Official BMW ActiveE thread

[surfingslovak]

Edgar from SAP had a software or sensor problem (hard to say which) earlier this week. His vehicle was taken to the dealer. It might be hard to believe, but the ActiveE test fleet has accumulated over 3 million all-electric miles this year. There is a driver-maintained page, which tracks the progress on both coasts. Please note that only a minority of vehicles is represented there.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
Hmm, seems like their reliability is pretty lacking, given your experience. Has his been in the shop/inoperative for extended periods/numerous times?

 

[surfingslovak]

^^^
Hmm, seems like their reliability is pretty lacking, given your experience. Has his been in the shop/inoperative for extended periods/numerous times?

I believe that I'm still the leader in terms of overall downtime in this field trial, and by a wide margin. I'm not entirely sure about Edgar's situation. This is the first time I heard about his vehicle being towed. I'm certain he had some software issues, but the drivers, led by the example of Tom Moloughney, found a number of crafty workarounds. It's a shame that the car is plagued by these problems, since it's very fun to drive otherwise. Very unique experience. Let's hope that the production cars will be better. They should contain a more refined revision of the exact same drivetrain. Plus a quick charge port and range extender option, which are not available on the ActiveE.

 

[cwerdna]

Let's hope that the production cars will be better. They should contain a more refined revision of the exact same drivetrain. Plus a quick charge port and range extender option, which are not available on the ActiveE.

Yep, on the first point.

Hmm... I'm guessing the quick charge port will be Frankenplug. I didn't know about the range extender option. Interesting... Will it be a true serial hybrid (e.g. like Fisker) or something along the lines of the Volt w/their complicated transmission or a tow generator?

 

[surfingslovak]

Let's hope that the production cars will be better. They should contain a more refined revision of the exact same drivetrain. Plus a quick charge port and range extender option, which are not available on the ActiveE.

Yep, on the first point.

Hmm... I'm guessing the quick charge port will be Frankenplug. I didn't know about the range extender option. Interesting... Will it be a true serial hybrid (e.g. like Fisker) or something along the lines of the Volt w/their complicated transmission or a tow generator?

Yes, it's going to be the SAE plug. See a photo of an experimental ActiveE vehicle below. About the range extender: it will be a serial hybrid, and the extender will provide less range than the battery. It's for true emergencies, and the i3 will supposedly qualify for the white HOV stickers in California.

BMW Cuts Off Toyota, GM and Ford in California

 

[TomT]

I frankly don't see the point. It's a lot of complexity, cost, and added maintenance for a very small payback. I predict that there WILL be a big aftermarket retrofitting it with a larger gas tank, however!

[BMW Cuts Off Toyota, GM and Ford in California

 

[surfingslovak]

I frankly don't see the point. It's a lot of complexity, cost, and added maintenance for a very small payback.

Yes, and that's why the range extender will be an option on the i3. It's up to the consumer to decide. From what I've heard, the implementation will be quite different from what we see in the Volt. Think "embedded Honda generator" instead of "1.4 liter car engine with planetary gear set".

 

[TomMoloughney]

I was asked to write a post for BMWBlog on my one year anniversary with the ActiveE. Here's the link for anyone interested: http://www.bmwblog.com/2013/01/10/one-year-35000-electric-miles/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[surfingslovak]

A different take on a familiar topic. (via Chriss Neff)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2LpgzuJEM8[/youtube]

 

[surfingslovak]

Eight ActiveEs traveled over 3,000 miles combined to arrive at an owners' event in Morro Bay on April 7, 2013. Quite a few great photos have been uploaded to the Facebook group. I created a Flickr picture set, which can be more easily shared on owners' forums. Please click on the photo below to open it.



Click to open

 

[surfingslovak]

BMW i USA has re-published some of the photos from this past weekend. Their photo album should be accessible to everyone, even folks without a Facebook account. It's a good cross-section, I hope you like it, and can put faces to some of the familiar names. Please click on the photo below to open the BMW i album.


Click to open

 

[Clippy]

From Electronaut to Electro-not in just 24 short months.

When I think of what just a small group of you fine folks could have done with access to the BMW parts bin and their engineering and design staff, it makes the i3 look really, really bad. Needless to say I won't be a customer of their i3 endeavor. But then I knew that back when an engineering egghead friend of mine took a look under the hood of the E, looked at the welds and said "They crash tested this thing at high speed with this extra weight, right?"

It was a swell car, got twice the looks and comments of the Leaf it was a blast to drive, when it worked which was more often than not, and I'll miss it somewhat. Could have done without the over $30,000 (that's 21, 981 Euros) worth of maintenance it required over the span of 24 months, which was really only about 22 and 1/2 months because of down time. ("And you plan on BUYING this car?")

The BMW i3 is a victory for Dieter, Hans and all those other fashionista Germans mit their $3000 (that's 2,193 Euros) non-prescription glasses. For America, with it's wide open spaces, the i3 is a non starter. At least for me. Maybe if they decide to "electrify" (and engineer, thanks) another real BMW, I'll be back.

Until then...

 

[DaveEV]

Looks like the ActiveE is heading to the crusher.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/3711-BMW-Active-E/page26?p=664310&viewfull=1#post664310" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyone a member of the ActiveE facebook page and has more details?

 

[leafmealone]

BMW caught crushing its ActiveE electric test cars
"Since all of the ActiveEs were imported into the United States as "pre-production" cars, there's no way for BMW to certify them in a way that makes it legal to sell them publicly; the only way to keep them on the road is either through car sharing or re-leasing them. Otherwise, the only environmental action left for the ActiveEs is recycling." (Motoramic via Yahoo News)

 

[RonDawg]

In a few years you'll see similarly squashed Honda Clarity FCEV's and Fit EV's as well. Maybe even some of the 90 or so Scion iQ EV's as well.

 

[2k1Toaster]

What a gigantic waste of resources...

 

[TomT]

EV1, anyone?

What a gigantic waste of resources...

 

[2k1Toaster]

EV1, anyone?

What a gigantic waste of resources...

Maybe a few will be "forgotten about" and pop up in schools a few years from now

 

[RonDawg]

EV1, anyone?

What a gigantic waste of resources...

Maybe a few will be "forgotten about" and pop up in schools a few years from now

Or as part of Jay Leno's collection, assuming he already doesn't have one.

 

[RonDawg]

What a gigantic waste of resources...

I agree. I can understand not wanting to sell off the EV-specific components, but the body shell, and almost everything else, are the same as any ICE-powered 1 series coupe. BMW could have just removed the EV components and sold off the non-running shells to a dismantler for further disassembly. Maybe they could somehow brand the titles so that the VINs cannot be registered ever again, if they are concerned about the cars being made operational again.