i3 94ah range at highway speed

[helderaguiar]

Hi! Need a little help here from the experience of 94ah i3 owners. Undecided to trade my 60ah BEV for the BEV or the Rex version of the 94ah i3.

Need help from your experience of what is the real range at highway speed ranges (for 60-62, 70 or/and 75mph) in winter/summer.

Particularly, we'll have this occasional 113 mile commute, mostly in highway. is it realistically feasible with pure electric 94ah i3? I mean, with highway speeds (let's say at least 62mph) even in winter ?

 

[jadnashuanh]

Depends...preconditioning can help, outside temperature will be a big player (more so than the BEV) since any heat comes directly from the battery on a one-to-one basis while the BEV uses a heat pump with as much as a 3+ to one advantage. You should easily make it with a little REx usage, and might make it on battery alone in the summer, but I would have my doubts about in the winter unless you live somewhere that doesn't get cold.

 

[helderaguiar]

Hi!

We live in the north of Portugal, in winter we usually have 35-45ºF at morning and evening,

So the 94ah BEV probably capable of a 110 mile trip at 55-50 mph in Eco Pro + with these Temp ?

 

[helderaguiar]

Today I drove one 94ah BEV through the BMW local dealer.

Drove 94km (59 miles) mostly in highway at 90-100km/h (56-62 mph) with Eco Pro+ mode. Today we had a good weather, it was sunny, not windy, and about 15ºC (59ºF).

Battery usage was 40.0%. Range estimator showed 139km (87 miles) for the remaining battery (60.0%).

So for this kind of trip (56-62 mph in highway) in moderately good weather the range is at least in the 140-145 miles range (225-230km).

I am very impressed. This is almost the double of what I can get with the 60ah. BMW was very cautious about the EPA range with this one.

 

[Elkjaer]

I've pondered the same swap myself and even got a quote for the swap from 60 Ah to 94 Ah at a local BMW repair shop (in Denmark). The price was 75000 DKK (~11000 USD) so I'm waiting until my current 60 Ah battery pack degrades or the price decreases.

I went ahead and did some estimates based on my current consumption in the 60 Ah BEV model with the current assumptions:
Useable energy in 60 Ah version: 18.8 kWh.
Useable energy in 94 Ah version: 27.2 kWh.

My consumption in winter-driving (0 *C / 32 *F) at highway speeds of 110 km/h (70 mph) is 19-20 kWh/100 km, and a realistic average in summertime is 16 kWh/100 km with the same highway speeds.

With a little bit of calculations my 60 Ah estimate for winter-driving on highways gives me 94 km (59 miles). Summertime estimate ends at 118 km (73 miles).
Both estimates match well with the actual range during 2 seasons of ownership in a 2013 model with 23000 km (14300 miles) on the odo.

The 94 Ah version estimates are 136 km (85 miles) for winter and 170 km (105 miles) for summer.

In my mind getting 113 miles of range in the 94 Ah BEV would be a stretch for winters if you plan on going at highway speeds.
Also be aware that the range will decrease as the car ages (how much, I don't know) so it might be possible the first few years only.

 

[helderaguiar]

In theory it should be that!

But in the real world the 94ah consistently surpasses those theoretical estimates. It seems BMW claims only 27-28KW available but in reality it may be 30KW (http://bmwi3.blogspot.pt/2016/09/the-2014-60ah-i3-rex-vs-2017-94ah-i3-rex.html) whereas the BMW dealer said the new pack had some improvements in battery energy flow/management. In that review the guy tried to get less than 100 miles driving like a maniac and he found it was nearly impossible :lol:

I was skeptic but today I would achieve more than your summer estimate (I had only used 40% of the battery with 58 miles on the highway mainly) At beginning, I have put a 115 mile trip in the nav system and it was achievable with Ecopro+ (it had an estimate of 125 miles) and we all know the i3 nav system range estimator is very pessimistic. Indeed, at half of that distance I had 40% of battery use and a much larger margin, I even could resume it in Eco Pro mode. Amazing :shock:

 

[Elkjaer]

Thanks for your real world feedback.
I know my numbers are very pessimistic and should be taken as a worst case (continuous 110 km/h / 70 mph at freezing temperatures).

It would be interesting if 94 Ah owners could access more than the stated 27 kWh.

Personally on my 60 Ah BEV the available capacity from the "secret" menu has ranged from 17.9 kWh to 19.6 kWh with no clear correlation between temperature or state-of-charge.

 

[helderaguiar]

I have to see my 60ah "secret menu" as well

Any other experiences on how far can you take the i3 94ah on a round trip mostly in highway ?

 

[user 3172]

Rex driver! I drive comfort all the time with cabin heat at 20c.

On a quick scan through, I didn't see a mention of geography. Hills make a difference so if you live in an area like I do where everywhere is pretty much up and down hills (even the motorways have many long steady climbs and falls) then you need to factor in that variable too.

I have managed 118 miles before the Rex started in good weather at 16c driving around 56mph on mixed mainly flat roads. I ventured into the hills two weeks ago with temperatures around 5c and I was looking for a charger after about 95 miles.

As has been said, preconditioning makes a difference especially when it's cold so if you have to stop for any length of time without the benefit of a charger then that's a problem to add in too. The restart will be from cold losing you valuable range.

