BMW I3 test drive...

Drove it this weekend. Hadn't bothered due to it having 4 seats and me having 3 kids (and the wife still hasn't left me either). But now it was parked up at a chemical plant that makes parts for it and had an open day.

Regenerative braking is much more forceful than the Prius. Couldn't get used to it in my 10 minutes in it (on closed terrain). Neither could I get accustomed to the placement of the startbutton and the shifter. I sometimes controlled them by putting my arm through the steeringwheel

Guess if BMW sold it for <10k I'd consider one for the home-work journey of the wife... (we're more serious about the BMW electric motorcycle than an i3...)

 

Bought a used, BMW i3-Rex today: 2014 with 14,000 miles for $27.6k. My wife and I will fly to Huston TX and drive it 778 miles back to Huntsville via the Gulf Coast casinos. <GRINS>

Sure, it only has a 2 gallon tank and EPA claims 49 MPG, they also think our 2003 Prius only get 41 MPG. We'll have plenty of time and distance to map mph vs MPG. <GRINS>

Truth be told, had Toyota made the 2016 Level 2 ECO available with TSS-P, I would not be posting here. Alternatively, if Toyota had offered options of: (1) 1.5 kW inverter, or; (2) tow package, or; (3) rear-wheel drive … I would not be posting about our BMW i3-Rex. Perhaps the Gen-5 will be better or the Gen-4 update might treat us as adults.

Bob Wilson

 

Because of multiple concerns, we in the US aren't likely to see an actual car with a tow rating from one of the major brands anytime soon.

Try reaching out to BMW tuners. They might be able to disable the CARB hobbling, and by comments at CleanMPG, it sounds like the REX has the same size tank as the European model, and it is just electronically limited.