BMW i3 starts near $35,000; NA first deliveries January 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/16/business/with-i3-electric-car-bmw-tries-to-ease-range-anxiety.html?_r=0

Interesting tidbits.
Robertson says its models want a 300 km (186 mile) aer range. It seems they have shot for that with the range extender. But the architecture probably has room for a battery pack that size in the frame portion, if battery prices come down.
The other interesting thing is that they are working on that carbon fiber on frame architecture for future hybrids.

 

I didn't see that in the reg. Maybe you pull over and force charge for 5 minutes and you get highway performance. I really am curious to see what the US software does. My contacts at bmw have no idea.

 

2014 BMW i3 Priced From $42,275

If the range extender is $2000 then we get

42,275 + 2000 (range extender) - 7500 (tax credit) = $36,775 + options + ttl

Without range extender
$34,775 + options + ttl

 

Chevy Volt looks even better now imo, not expensive anymore for what you get compared to the i3. Not sure who would buy this instead of a Chevy Volt.

2014 BMW i3 Finally Priced in U.S: $42,275 Pre-Incentives

 

You'd be surprised. Remember, it has the blue propellers as a badge, not the bowtie. That's worth at least $2k to some.

 

The key year for this bmw is 2018 when california is mandating 4.5% zevs, and the hov stickers for other phev's will have run out. It will be interesting to see how many they sell. I am betting bmw will sell a lot more of these than toyota sells its fuel cell vehicles. If it handles great it may be it a hit. We should know in about a year when they start selling them in the US with the range extender. It is about $25K less expensive than a tesla. California has high sales of bmws. Think who would spend the extra money for a 335i instead of a camry.

 

BMW i3 Production Version Unveiled A Touch Early!

BMW i3 Production Version Unveiled A Touch Early

 

She's a beauty! (I'll leave it to others who call it 'ugly')
Looks like there's definitely more room back there than the Volt, a possible selling point.

 

Somebody who'd use a good chunk of the BEV range and wants something nicer or with less anxiety than a Leaf, or occasionally goes a bit beyond the range and wouldn't mind topping off the gas tank on those trips.

To be honest I think the REx version wi ll be too close to the RAV4 EV in price.

 

This thing is a 5 seater even with the range extender. It even has more range than the Leaf and should be much lighter (helps in real world). This BMW interior material better be nicer than Nissan or Chevy.

5 seater luxury brand I3 with range extender is $4 more than Volt. I think it is a better deal.

 

Volt's performance degrades after you exhausted the EV range also. It's gas engine isn't as crippled as i3 but keep in mind that the battery still has some buffer to assist. Once you go outside the buffer zone, Volt will limp. The same goes for Prius but it is the least severe due to having more powerful gas engine.

If i3 has the buffer zone, you may not notice the difference in normal driving conditions. It will be limping up a long hill for sure.

 

Correction. Volt can limp. Savvy users will always use mountain-mode to maintain battery buffer:
Chevy Volt's 'Mountain Mode' is Vastly Underrated, Yields New Driving Strategies | PluginCars.com

Pretty big 'if'. I certainly hope so. I joked earlier that only way this wouldn't happen is if CARB dictated SOC% to BMW in order to meet BEVx req. Hopefully moot if chip is hacked, as Austingreen mentioned.

 

I don't think CARB requires BEVx to limp as per Austingreen's conjecture. The buffer zone only need a few EV miles, as with Prius -- able to do a few 0-60 mph acceleration assisted. It will reduce a few miles in EV mode but it is a good trade.

Volt will only limp if you used up similar buffer zone. Gas engine should aggressively maintain the zone when possible. A long steep uphill exceeding gas engine output will exhaust the buffer and be forced to limp.

I think Mountain mode is only for 2010 model. Newer Volt models have Hold mode which is basically a hybrid mode that maintains the target SOC %. That violates the concept of EREV. BEVx is actually a true EREV. It is purely a series hybrid with no mechanical connection from ICE to the wheels. It's sole purpose is only to extend the range.

 

No, the base price is $42,275. Option prices, including the range extender haven't yet been announced.

 

I thought the range extender is $2k extra so pushing it to $44k. Volt base is $40k.

 

BEVx can have more powerful gas engine. BMW can put 500 hp engine if they want. As long as gas driving range does not exceed EV range, it is still BEVx. Oh, another requirement is that all EV miles have to be used first and the min EV range is 80 miles.

If Leaf has a 70 miles range extender, it wouldn't be BEVx because the EV range comes up short.

 

There are 0 publicly available J1772 CCS (aka SAE combined charging system aka Frankenplug) DC fast chargers in the US, just like there are 0 shipping cars that have such an inlet. IIRC, there are 4 or so NON-publicly accessible Frankenplug DC fast chargers. I started a thread at My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - J1772 combo plug (aka CCS aka Frankenplug) charger counts on this. Even the resident Frankenplug fanboy at teslamotorclub.com, admits (at last check) they weren't open for public access (I believe due to lack of UL listing).

My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Chevrolet to Produce Spark EV All-Electric Vehicle is a good current description of current DC fast charge situation.
CHAdeMO Association, one of the other competing standards (used by the Leaf and i-Miev) has counts but the US count is behind reality. Then there's Tesla's own Supercharging standard, which is way faster than CHAdeMO.

 

BTW, I've paid little attention to the i3, since I don't care much about My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Official BMW I3, I8 / megacity EV thread stood out.

FWIW, New 2015 BMW i3 city car specs, pricing, review and photo gallery - Autoweek and New Details on BMW i3 Reveal 0-60 MPH Time, Tech - MotorTrend WOT confirm the gas tank is in the front!

 

Hmmm.....sounds like a back-handed way to dictate SOC.
I understand the part of no limit to engine hp and gas driving range<EV range (simply a back-handed way of dictating the maximum # of gallons the fuel tank can carry to stay within range)
But "using all EV miles first" is a bit more ambiguous to me.
Example of a hypothetical BEVx pickup:
efficiency of 2.2 mi/kwh
Nameplate battery capacity of 50 kwh with SOC between 15% and 95%
So, uses 40 kwh x 2.2 mi/kwh = 88 miles AER
BUT, is it ok to use battery's bottom 15% (7.5 kwh, or 16.5 miles) only as buffer (i.e., with Rex on) or would this violate BEVx by being considered "EV miles"?

Are you sure about this.... EPA rates LEAF at 73 miles.

 

EV miles ended when it reached 15% SOC. 88 EV miles is for 15% - 95% (40 kWh). So, I don't see any problem. I do see a problem if the range extender fires up and recharge it to 20% and operate it as target SOC. As long as the range extender target SOC is 15%, I don't think it would be a problem.

A regular Prius' buffer energy is only 0.5 kWh. NiMh battery is 1.31 kWh but it only use 40% of it.

15% of 50 kWh pack is 7.5 kWh reserve. That's quite a large buffer.

Minimum EV range to qualify as BEVx is 80 miles.