Noticed how well this thing coasts

[justanotherdrunk]

tried something different

distant stoplight
pop it into Neutral

wow, this thing coasts better than any vehicle ive ever driven

just playin with the new toy

:lol:

 

[jadnashuanh]

Watch the marker on the display...using your foot, adjust so that the marker is exactly centered in the middle...does the same thing and is safer.

 

[MFNATIK]

Yeah, once your muscles learn that "neutral" spot in the pedal range, you won't even have to look and like justanotherdrunk says, its much safer...the irony of taking driving advice from justanotherdrunk lol

 

[Boatguy]

Yes, coasting is the way to go. Much more efficient than re-gen and really stretches out the range. It would be nice if BMW made it easier to coast. Yes you can modulate your right foot to find the sweet spot in the middle, but it's a chore. I'm not sure what the right design would be. An entirely separate control like the gear shift seems awkward, and widening the sweet spot in the middle would make for much less linear response by the right pedal.

In any case, coasting is definitely the best way to improve your efficiency and extend range.

 

[MFNATIK]

The solution is for them to put in software adjustable regen.

 

[jadnashuanh]

It took me maybe a day to figure out how to hit the coast point consistently whenever I wanted to. I never thought inadvertently shifting into and out of gear was a good thing to do. There are a few (mostly older) cars that did that - the old Saab 2-cycle engine vehicles did that automatically...those don't have much of any compression braking anyways.

 

[cove3]

I don't know why bmw didn't build in the neat regen that vw uses in the e-golf. A tap on the gearshift gives you 4 regen settings. 0,1,2,3,4. With 0, all regen comes from the brake. 1-4 have increasingly strong regen with 4 feeling to me similar to my i3 test drive back in September. Plus I too can always coast in 1-4 but I found it hard to keep it perfectly centered as well as being distracting

If I'm going on a trip where range is important, I drive in 0 with minimum use of the brake. Has anyone seen a percentage number for regen efficiency? If it's 90% as opposed to 40%, it might not make much difference

Ron

 

[WoodlandHills]

Given that the Regen is software controlled there is no reason that a freewheel function could not be added to the various setup choices. It should be an iDrive option to be folded into a custom setup, like keeping Comfort climate control when in Eco Pro.... I doubt that this can be coded, but it should!

 

[jadnashuanh]

Okay, lets be practical here...

As it is, the amount of regen is quite sophisticated. IT takes into account when you are turning, have hit a bump, and, YOU control how aggressive it is all of the time. You are a much better discriminator of the real world situation. It knows if you're turning that essentially putting on the brakes in the rear can destabilize the car, so it adjusts how much is there. Hit a bump, and you could impose some nasty driveline loads as a wheel may stop and then hit the ground and put dangerous loads on the drivetrain. The difference in the amount of regen between say one marker either side of the zero point isn't all that much. And, my internal g-force (ears) can tell pretty close to when it is coasting verses accelerating or decelerating.

In effect, you have MORE adjustment than the e-golf, and, it is instantaneous, not in steps. If they were to add anything to the user selection menu, it might be that the maximum level might be adjusted, but still you'd have the whole range. I don't really see it as a big benefit.

The car is a city car, not a long-distance cruiser.

 

[cove3]

How do you have more control? If I drive with the gearshift in B (max level 4 regen), can't I coast the same as you by keeping the pedal at the point where it's neither regen or accelerating?

Ron

 

[WoodlandHills]

According to BMW, the i3 is a Mega City Car and as a mega city dweller I think that the ability to get long range at high speeds is not trivial. I often find myself traveling from one part of town to another at 70 to 75 keeping up with traffic and some trips can be a half hour or more at that speed. Mega city daily usage can be more than just crawling through traffic downtown or even purring along at 45 in the suburbs, it is also a lot of freeway time and not all of it is stop and go. If freewheel and variable Regen will help increase range in that case why not make it available? The mechanics are already there, it's just code....... Like the self-steering under 25mph that is enabled outside of NA, the car could do it if you asked it the right way

 

[jadnashuanh]

The car already has freewheeling and variable regen...the motor is always connected to the drive wheels...not using or generating power is freewheeling in the i3...it's not like a car with a typical transmission where you can put it into neutral and actually disconnect things. As far as I can see (may be wrong) the only thing neutral does is disconnect the clutch that keeps it from rolling backwards or forwards depending on the position of the gear selector. Now, what they've dictated as the maximum regen (all the way off the pedal) apparently has been changed via a software update from when it was introduced. If you actually did disconnect the motor from the wheels when putting it into neutral, you'd be applying a VERY significant impact to the transmission when you shifted back into drive. Keep in mind, that at max road speed, the electric motor is turning something like 11K RPM...how about going from zero RPM to 11K in one fell swoop...things will break. I think, that's one reason why they don't do it. You don't have something like a tachometer to try to match speeds, or can hear the engine or feel what's happening with a clutch.

