I think I hate my i3 Rex...

[i3regret]

Hi,

Maybe I just need a pep talk, but I just drove off the lot today with my new 2014 i3 REX. And I hate it. And news seems to be just getting worse and worse.

I drove it 20 miles home from the dealership, and the car had a 90% charge. 20 miles later, it was down to 20%, and the meter said I had 30 miles left. I drove, in 85 degree weather, with AC off, in Eco + mode, in bumper to bumper traffic. So I'm freaked out about it's charge capacity.

Also, I thought that the despite the REX it would still qualify for the white decals in CA. The ones that give you free parking, and access to the HOV lanes. Well, when I went to register for that, I found out because of the REX, it's considered a plug-in hybrid. So it only qualifies for the green decals, which only 15000 are issued this year. Something no one shared with me during the entire buying process.

The car doesn't handle amazingly. I knew this from the test-drives. I was ok with that, assuming I was getting great range, and HOV/free parking.

So I have a 53000 dollar BMW that handles like a lincoln, is a pain in the ass to keep charged, and get none of the government HOV/parking benefits.

What am I missing. Why is this car loved? Of course, even though it's only been 12 hours, the car is registered, and the dealership ain't taking it back.

seriously depressed.

-m

 

[RJSATLBA]

As the ad says in the UK, 'Should've gone to Specsavers'

 

[janner]

It means you've done something stupid because you haven't thought about it.

Your post is confusing though. You say you have 20% charge but 30miles range. In the first fews days, while you get used to driving the car (it needs a different driving style than an ICE car when it comes to using the right pedal) range will almost certainly show less than you will have shown once you get the hang of it. However 30 miles is more like 50% charge. Added to which you will have virtually unlimited (within reason) ReX range providing there's a petrol station nearby.

The other issues about parking permits you should really have investigated properly - it's not the car's fault.

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

I can't comment on the eligibility of the Rex for HOV lanes and free parking, although I get the impression that even your DMV gets confused as to the status of the Rex which is CARB compliant - no doubt a soCal owner will be along in a while to give you the correct story.

The Range Guessometer is notoriously fickle and driven by lots of software parameters that BMW are still tinkering with, don't worry too much as you should be getting the advised range from a full charge under everyday driving conditions. so around 70 miles should be possible for yourself. The Rex will carry you another 70 miles or so.

I have never driven a Lincoln, but when traffic permits this thing is really fun to drive, it sound like your nose to tail commuter traffic has put a bit of a downer on you first experience. Did you take or were you offered an extended test drive? My own dealer loaned me a Rex and a BEV for two days a piece before I took the plunge. A sophisticated vehicle like this really shouldn't be an impuse purchase as it has to fit your individual needs. Although the forum has at least member that bought without trying first.

Give it a bit more time, the majority on here are passionate about their i3, the only major gripe seems to be with the adverse effect on range from cold ambient temps. Which if your at 85F in March won't be your worry.

 

[Bunter]

I drove it 20 miles home from the dealership, and the car had a 90% charge. 20 miles later, it was down to 20%, and the meter said I had 30 miles left. I drove, in 85 degree weather, with AC off, in Eco + mode, in bumper to bumper traffic. So I'm freaked out about it's charge capacity.

-m

In 85 F weather, in Eco Pro + mode in bumper to bumper traffic you got 20 miles from 70 % of your car's charge? Or did you mean down BY 20 %. If it's the former, something is seriously wrong somewhere. Under the conditions you describe on a brand new i3 I would expect 20 miles to use roughly 20-25 % of the car's charge. I once got 25 miles from a segment (25 % of the battery) in those sorts of conditions.

Bill

 

[websterize]

wtf does that even mean? jesus christ... f*ck you.

Call the BMW Genius Team (Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. EDT: 1.844.443.6487. They're professionals trained to lightly cup your balls.

 

[i3an]

Here's your pep talk:
Dude, chill, it's Sunday, enjoy, go for a drive along the coast, find a level-2 and enjoy the scenery and a long cold one (just one) whilst she's recharging, then toodle on home. Then compare today's stats with yesterday's and you should be reassured.
Now, yes, the REX "only" gets a green sticker, but they are still available and (as far as I know) have equal freeway privileges to the white ones. As for free parking, that's news to me; I haven't applied for a white sticker for my BEV as I don't really need the diamond lanes, but free parking — that's something that would get my mojo running, if true.
As for handling like a Lincoln, I'll call you on that: take any stretch of Mulholland and even the Stig in an unreasonably priced Lincoln couldn't keep up with an i3, even with you at the wheel.
Oh, and lay off the insults, the Brits on this forum are way better at it, they can smack you without you realizing it.
Now take that fob and hit the road.
End of pep talk.

 

[Blue20]

Your trip is one way from dealer to home. What is the terrain like? any elevation change? Most of the figures that you see are based on flat road. Hilly terrain uses more battery. give it a few more trips to get a better sense on the range.

