i3 is over

[fsugrad90]

I just purchased my 2016 Rex that came off a lease for 24K loaded Terra with every option they had. It had 24K miles on it and I have had it for a month now. My round trip drive here in Central Florida is 70 miles and I have found that Eco pro is more efficient as I tale the Interstate I-4 every day. I'm happy with it so far and have no complaints and as said above I wouldn't have purchased it without the REX

 

[davidc18]

We picked up a 2016 i3 BEV last month to take over our local daily driving (50-100 miles per day). Lots of back and forth with the 2 kids. The car is a ton of fun around town and range is never an issue with a variety of chargers around. We also have a L2 charger at home for quick refills as well. We would never have considered buying new due to the high cost (vs Tesla M3) but buying used was a no brainer.

 

[jadnashuanh]

The $35K Model 3 doesn't exist (yet, if ever). Many of them are going out the door at lots more than an i3. But, it's a different kind of car, not really an apples to apples comparison.

 

[engineear]

Our current federal government is not really helping the future of EVs with fast charging.

Please don't tell me you want the government to install and maintain a nationwide system. They screw everything up.
I own a 2017 Volt and an 2015 i3 coming off lease next month. I rarely used the free 2 year DC charging BMW included
with the purchase. When I go on a long distant trip I take the Volt, rent a car or have taken my 1998 Land Rover Discovery.
I think the auto industry should adopt 1 type of plug and come to terms with the utilities to put forth a charging system,
but to say the current government is no help sounds like you want them to fund it, which means to me, endless meetings
and poor decisions on what to do with OUR money.

Think out of the box, meaning: no government intervention. In this case less (govt.) means more.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Regulations and attitude favoring EV use would go a long ways towards making the infrastructure build out. It's a chicken and egg thing...not enough EVs out there to drive the demand to make it profitable, so you can either help make them more affordable, or by making the infrastructure better, drive the demand from the other side. This doesn't mean the government owns and operates them, but to make them easier to install and maybe help with some incentives (there have been some, but not very effective - look at what's going on in Europe as a better example).

 

[Seasidenj]

I just purchased a 2014 rex and drive much more miles than the range daily.

Biggest problem I have is the lack of working charging stations in the south New Jersey area. Luckily in my town we have several within walking distance from my house. I can plug in for a couple of hours till about 80% when the charging rate drops then top off overnight at home. Not that convenient but I think I got a lot of car for the money.

Recent trip to Philadelphia airport made me realize how lacking the charging inforstructor really is. Surprised that a city like Philadelphia has so little options. We have 12 in Seaside Heights !

 

[alohart]

Biggest problem I have is the lack of working charging stations in the south New Jersey area. Luckily in my town we have several within walking distance from my house. I can plug in for a couple of hours till about 80% when the charging rate drops then top off overnight at home.

If you don't have a 240 V charging circuit at home, you will eventually tire of depending on undependable or occupied public charging stations. We depended on public charging stations the first 2 years we owned an EV because installing a charging circuit in our condo parking garage parking space was very expensive. We finally bit the bullet and paid to have a 208 V charging circuit installed in our parking space. Even though we charge at only 16 A (3.3 kW), less than half the i3's maximum charging power, we can fully charge our 60 Ah battery pack overnight which is almost always sufficient. For the rare occasions when we need to charge faster, a DC fast charger is within 0.5 mi. from our apartment.

 

[CharonPDX]

I can't wait for reliable, common DC Quick Charge.

I'm in Portland, Oregon. I drove to Seattle, Washington last week. It's ~180 miles, door-to-door. I charge at home, I went to a place that has on-site charging.

Once you leave the Portland Metro area, there is one CCS DC Quick Charge station before you get to the Seattle Metro area. It is 35 miles outside Portland, and 100 miles from the next Seattle-metro-area (Tacoma) CCS charge station.

It was broken. So I'd used almost half my battery, only to find the one CCS quick charger dead. (It was a combo CHAdeMO/CCS unit, but the whole unit was out - no power at all to the entire unit.)

I was lucky, I have the REx model, so I just drove on REx until my tank was empty, refilled the tank, and drove on REx all the way to my destination (since a second REx tank got me there, I didn't bother with the originally planned CCS stop in Tacoma.)

Coming home the next day, knowing the CCS closest to Portland was going to be out, I didn't even plan on stopping there. I quick-charged in Tacoma, and made it home on REx with one mile of range left, REx tank empty. (Yeah, that was cutting it a bit close - there was a slow-charge station available 2 miles from home that I planned my route by just in case I wasn't going to make it all the way home - but it said I had the range, and it was mostly downhill from that point, so I risked it.)

Personally, I was amazed I made it all the way home, I was expecting to have to stop at one of the Level 2 chargers in Portland.

For those curious about the route - I charged up at Tacoma Mall (to 85%,) topped off the gas tank at a station between the Mall and the freeway, and drove I-5 all the way to Portland, driving *EXACTLY* the speed limit, or drafting behind a semi going no more than 5 under the limit using ACC at 'closest follow' setting. I used charge-hold mode to kick REx on at 75%, and made it 93 miles before REx ran out of juice (just outside Longview, WA.) Not bad for REx + about 10% of the 60Ah battery! Battery said it was at 73.5% when REx kicked off - and I made it a further 54 miles on that 73.5%. (For those familiar with the area, I got off I-5 at "Rose Quarter" exit, and drove the rest on surface streets.) I was helped by weekend freeway construction in Portland causing I-5 to slow to 35 MPH pretty much as soon as I got in Oregon. And by the weather being perfect, so I could have it in ECO PRO + and not be uncomfortable. The car did have three people plus ~150 pounds of cargo in it, though!

 

[psquare]

Given the topic of this thread, I couldn't help but posting a link to the newly announced 2019 i3, 120Ah battery. They even dropped the REx option in Europe now.

https://www.bmwblog.com/2018/10/04/bmw-drops-the-i3-rex-in-europe-still-offered-in-the-us/

 

[Tybaltpoc1]

I just purchased a 2014 rex and drive much more miles than the range daily.

Biggest problem I have is the lack of working charging stations in the south New Jersey area. Luckily in my town we have several within walking distance from my house. I can plug in for a couple of hours till about 80% when the charging rate drops then top off overnight at home. Not that convenient but I think I got a lot of car for the money.

Recent trip to Philadelphia airport made me realize how lacking the charging inforstructor really is. Surprised that a city like Philadelphia has so little options. We have 12 in Seaside Heights !

How much battery depletion have you noticed since 2014?

 

[Seasidenj]

The car is new to me just bought it a few weeks ago