I had a similar conundrum when I bought. Both Bev and Rex would have done for my usual daily needs but I have a fairly regular 118 mile round trip into the hills. Whilst there is a charger the other end, I could not guarantee it. In the heat of summer the Bev may have got me there and back, in winter it was a no go so ended up going for the Rex.

I also think the Rex is a no brainer for the ability to do longer journeys just to add the flexibility of not having to stop and charge so often if it isn't convenient. So for instance, I have to go to London next week which is a 140 mile trip one way. I would have no option but to stop on route in a Bev adding 30 minutes to my journey. Although I probably won't take it, I have the option of not stopping in the Rex.

When I mention this to fossil drivers, they throw back at me the question, "well what if you had to do over 200 miles?" I just point out that you shouldn't really be driving for that long without a break anyway so stopping to charge ceases to be an issue, it's just a further necessity like food, caffeine and a toilet which you have to do some planning for anyway.

The decision to go for the Rex has meant my backup SUV has done 300 miles in 5 months of i3 ownership and most of that was down to snow and load carrying. The i3 has done 6,300 miles in the same period with 6,000 of those being electric. Of the 300 Rex miles, more than half was me deliberately emptying the tank (first time to test the system and second to refresh the fuel). Overall I reckon the true balance of EV/Fossil driving has therefore been 93% -7%. With the Bev, that equation would probably have been nearer 84% - 16%.

Was it worth the extra few thousand for the Rex, you decide? The additional fuel cost per year would probably only be around £200 but I bought an EV to minimise my fossil mileage anyway and somewhat perversely, the comfort blanket the Rex offers allows me to minimise that fossil usage.

 

[helderaguiar]

Thanks for your feedback!

Indeed altitude has large impact. What I usually do is reducing speed significantly in uphills and compensating downhills. Let's say I intend to travel 60mph average, in steep uphills I can reduce to as far as 50mph and compensate to even 75mph just before downhill to get energy regeneration to the next level

Even in Comfort mode with AC always on you could get 125 miles (including the 7-8 miles left when the Rex kicks in), impressive!

You are right with the Rex comfort. It's a great possibility to have. I was very tempted. But, in top of the higher price, and the probable very rare use, I would loose the Portuguese incentive (which is limited to 100% electric cars) so... I triggered the BEV one.

 

[user 3172]

So I had a long trip to do today and thought I would give it a test run for you. It's been really foggy so I was on cruise at between 52-55mph all the way and just let it run on EV. Comfort with lights on all the way and it was between 10-12c ambient temperature. I had to charge on a public charger first but only got to 97.5% SoC before I left.

Here's the result when the Rex kicked in

With the extra 2.5% SoC I probably would have made 132.1 and with the 6.5% reserve added around 137 miles

 

[helderaguiar]

Wow fantastic range, thank you so much for the detailed feedback.

Really, in similar conditions I only get 60-70 miles in my 60ah. I was skeptic of such big change but the 94ah is indeed a BIG improvement.

 

[Tobias]

Just traded my 60ah i3Rex for the 94ah Rex. I do a 42 miles each way commute, of which half is at 70mph on active cruise control. Range is up by at least 50%, probably slightly more.

As all the commenters here have said, your local conditions make a big difference. Temperature, wind, speed etc. Bottom line is I could rarely get more than 80 miles off the 60ah model. As I write, the stated range on the new car is 133 miles, which is about 25 miles more than the worst reading I have had. I would say a 100+ miles journey at 70mph is way too tight for a non Rex car.

 

[janner]

The Rex gas tank equates to about 21kWhrs. Multiply this by the miles per KWhr you would expect to get on different journeys and you will have the rex range.

 

[helderaguiar]

Just traded my 60ah i3Rex for the 94ah Rex. I do a 42 miles each way commute, of which half is at 70mph on active cruise control. Range is up by at least 50%, probably slightly more.

As all the commenters here have said, your local conditions make a big difference. Temperature, wind, speed etc. Bottom line is I could rarely get more than 80 miles off the 60ah model. As I write, the stated range on the new car is 133 miles, which is about 25 miles more than the worst reading I have had. I would say a 100+ miles journey at 70mph is way too tight for a non Rex car.

Any new info?

I felt I had more than 50% (actually more like 60%) when I tested a 94ah in my usual situation.

 

[Tobias]

The 94ah has consistently exceeded my expectations, and reminded me that I am not the most economical driver. What I can say is that my wife took the car to work this morning, and the statistics on the BMW App are astonishing.

Distance 41.6 miles
Consumption 5.3 mi/kWh
Duration 1 hr 16 min

Electric range remaining: 121 mi / 77%
REX range: 100mi
(full tank)

That's indicating a range of over 160 miles on electric alone, 260 miles combined. If I knew how to do it, I'd post the screenshot from the BMW App as proof!

 

[user 3172]

Preconditioned before I left for work this morning

And after I had done my 22 mile commute

Mighty impressed with a 171.5 EV range

 

[Tobias]

Blimey. That's impressive. I'm not going to say you cheated, nor indeed that you must weigh less than my wife. Better stay quiet.

 

[ad78]

today i tried running REx for 25miles in the highway. i had to hold the charge from 58miles remaining.
punched the throttle, 75 and even 85 but not constant. im fast and yes running illegal speed limit.
as soon as i am near in the office i went back to battery mode and it charges my battery from 58 to 64!
Crazy awesome!