 

[busaman]

something must be seriously wrong there ive driven mine really hard on twisty roads( and i mean to the point of almost putting it in a field) and still can get 40 miles out of a charge(obviously not at 95mph open road).

 

[i3regret]

First, to everyone who gave real advice and were truly helpful. Thank you. This was a huge expense for me, and a big plunge going into the EV world. I had a major fear, which was I was buying (or leasing in this case) a 50k headache.

But to answer some of the questions. I did a ton of research. Weeks worth. I read consumer reports, blogs, reviews, technical reviews. I work in advertising, and we have in house motor-heads whose jobs it is to know everything about every car, and I mean everything down to the metal composite of the wing-nuts, and I gave one of those guys a $100 bucks to spend the weekend with me looking at cars, and taking me through the different ins-and-outs of each EV. So I did my homework more than on any other car then I've ever bought.

Drive home. Car when I picked it up had 90% charge. They were located in downtown los angeles. Drove home in bumper to bumper weather. Just under 20 miles. Car had 25% charge left and the meter said I had another 35 miles left before the battery would be dead. I drove to Whole Foods (not because I love whole food btw, but because they had a free charger). I charged the car for 20 minutes, did some shoping etc, came back out. Car was up to 41 miles. I drove to a local sports to watch the fights (less then a mile), drove back to my house (less than a half mile), when I put the car away it said 31 miles left and I was digging into the last bar. I used the cruise control feature (where the car speeds up and brakes on it's own) for the drive from Dealer to house, kept the car in eco+ because it was bumper to bumper the entire way home. And while driving between store/bar etc. kept the car in eco+ because I was freaking out about how the charge was melting away.

far as driving like a lincoln... maybe that was a touch of over statement. But the constant drag on the car (recouping energy right?), plus the slower acceleration between 40-60 etc. The car doesn't drive like 328. I know I know. That's a f*cked comparison. And if I wanted a car to perform like that I shouldn't have bought an EV or at least just got a telsa. BUT I feel like there's a compromise on performance. And I was down with it, my general driving habits are closer to an old man then a 16 year old kid, but the compromise without any procevied benefits. That's a bit of kick in the stomach.

EV Decals. To those that asked. In SoCal, green and white decals get free parking. When I researched, I didn't realize green decals were in limited number. I was told at the Dealership, that it qualified for HOV decals. Problem is they only released 15k this year, and you are competing with every new hybrid on the road, and anyone else who didn't get one in 2013/14 or before.

I didn't come hear to blame. I'm not blaming BMW. I'm not blaming my sales guy. Or the friend I hired to help me. I just dropped a shit ton of money on this thing. And my first real day in it, SUCKED. Just sucked so god damn hard. It's a horrible feeling to spend all this time energy. You get super excited to get your new car. You stretch your budget to get the one really want, and then when you get home have a pit in your stomach and feel like you made a huge mistake.

I wish someone would have mentioned the take home test-drives. I would LOVED to have done that. I brought it once and I was told they didn't do it. But apparently, I was completely wrong about that. After a quick google I have found many references to people doing that.

thanks for the advice. sorry it if feels like I just came in here to whine. I used this forum as a resource before I bought the car. Reviews, and passion was so high, it truly figured into my decision making progress. So I was hoping you guys might shed light on what I'm missing.

thanks...

-micky

 

[i3regret]

Now, yes, the REX "only" gets a green sticker, but they are still available and (as far as I know) have equal freeway privileges to the white ones. As for free parking, that's news to me; I haven't applied for a white sticker for my BEV as I don't really need the diamond lanes, but free parking — that's something that would get my mojo running, if true.

in santa monica and parts of LA, you get free metered parking. still have to obey the limits (2 hrs etc). Green and white decals permit. $8 dollars for the decal fee, seems worth it.

 

[i3regret]

In 85 F weather, in Eco Pro + mode in bumper to bumper traffic you got 20 miles from 70 % of your car's charge? Or did you mean down BY 20 %. If it's the former, something is seriously wrong somewhere. Under the conditions you describe on a brand new i3 I would expect 20 miles to use roughly 20-25 % of the car's charge. I once got 25 miles from a segment (25 % of the battery) in those sorts of conditions.

Bill

former. Drove dealership to home. 20 miles. Went from 90/95% charge, to 25%. Meter said I had somewhere in the 30s left when I got. Drove in eco+ the whole way. recharged for 20 minutes at whole foods. that added about 5 miles to the meter. drove to the bar (1 mile), drove home (half mile), parked the car last night with 31 miles left on the charger. When I picked up the car from dealer it had 31 miles on it. When I went to bed it said 51, and had about 22/23% charge. That doesn't feel great to me.

