Official BMW i3 thread

[leafatl]

"Once you get used to it, you'll end up stopping exactly where you want without ever touching the brake."

Should be great fun on a rainy day in a fast sharp turn to test one's driving skills!

The brake pedal didn't go away, you just don't need it under most conditions.[/quote

Missed the point, i.e. what happens to the stability of the vehicle under those conditions
with excessive braking with only one set of wheels in a turn on a wet surface.

Not that I'm a fan of relying on electronics to help control the car, but that's the situation we're in with any modern car - the stability control in the i3 is designed to handle those situations, including braking wheels individually and (specific to the EV functionality) reducing the regen as needed if the rear tires lose grip.

 

[lorenfb]

"Not that I'm a fan of relying on electronics to help control the car, but that's the situation we're in with any modern car - the stability control in the i3 is designed to handle those situations, including braking wheels individually and (specific to the EV functionality) reducing the regen as needed if the rear tires lose grip."

You hope! That requires the ABS system (DSC (BMW) - dynamic stability control) to start automatically
without sensing the use of the brake pedal by the driver. The vehicle stability control system only
functions when the brake pedal is pushed and doesn't override how the car is being driven.
If the driver wants to slide the vehicle in a turn, he can.

 

[NasGoreList]

"Not that I'm a fan of relying on electronics to help control the car, but that's the situation we're in with any modern car - the stability control in the i3 is designed to handle those situations, including braking wheels individually and (specific to the EV functionality) reducing the regen as needed if the rear tires lose grip."

You hope! That requires the ABS system (DSC (BMW) - dynamic stability control) to start automatically
without sensing the use of the brake pedal by the driver. The vehicle stability control system only
functions when the brake pedal is pushed and doesn't override how the car is being driven.
If the driver wants to slide the vehicle in a turn, he can.

vehicle stability control functions all the time regardless of the pedal you have your foot on, unless you disable it beforehand by pressing the ESC button off. abs is the one that only functions when you brake....both use abs pump but to accomplish different things

 

[leafatl]

You hope! That requires the ABS system (DSC (BMW) - dynamic stability control) to start automatically
without sensing the use of the brake pedal by the driver. The vehicle stability control system only
functions when the brake pedal is pushed and doesn't override how the car is being driven.
If the driver wants to slide the vehicle in a turn, he can.

Wow. Completely incorrect..not just about BMW stability systems, but about most (and presumably all) major manufacturer stability control systems.

 

[leafatl]

vehicle stability control functions all the time regardless of the pedal you have your foot on

Right - and you can't even fully disable stability control in the i3 - it's always on. The setting in the menu to turn it "off" only allows some wheelspin in a straight line, under 31mph, for use in snow/winter conditions. Stability control is still active even with that setting enabled.

The Leaf is the same way - stability control is still active even after you press the button to disable it.

 

[lorenfb]

"Wow. Completely incorrect..not just about BMW stability systems, but about most (and presumably all) major manufacturer stability control systems."

As I said, avoid those high speed sharp turns on wet roads in the i3 when in the high regen decel mode.

 

[TomMoloughney]

"Wow. Completely incorrect..not just about BMW stability systems, but about most (and presumably all) major manufacturer stability control systems."

As I said, avoid those high speed sharp turns on wet roads in the i3 when in the high regen decel mode.

There isn't a problem with sharp turns and the strong regen. The regen actually decreases the more you turn the steering wheel. In a very sharp turn, there is little to no regenerative braking. I have over 11K on my i3 and have tested this out extensively.

 

[GRA]

Maybe I missed it, but didn't see you mention the Bay to Tahoe real world experience, so it can be found here: http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interestingly, John Higham did it twice, in the CARB-approved crippled REx setup and then with the hacked setup.

 

[TomMoloughney]

Maybe I missed it, but didn't see you mention the Bay to Tahoe real world experience, so it can be found here: http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interestingly, John Higham did it twice, in the CARB-approved crippled REx setup and then with the hacked setup.

That was a great effort by John. I don't believe I posted it here so thanks for the link. I try not to post to many links here myself. Although I think they are indeed informational, I know sites don't want people constantly posting links to their own content and diverting the readers elsewhere. I still post links, but in very limited volume.

 

[DaveEV]

I try not to post to many links here myself. Although I think they are indeed informational, I know sites don't want people constantly posting links to their own content and diverting the readers elsewhere. I still post links, but in very limited volume.

No problem posting links. Just write something to encourage discussion or your thoughts on the subject, don't just post a link without any context.

Here's a direct link to the referenced story - and the post that lead up to it:

The i3 REx: One Owner's Thoughts on the BEVx Restrictions (Part 1)
SF Bay to Tahoe in an i3 REx: What was learned? (Part 2)

 

[MrIanB]

Day 4, time to return i3:

Did not charge for two days and on the way back to return the i3 was able to get the range extender to come on. I barely heard it as it sounded like a lawn mower in the distance. The car still performed as it was when running on batteries. It sure is 10x quieter than my Volt running the generator. Had to turn a/c and radio off to hear the range extender in the i3 and like it shuts off when I get of the accelerator. Had my Volt gotten a higher trade in offer, would have pulled the trigger on it.

I still don't like it does not show album cover when playing music wirelessly through bluetooth. The Volt does it whether through usb or wireless bluetooth. Funny thing is i3 displayed song and album but not the album art. The gear handle look bulky and outdated. The dash in its entirety looked goofy w a lot of wasted space with two displayed pulled from another car and bolted to dash. The i3 had the larger navigation display and would be fine with the base unit smaller display. I think the base model us sufficient for me, don't care for leather seats or wood dash. I can always put leather. I don't like the base fan blade looking rims but easily pay to upgrade them. Another nice surprise was how the car heater worked. Car spent night outside, temp was in fifties and within two mins I was getting warm air. That would never happen in the Leaf or the Volt.

