After 6 months of REx, 95.8% of our journeys were electric

[psquare]

Out of the 7,492 miles on the clock, 7182 miles were electric, that means 310 miles were completed using the Range Extender.

About half of those 310 REx miles stem from an 860 mile (return) trip to Germany and a recent 230 mile (return) trip to London.

In a BEV, I might have driven "purer" miles, but I would have also driven about 1,000 lesser electric miles, as I had probably opted instead for the family long-range Diesel for the Germany & London trips.

Just to be clear: Everyone's mileage varies here (pun intended). But for us, in our situation, the REx was the better choice and I'm glad I spent the extra money on it.

 

[S3RDP]

psquare, your comments highlight how the flexibility of the REx works so well for UK owners. In essence it removes range anxiety and actually makes us feel more confident at maximising the electric only range albeit that is a little less than the BEV. The longer I have had my car and the more miles I have driven the more I am convinced the i3 is a milestone vehicle in the development of the motor car. I bought into i3 ownership, completely to my surprise, as a confirmed "petrolhead" but I continue to be amazed by the whole experience.

 

[janner]

psquare - I agree with you absolutely.

My ReX total miles 3526 of which 94% on electric. The 212 miles on petrol are down to two trips I make regularly where the CCS chargers are just a little too far apart but only just. With a couple more CCS chargers my petrol miles would be much lower however, for the moment, the ReX gives me the confidence to take the i3 anywhere in the UK and into much of Europe.

I read a lot about people carrying additional petrol cans and wondered whether to buy one but now I don't even bother to keep the 9-litre petrol tank topped up.

I've also stopped answering yes when asked whether it's a hybrid: for me it's an all-electric car with a small petrol generator for when a charger isn't available.

Thankfully I've not yet been asked to vacate a CCS charger by an i3 without a ReX. I wouldn't continue the journey on the ReX if a CCS charger were available so as I'm not sure I would move over (sorry if that offends some people).

 

[ted99]

I use my I3 for "inside the beltway" trips and the only time the Rex runs is when I deliberately let the charge go to zero on the way home, just to avoid the "maintenance" runs of the Rex. I wasn't sure I would be able to do a Level 2 EVSE at my condo and so I bought the Rex. If I had it to do again, I would not get the Rex.

 

[SSi3]

Nice summary psquare.

After roughly 4 months of ownership we are sitting at 88% electric use. If it wasn't for the availability of the REx we wouldn't have even considered the i3 as we did not want to have two cars, nor did we want to have a BEV for city use and then rent gas vehicles for longer trips. The REx takes away that rental hassle and we can enjoy mostly electric motoring without any range anxiety since Southern Ontario does not have a CCS network, and L2's are often not conveniently located or even working. Canada is not yet very EV friendly unfortunately, so it's fun being an early adopter! :lol:

 

[jadnashuanh]

Obviously, not everyone's needs are the same, so the decision to buy an i3 with the REx or not can take some thinking. Many opt for the REx for the peace of mind, but rarely, if ever, use it. Personally, if I'm going to drive further than my BEV can conveniently take me, I prefer to take my ICE, but it doesn't really get used all that much. Most of Europe is relatively compact compared to the USA, where the distances across one state may exceed the distance across one entire country, often by a big margin. There aren't many EVSE or CCS units in the middle of say the corn fields of Iowa! And, unfortunately, very few at the moment in the entire US northeastern states. So, even with a REx, long distance travel takes some planning, and may not be as flexible as an ICE.

 

[janner]

Jim

Europe is 10.18 million sq km with 742m people
USA is 9.86 million sq km with 319m people.

I would agree with you that the individual countries that comprise Europe are smaller than the whole USA but equally most of the States that make up the USA are smaller than Europe.

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

Very well put !

for my stats See signature block below. REX = FLEX

 

[psquare]

Obviously, not everyone's needs are the same, so the decision to buy an i3 with the REx or not can take some thinking. Many opt for the REx for the peace of mind, but rarely, if ever, use it. Personally, if I'm going to drive further than my BEV can conveniently take me, I prefer to take my ICE, but it doesn't really get used all that much. Most of Europe is relatively compact compared to the USA, where the distances across one state may exceed the distance across one entire country, often by a big margin. There aren't many EVSE or CCS units in the middle of say the corn fields of Iowa! And, unfortunately, very few at the moment in the entire US northeastern states. So, even with a REx, long distance travel takes some planning, and may not be as flexible as an ICE.

From what I've read about the CCS and charging situation in the US, I can understand that a BEV might be the better option in parts of the US, as long range travelling in a REx simply isn't feasible - unless you want to stop every 60-70 miles for a top-up. In addition, petrol (or "gas", as you call it over there) prices are much lower than here, although our prices are also at a 3-year-low, I'd imagine.

Despite all the complaining in the UK about reliability (for a taste, search Twitter #ukcharge), our CCS network here is well developed already. Although I wish we had more stations with 2 CCS chargers, as sometimes rapids can be taken up. Those will appear over time, I guess.

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

Although I'm no electrical engineer, I think the reason why you don't get more than one fast charge tower, (that can only do one fast and one medium charge simultaneously ) on existing sites is down to limitations of the local grid supply. I rather think you would brown out the motorway services with two DCFC's running together as most of the Ecotricity locations are run out of existing buildings services. In the future as EV's become more commonplace then there will need to be a revamp of the infrastructure to support them at the roadside.

 

[psquare]

Although I'm no electrical engineer, I think the reason why you don't get more than one fast charge tower, (that can only do one fast and one medium charge simultaneously ) on existing sites is down to limitations of the local grid supply. I rather think you would brown out the motorway services with two DCFC's running together as most of the Ecotricity locations are run out of existing buildings services. In the future as EV's become more commonplace then there will need to be a revamp of the infrastructure to support them at the roadside.

Hear what you're saying, but in many places there are 1 (older) Chademo unit and another dual one (Chademo and CCS). I think Ecotricity is planning to put more dual units in newer places.

But of course you're right, local power infrastructure is a problem, as pointed out in the recent Electraa interview with Joe Patel:
https://vimeo.com/134025731

P

 

[RJSATLBA]

I've also stopped answering yes when asked whether it's a hybrid: for me it's an all-electric car with a small petrol generator for when a charger isn't available.

Thankfully I've not yet been asked to vacate a CCS charger by an i3 without a ReX. I wouldn't continue the journey on the ReX if a CCS charger were available so as I'm not sure I would move over (sorry if that offends some people).

Likewise as regards the description of the car. I regard it as an electric car with a £3k insurance policy that I paid for so I don't get stranded when an en route charger is down. I have nothing whatsoever against those who have chosen the BEV but wouldn't be too sympathetic if one thought I should free a DC charger and continue on REx, unless of course he or she wished to contribute towards my insurance policy!

Incidentally after 14k miles I'm a little disappointed that I've only achieved 86% electric but the vast majority of my REx use has been due to unserviceable chargers, for example four during a 530 mile round trip 10 days ago, I didn't try to work out the exact REx mileage but only needed 4.89 litres to refill the tank.

 

[psquare]

Incidentally after 14k miles I'm a little disappointed that I've only achieved 86% electric but the vast majority of my REx use has been due to unserviceable chargers, for example four during a 530 mile round trip 10 days ago, I didn't try to work out the exact REx mileage but only needed 4.89 litres to refill the tank.

I actually think that in the long term we'll be sliding down the REx scale, getting closer to what you're doing. I still find myself trying to eke out the batteries and plan for say 2 stops rather than 1, or simply leave more time for additional charges. I think over time convenience and time factor will win on a few occasions, bringing REx usage to around 85%.