were ~105 miles when our i3 was new but had decreased to ~85 miles when we sold it 7+ years later. The mi3 app reported a 75% state of health, or a 25% loss of usable battery pack capacity despite having been driven less than 13k miles.

So the original range of a 60 Ah i3 was decent for a 18.8 kWh usable battery pack under ideal conditions. Unfortunately, many 60 Ah battery packs degraded more rapidly than expected.

 

[Dutchi3]

For what it's worth, my 10 years+ i3 still shows a range of 70 miles after having driven 70.000 miles. I always charged to 100%, but I seldom let it stand still for more than a few days. I do fast charge, on average once a week or so, but to 80%. A lot of miles where also highway miles at 65 miles an hour on average, and sometimes up to 80+ miles an hour when SoC allows. I do not drive like a snail but nevertheless gentle and anticipated, sometimes spirited when I feel up to it, at least I do not want to be an obstacle in traffic. I am cautious about using full regen however, I compare full regen with fast charging the battery and by coasting you save on regen and it is more efficient -hence less fast charging. In other words: I try to time well and use the minimal amount of regen required for the situation as I think it helps to delay the degradation.

 

[mdbmwi3]

Hello, Just got used REX, 2016, I think i got "tricked" by dealer advertising 70 miles on electric. My electric range only shows 50 miles at full charge and 60 with gas? Any suggestions on why this maybe or i just got one w/ a bad battery?

hi shakil, i had the exact same experience with 2016 Rex I bought recently with 40K miles on it. i assumed that the range will stay like that since its a used and old i3. but after a few cycles of the charge, it went up from 60 gradually to 83 (on a warm day). i believe the same thing might happen to your rex. i believe this is due to the car would have been sitting idle for months before you purchased it. i am very happy with my rex and its range. on a cold day it says 60 miles and warm days it shows 83. medium days definitely 70+.

best wishes