Overall, I would give the i3 a B grade and will consider if something happens to my Volt before the Tesla III a.

Ian B

 

[leafatl]

Day 4, time to return i3:

Did not charge for two days and on the way back to return the i3 was able to get the range extender to come on. I barely heard it as it sounded like a lawn mower in the distance. The car still performed as it was when running on batteries. It sure is 10x quieter than my Volt running the generator. Had to turn a/c and radio off to hear the range extender in the i3 and like it shuts off when I get of the accelerator. Had my Volt gotten a higher trade in offer, would have pulled the trigger on it.

I still don't like it does not show album cover when playing music wirelessly through bluetooth. The Volt does it whether through usb or wireless bluetooth. Funny thing is i3 displayed song and album but not the album art. The gear handle look bulky and outdated. The dash in its entirety looked goofy w a lot of wasted space with two displayed pulled from another car and bolted to dash. The i3 had the larger navigation display and would be fine with the base unit smaller display. I think the base model us sufficient for me, don't care for leather seats or wood dash. I can always put leather. I don't like the base fan blade looking rims but easily pay to upgrade them. Another nice surprise was how the car heater worked. Car spent night outside, temp was in fifties and within two mins I was getting warm air. That would never happen in the Leaf or the Volt.

Overall, I would give the i3 a B grade and will consider if something happens to my Volt before the Tesla III a.

Ian B

That mirrors my experience with testing the REx. We only ever really considered a BEV, but I was pleasantly surprised by the REx functionality on the demo car we had.

The only thing I can figure regarding the album art is that it's something specific to your phone/OS. I verified that all of the scenarios I listed in the previous post work on an iPhone 6 running iOS 8.1.

 

[lorenfb]

"There isn't a problem with sharp turns and the strong regen. The regen actually decreases the more you turn the steering wheel. In a very sharp turn, there is little to no regenerative braking."

That's great, then they eliminated the potential of an on-board system induced vehicle instability.
It was my error and oversight on the DSC functionality discussion issue.

 

[cwerdna]

Another nice surprise was how the car heater worked. Car spent night outside, temp was in fifties and within two mins I was getting warm air. That would never happen in the Leaf or the Volt.

I take it you have have Leaf w/the crappy resistive heater...

On my '13 Leaf SV (w/hybrid heater), as I've posted numerous times before, in the winter, if I turn on the heater, by the time I have backed out to my driveway, there's already warm air coming thru the vents. The heater I have is VERY fast to heat compared to all the complaining I've read about the slow to heat power pig water block-based PTC heater in the '11 and '12 Leafs. (I have no personal experience the crappy heater, only all the grumbling I've read over the years.)

Two minutes for my Leaf to heat would SUCK, by my standard.

 

[TomMoloughney]

I try not to post to many links here myself. Although I think they are indeed informational, I know sites don't want people constantly posting links to their own content and diverting the readers elsewhere. I still post links, but in very limited volume.

No problem posting links. Just write something to encourage discussion or your thoughts on the subject, don't just post a link without any context.

Here's a direct link to the referenced story - and the post that lead up to it:

The i3 REx: One Owner's Thoughts on the BEVx Restrictions (Part 1)
SF Bay to Tahoe in an i3 REx: What was learned? (Part 2)

Very well then, thanks. Here is one from today. We had an unexpected turn of events that left our two gassers unusable for a road trip my wife needed to make. Without the range extender we would have been out of luck. This is the reason I think range extenders will serve very useful until longer range EVs are more affordable and public DC infrastructure improves. Thoughts?

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/11/rex-to-rescue.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[lorenfb]

"On my '13 Leaf SV (w/hybrid heater), as I've posted numerous times before, in the winter, if I turn on the heater, by the time I have backed out to my driveway, there's already warm air coming thru the vents."

Right, the heater on the Leaf works great!

 

[MikeD]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/11/bmw-develops-street-lights-with-electric-car-charging-sockets/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[leafatl]

"On my '13 Leaf SV (w/hybrid heater), as I've posted numerous times before, in the winter, if I turn on the heater, by the time I have backed out to my driveway, there's already warm air coming thru the vents."

Right, the heater on the Leaf works great!

Agreed, the heater on our '13 SV was great as well. It seemed to heat up just as quickly as the one in the i3.

 

[BestPal]

I try not to post to many links here myself. Although I think they are indeed informational, I know sites don't want people constantly posting links to their own content and diverting the readers elsewhere. I still post links, but in very limited volume.

No problem posting links. Just write something to encourage discussion or your thoughts on the subject, don't just post a link without any context.

Here's a direct link to the referenced story - and the post that lead up to it:

The i3 REx: One Owner's Thoughts on the BEVx Restrictions (Part 1)
SF Bay to Tahoe in an i3 REx: What was learned? (Part 2)

Very well then, thanks. Here is one from today. We had an unexpected turn of events that left our two gassers unusable for a road trip my wife needed to make. Without the range extender were would have been out of luck. This is the reason I think range extenders will serve very useful until longer range EVs are more affordable and public DC infrastructure improves. Thoughts?

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/11/rex-to-rescue.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nice write up. Real world proves Range Extender to be a very practical choice and shows that your driving is 95% electric. That's exactly what it was designed for. Until we have a true EPA 200 mile range EV under $30K I hope other manufactures will get the message and design new gen car with REx option. Wink wink nissan Gen 2 leaf that's being designed from scratch as we speak. I hope they're taking notes. Unless of course they can offer 200 mile EV under $30K, I'd much rather pick that up but until then it's nice to have REx option for those of us who want it. i3 sales numbers prove that most buyers do.

 

[MrIanB]

Are new colors coming? Would like BMW red or blue shade colors.

Ian B