Personally, max regen as originally delivered decelerated the car more than I liked and some people complained that it was difficult to drive smoothly. I didn't have that problem, but it certainly is for the occasional driver and especially for the first time one.

Freewheeling can help when you have an actual transmission that gets disconnected from the motor, but unless the car's transmission was designed for it, it's kind of dangerous. Just feather your foot on the i3, and you'll achieve the same result. If max range is critical to your needs that day, slow down a bit...you'll achieve much better and reliable results.

 

[WoodlandHills]

I suppose I should clarify, by freewheel I don't mean a mechanical sprag clutch or some other device, but rather letting the computer put the car in a neutral thrust/Regen state when I lift off of the throttle. I.e. AutoGlide.... The current band is rather narrow and requires taking ones eyes off of the road to verify.

 

[barrychan]

I agree, you should never put in neutral ....electric or gas....you need control of the car by having it in drive.

The only concern i have about our strong regen. is car behind you can't see you slowing down during the day cause no brake lights when you are doing the " one pedal " driving.

 

[jadnashuanh]

I suppose I should clarify, by freewheel I don't mean a mechanical sprag clutch or some other device, but rather letting the computer put the car in a neutral thrust/Regen state when I lift off of the throttle. I.e. AutoGlide.... The current band is rather narrow and requires taking ones eyes off of the road to verify.

How would the car differentiate fully released pedal as the intention to freewheel verses max regeneration? Think about it from a safety standpoint...in an emergency stop, you want all of the braking you can get, whether regen assisted or actual brakes...shutting off the regen when you fully release would either take another operator action to restore (and time) and it would lengthen the stopping distance. I think going through up to max regen, then freewheeling at the last moment would be disconcerting. And, wouldn't having to think about that take away a lot of ease of use? One can get VERY close to 'real' coasting without having to watch the display with a little practice. Stopped at a light, with your foot off the pedal, the little bit of regen can help keep the car from creeping...into freewheeling mode, you'd be using the brakes nearly all of the time, taking away some of the one pedal functionality. Sorry, don't see it...maybe I'm being blind, but still don't see it. Convince me...

 

[jadnashuanh]

The only concern i have about our strong regen. is car behind you can't see you slowing down during the day cause no brake lights when you are doing the " one pedal " driving.

THe car DOES put on the brake lights once you reach a certain level of deceleration - you DO NOT have to actually press on the brake pedal to make that happen! Somebody put up a video showing it, but you could check yourself if you have a friend follow you and you talked on the phone to describe what's going on.

 

[barrychan]

The only concern i have about our strong regen. is car behind you can't see you slowing down during the day cause no brake lights when you are doing the " one pedal " driving.

THe car DOES put on the brake lights once you reach a certain level of deceleration - you DO NOT have to actually press on the brake pedal to make that happen! Somebody put up a video showing it, but you could check yourself if you have a friend follow you and you talked on the phone to describe what's going on.

Haha wait til i tell my wife that cause she is so afraid sitting in the i3 and keep watching car behind us while driving

 

[jadnashuanh]

German engineers are, if nothing, maybe obsessed with the details. There are lots of little surprises in the car. DId you know that if you don't use your wipers within a certain timeframe, it will cycle them for you to help prevent the rubber taking a 'set' or sticking to the windshield? Lots of little things are going on behind the scenes. If you have the REx, and don't use it, it will automatically start it up periodically. There's lots more. Fold your mirrors in, and forget to extend them? THey'll go back out on their own at around 25mph. If you turn on an interior light with the car off, it will eventually turn it off to preserve the battery...the list goes on, I just haven't discovered them all. Had that last issue bite me on another car...dead battery in the morning...doesn't happen with the BMW's, at least from that sort of thing. To the Germans, there's a lot that sets a luxury car apart from the run of the mill vehicles out there, and obsessing over the details is one of them. It isn't just in the i3, but the i3 may be some people's first encounter with a BMW, so they have no history to compare it to.

 

[MarkN]

German engineers are, if nothing, maybe obsessed with the details. There are lots of little surprises in the car. DId you know that if you don't use your wipers within a certain timeframe, it will cycle them for you to help prevent the rubber taking a 'set' or sticking to the windshield?

Will the car cycle the wipers when the car is parked and unoccupied? This could be annoying because we position our cars in our garage using balls hanging from the ceiling--drive the car into the garage until the ball is touching the windshield right in front of the driver's eyes. And it is dry enough in Colorado that we can go a long time without using the wipers.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Sorry, don't know the details. I've noticed them moving slightly when just turning the vehicle off. I don't know if the documentation says how MUCH they move, but they do move by themselves on occasion if you don't use them.