 

[janner]

But the constant drag on the car (recouping energy right?),

This is an interesting comment. Driving the i3 to get best performance and range is all about one-pedal driving. If you lift off the right pedal, as you would an ICE car, then the regeneration cuts in firmly: don't lift off so quickly, you'll still slow down just not so rapidly - you should be able to drive an i3 almost entirely on the right pedal alone and that way you get best range (and it feels really strange when you get back in an ICE car).

 

[BrianStanier]

I'm an old man and although I don't drive like a 17 year old I don't dawdle. Here, with temperatures around 10C and heating on, I get around 70 miles from a charge. In summer it will be back to around 85. Performance in Eco Pro is fine for me. No need to go to Eco Pro +.

If your figures are correct there is something wrong either with the car or the range meter or the battery SOC measurement. Try a few full charges and discharges cycles to exercise the battery and the battery measurement electronics and then see what you get. I there's no improvement back to dealer.

 

[wraithnot]

Hi,

Maybe I just need a pep talk, but I just drove off the lot today with my new 2014 i3 REX. And I hate it. And news seems to be just getting worse and worse.

I drove it 20 miles home from the dealership, and the car had a 90% charge. 20 miles later, it was down to 20%, and the meter said I had 30 miles left. I drove, in 85 degree weather, with AC off, in Eco + mode, in bumper to bumper traffic. So I'm freaked out about it's charge capacity.

Also, I thought that the despite the REX it would still qualify for the white decals in CA. The ones that give you free parking, and access to the HOV lanes. Well, when I went to register for that, I found out because of the REX, it's considered a plug-in hybrid. So it only qualifies for the green decals, which only 15000 are issued this year. Something no one shared with me during the entire buying process.

The car doesn't handle amazingly. I knew this from the test-drives. I was ok with that, assuming I was getting great range, and HOV/free parking.

So I have a 53000 dollar BMW that handles like a lincoln, is a pain in the ass to keep charged, and get none of the government HOV/parking benefits.

What am I missing. Why is this car loved? Of course, even though it's only been 12 hours, the car is registered, and the dealership ain't taking it back.

seriously depressed.

-m

In 85 F weather, in Eco Pro + mode in bumper to bumper traffic you got 20 miles from 70 % of your car's charge? Or did you mean down BY 20 %. If it's the former, something is seriously wrong somewhere. Under the conditions you describe on a brand new i3 I would expect 20 miles to use roughly 20-25 % of the car's charge. I once got 25 miles from a segment (25 % of the battery) in those sorts of conditions.

Bill

former. Drove dealership to home. 20 miles. Went from 90/95% charge, to 25%. Meter said I had somewhere in the 30s left when I got. Drove in eco+ the whole way. recharged for 20 minutes at whole foods. that added about 5 miles to the meter. drove to the bar (1 mile), drove home (half mile), parked the car last night with 31 miles left on the charger. When I picked up the car from dealer it had 31 miles on it. When I went to bed it said 51, and had about 22/23% charge. That doesn't feel great to me.

We had a pretty unpleasant day when we bought our i3 BEV since the best deal to be had was at a dealership almost 70 miles from our house. Even though I requested that the salesman plug the car in while we were negotiating, he didn't set the charge power to max (for some idiotic reason, the car defaults to less than max power and you have to dig through a few sub menus to figure that out and change it). The guess-o-meter range gauge was also completely unhelpful since we did some spirited driving on the test drive and the nav system said we didn't have nearly enough range to make it home despite a quick calculation based on the number of charge bars. But it was still going to be close so we planned to charge on the way home. But all the charging spots were full when we got there (to make the logistics harder, they offered us a low price for the trade in so we drove home in two cars). My wife put the car in Eco pro plus to make it home and didn't realize that neuters the performance of the car and makes it object to going more than 55 mph. We found another charging location, but didn't have the proper card so I had to spend quite a while talking to tech support to get the charge flowing. We finally made it home without a tow truck and things have been great ever since.

A few tips we've learned since-
1) use the smartphone app to judge the battery level since it gives you a numerical value for the state of charge (you can then multiply this percentage by the EPA range to get a decent idea of what's going on). The guess-o-meter can be very misleading when it comes to range.
2) set the charging power to max
3) practice using the regen so that you do almost all of your driving with one pedal. It might feel weird at first, but it's pretty great once you get the hang of it. And it will greatly improve your range in stop and go traffic. My daily driver is a Model S and the regen on the i3 is one thing that BMW did better than Tesla (along with interior storage and a few other things- since this is a BMW i3 forum I won't go into everything Tesla did better than BMW)
4) don't use Eco pro plus unless you absolutely have to (or you don't mind the massive hit in performance)

Anyway, despite a rough first day, my wife absolutely loves her i3. Give it some time. And send in the carpool sticker application ASAP before they run out. As long as you get a green sticker, it's just as good as a white sticker.

 

[Ericpot]

RE: HOV stickers.

