BMW i3 will live on with a new battery upgrade

[Deutsch100]

https://insideevs.com/news/377435/bmw-i3-production-will-continue/

Good News

 

[derekgates]

I am very excited for this! The i3 is not a perfect car by any means but the things it gets right... it gets RIGHT. I have trouble imagining a different car.

HOWEVER, the range anxiety is real for my ~110 mi daily trip. Having more range would be incredible. I like my 2018 but long for the 2019 range. Having another 20% on top of that would be icing on the cake.


I also hope for BMW to add radar to the ACC system; it would be a massive upgrade.

 

[Deutsch100]

ACC does not have radar? My 2019 i3 with ACC accelerates and brakes, just like my G63 with radar cruise control did.

2019 battery range is quite good. When fully charged it is usually around 153 miles (but of course temp can affect actual range).

 

[eNate]

ACC does not have radar? My 2019 i3 with ACC accelerates and brakes, just like my G63 with radar cruise control did.

Nope, only the single camera. No idea how it does it as well as it does, but I'd bet with radar it could smooth out the deceleration and maybe close the gap.

Watch out for white box trucks (because it doesn't!).

 

[Deutsch100]

OMG eNate. I have only used it 2x, and while it works fairly well, the "Distronic" on my G63 was much better.

I find the ACC on my '19 i3 does leave too far of a gap (even when setting the least distance) and sometimes it does not brake soon enough and not accelerate/recover as quickly as my Mercedes did.

 

[eNate]

To me to make ACC useable is a matter of learning to manage it, but that goes for my Flex and my wife's S60 as well.

Being ready to goose the throttle to maintain a gap when somebody pulls in front doesn't really upset the i3's ACC operation.

But it's too bad the i3has no radar. The biggest flaw I find is the other cars with ACC need to manage speed by braking, which is always unnecessarily abrupt, mis-modulated, and traffic-interrupting. An EV's regen is the perfect antidote to this shortcoming.

 

[jadnashuanh]

FWIW, it's a good idea to maintain a 2-second gap to the car ahead. That's larger than most people use, and is an invitation for some jerks to cut into that space, but it does give you a lot more safety. 0.25-seconds is about as fast as most people can recognize a problem, and that's if they are paying very close attention. So, a larger gap can mean a much less abrupt adjustment, should a problem show up. This not only improves safety, it saves energy as it can use regen rather than brakes and, it's much smoother.

The camera is less effective if it was not tracking the vehicle ahead that might have been stopped at a light you are approaching...the detection process and judgement that you're getting close means it can decelerate more abruptly than a radar system would likely do. It also has issues in some high contrast situations where there are either deep shadows on a bright day or with low sun angles...the camera can't distinguish objects well, and will disconnect. You can revert the system to a 'normal' cruise control, but it will reset with the next power cycle to ACC.

I'm pretty sure that using a radar would require more power than the camera which is probably why they chose that path.

 

[frictioncircle]

The i3's ACC vision technology is Mobileye circa 2013, so it's quite old at this point.

As you use it, you'll find its shortcomings.

If I rapidly (yet still safely) approach a white vehicle, the i3 will sound an alert.

Regarding ACC, I agree with the prior comments and would like to share that ACC isn't aware of flatbed semis.

I was following one with ACC engaged at the minimum distance and my i3 was accelerating as if the flatbed didn't exist.

Had I not switched it off, it would have driven right into the back of the flatbed. (Flatbed = a tractor cab pulling a trailer with no walls or roof, commonly used to deliver plywood or drywall).

I've read some websites stating that the i3 doesn't recognize the taillamp designs of certain Dodge vehicles.

Use it as an assistive technology. Relying on it completely is imprudent.

 

[Deutsch100]

I do agree with all of you. While I think the ACC is quite good in most situations, it is nowhere near as good as in our Mercedes or our Rolls or Bentley! But, I guess ACC in a car (i3) that is relatively inexpensive is better than many cars in the price point have (if even offered).

I have only used ACC a few times, but have grown to just not use it now.

 

[eNate]

Lol! For what it's what, radar based ACC is close to a commodity item these days. I believe Toyota is putting it on all Corollas. The Kia eNiro includes it standard. Hyundai Kona EV, too.

 

[alohart]

I have only used ACC a few times, but have grown to just not use it now.

I turn ACC on each time I drive which is mostly in suburban and urban driving. I consider ACC to be an additional eye on the road that helps me drive and that might help me avoid an accident. With ACC on, if I want to accelerate faster than ACC is accelerating, I press the power pedal briefly which doesn't shut off ACC.

If I want to begin decelerating earlier than ACC would, I press the ACC on/off button on the steering wheel which merely pauses ACC; a second press would turn it off. By pressing the power pedal slightly before pressing the ACC on/off button, I avoid full deceleration when I pause ACC. When I want ACC to take over again, I press the Resume button on the steering wheel.

I also keep my foot near the power pedal in case ACC shuts off unexpectedly so that I can avoid full deceleration.

I've been doing this for 5 years, so it's second nature at this point. I would really miss the i3's imperfect ACC if our next car didn't have it.

 

[Zpmada]

That is great. I just had 24hours with a 2019 while my 2015 was getting an oil change and the 42kw battery pack is amazing as far as range goes. Feels slower than my 2015 though, as it is heavier.