I too was not aware that my new REX would not count as an Electric car... but the 15000 new HOV stickers for 2015 are only for Electric/Plug in Hybrids. Not for Hybrids in general. They have not issued stickers to Hybrids in several years and will not do so again. Sales number in CA are always good but are no where near using up of the 15K stickers on plug ins and electrics. I got my sticker for the whopping cost of 8 dollars in 4 weeks. Easy.

Yours
ERIC

 

[Stevei3]

Hi Micky,

my 2cts worth of driving tips, maybe of the obvious type:

- when driving in EcoPro (or EP+) acceleration is limited. Try comfort mode, in which I find the i3 very sprightly to drive, especially up to 60 mph.
- when doing 60 mph tops in mild weather with mild climate settings you should be able to do at least 60 miles, like others stated, even in comfort mode. Please note that it is speed that kills range. Acceleration less so.
- over obvious..., if the weather is cold (freezing) and/or very damp, your range will take a hit. Especialy running lots of small errands can cause repeated heat-cold and demist cycles that can chop some much needed range away.

Sorry to hear you're not enjoying yours as much as I do...
Regards, Steven

 

[WoodlandHills]

RE: HOV stickers.

I too was not aware that my new REX would not count as an Electric car... but the 15000 new HOV stickers for 2015 are only for Electric/Plug in Hybrids. Not for Hybrids in general. They have not issued stickers to Hybrids in several years and will not do so again. Sales number in CA are always good but are no where near using up of the 15K stickers on plug ins and electrics. I got my sticker for the whopping cost of 8 dollars in 4 weeks. Easy.

Yours
ERIC

A recent post here said there were something like 4500 HOV stickers left, so you should have no trouble getting yours. Just be sure to check with your dealer to make sure your REx is classified correctly as a range extended BEV, not a hybrid. If it is incorrect you will have get it fixed and submit extra paperwork to verify, this will add a few weeks.

 

[justanotherdrunk]

Call the BMW Genius Team (Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. EDT: 1.844.443.6487. They're professionals trained to lightly cup your balls.

:lol:


Laughing with everyone

not at anyone

 

[GeorgeJ]

I wasn't going to reply when I read your second post though subsequent posts established a bit more empathy and understanding. I frankly had a a similar experience to yours as well as others with charging. Like you I read everything google would find and then some. I was able to take a three day test drive in January so I was pretty confident about what I was getting. On delivery I left the dealership with over 60 miles showing on the guess-O-meter and arrived in San Francisco, having covered 21 miles, and it showed I only had 21 miles remaining. That evening after a total of 30 miles I had 8 miles remaining, but hey, I had all night for it to charge (on 110V) so I should be fine going to a client meeting in the morning and getting home because it was only a 42 mile round trip. At nine the next day they car showed I had an electric range of 32 miles which was enough to take it back to the dealer (steaming mad that I had bought a lemon).

They gave me a loaner and after a full diagnostic advised that the computer needs to learn my driving habits a bit to show a more accurate range and that the charge setting was on slow so it was not getting charged as it should. They were right about the car learning and the charging also worked fine at the higher setting. I imagine by the time you read this your i3 will 'know you' and you will be getting much more satisfying and accurate estimates.

As for your Lincoln comparison I disagree. The car I traded in was a 135i (6 manual) with Dinan stg two software making it very quick car and my weekend hobby is vintage car racing so I come from a perspective of appreciating fast. That being said I now live in San Francisco and for the first time since 1975 I am not driving a BMW with a manual gearbox. At least with the i3 I can (kind of ) say I have never had an automatic. I leased a gray terra package with all options and find it to be the ideal city car. I love it's quickness off the line and in maneuvering through traffic and given the 'third world' quality of streets in San Francisco I don't miss the stiffness of the 135i. In vintage events and find it engaging to drive a slow(ish) car fast and with the i3 I think it will be a bit of the same, getting the most out those skinny tires. It feels light enough and pretty fun to toss into turns on twisty roads admittedly at lower speeds than previously.

My biggest hangup in acquiring the i3 was the range issue and I waited until some outfit came up with a range extender hold software update that could be managed with a thumb drive update. In late January I read about dvdinmotion and promptly set about leasing this car. A day after I took delivery I ordered the software and installed it straight away. As advertised it provides the same settings as they have across the pond and at 75% SOC I turned on the range extender and ran through a tank of gas. When the tank was dry I still had about three-quarters of the battery remaining. While I will only utilize this functionality a couple of times a year for trips to Monterey or Napa it was essential to have before I would pull the trigger. If it is an issue for you I'd encourage getting the software. I continue to hope that they come up with a similar modification to access that last half a gallon of gas in the tank.

As it is this is the i3 is truly "The Ultimate (city) Driving Machine" and as a very happy owner I am sure a good number of my friends will be driving one soon.