Topic: Quick Spin: 2015 BMW i3 REX

[slalom]

Ever since I read the following road test, I wondered about that deceleration provided to regenerate juice when you let off the accelerator. Maybe not the best idea for snow driving, even assuming you fit it with winter tires.

http://www.autoworldnews.com/articles/13603/20150310/review-notes-took-bmw-i3-winter-road-trip-electric.htm

Very good point about the regen on the i3.  Clearly doesn't appear to have been designed with winter driving in mind.  Granted, the author of that article did mention driving on all seasons, but even with winters, I'd be wary of the lack of modulation.

um, this genius was driving in the snow with the 20-inch SUMMER tires, no car would be controllable let alone the i3. And he also doesn't seem to understand how to one-pedal drive, it does take some practice but you don't just let fully off the accel, the pedal has full modulation of the vehicles speed, its not an on-off switch.

Article claimed he was on all-seasons.

He wasn't, trust me. The standard 19-inch wheels/tires are all-seasons... the optional 20-inch wheel is only available with summer tires.
Here are the tires: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?tireIndex=2&autoMake=BMW&autoYear=2015&autoModel=i3+with+Range+Extender&autoModClar=Tera+World&frontWidth=155%2F&frontRatio=60&frontDiameter=20&frontSortCode=59832&rearWidth=175%2F&rearRatio=55&rearDiameter=20&rearSortCode=59842
And one can identify visually that the wheels are the 20's from the pic at the top of the article.

[JohnM]

The interiors in the REX are fabulous and the packaging is quite brilliant.  BMW has done for the chassis-art what Tesla has done for drivetrains.

A bigger battery would be great but you'd also pay for it.  Hats off to BMW for a great effort and a very valid product.

 - I'm still waiting for the 2016 Smart E.  Hope it has a slightly larger battery and it has to have level 3 charging capability.

Cheers,
John M.

[blotter]

everytime I see one, it makes me smile.   They're very rare in these parts.
Pretty neat, but not very useful.   I'd personally never get one unless I was loaded and wanted an extra "two person only city car" 

If they could have stretched it just a bit and made a proper 4-door out of it, the jump in usefulness would have been huge.

[OliverD]

everytime I see one, it makes me smile.   They're very rare in these parts.
Pretty neat, but not very useful.   I'd personally never get one unless I was loaded and wanted an extra "two person only city car" 

If they could have stretched it just a bit and made a proper 4-door out of it, the jump in usefulness would have been huge.

I thought the back seat was plenty big and it's easily accessed.

[safristi]

everytime I see one, it makes me smile.   They're very rare in these parts.
Pretty neat, but not very useful.   I'd personally never get one unless I was loaded and wanted an extra "two person only city car" 

If they could have stretched it just a bit and made a proper 4-door out of it, the jump in usefulness would have been huge.

I thought the back seat was plenty big and it's easily accessed.

....








   and so is a PORTA_POTTY....and it's better lookin'

[bye]

The driving position and excellent visibility certainly looks to be like the "pod" type cockpit of the Smart Electric Drive.  This is truly advantageous in city driving conditions, where manoeuvring in traffic, or around parking lot concrete median/edges benefits from a relatively high sitting position (much higher than in a Volt or Tesla) and low dashboard.  The car looks great IMHO, seen it up close a few times, in various colors and interiors, unusual but sharp.

The battery at ~18 kWh is only 1 kWh larger than that in my Smart ED.  This means that in the coldest (-20C) winter conditions when the cabin heater needs to run, both cars will get you a little over 80 km of range, regardless of what the manufacturer claims.  That said, 80 km of range is plenty for a little city car like my Smart ED, most people rarely drive over 80 km in a day, and since most families own two cars, as long as one of them is a long range car, no problems.   

The performance is pretty good, about 2 seconda faster to 100 km/h compared to the Smart ED, and only the same as the new 2016 Volt from 0-50 km/h.  The tires are strange size and thus will have few options when looking for winter or replacement.

Very nice effort by BMW.  I myself couldn't imagine paying that price for such little performance/utility.  I only paid a bit over $17K for my Smart ED.

The price at almost $60K loaded is close to the price of a used Tesla.  Multiple cars have sold via the Tesla CPO program at near that price with full warranty. 

[EV-Light]

winter driving is why this will fail!...exactly the thoughts I shared a few months ago.

This represents exactly what I thought it would happen to the i3 in snow:

Approaching the first traffic light, at no more than 10 mph, I let off the accelerator to come to a stop. The i3 hastily lost grip, suffered an internal panic, and spun 270 degrees before finding a low-lying curb stop. There was no one behind us, at first, but a gaggle of midsize sedans, SUVs, and pickup trucks began to give curious looks to the turned-around orange alien that lay in their way. Not that they stopped to help. The rear-wheel-drive i3 was hopeless in extricating itself from the mess.

[stevep]

winter driving is why this will fail!...exactly the thoughts I shared a few months ago.

This represents exactly what I thought it would happen to the i3 in snow:

Approaching the first traffic light, at no more than 10 mph, I let off the accelerator to come to a stop. The i3 hastily lost grip, suffered an internal panic, and spun 270 degrees before finding a low-lying curb stop. There was no one behind us, at first, but a gaggle of midsize sedans, SUVs, and pickup trucks began to give curious looks to the turned-around orange alien that lay in their way. Not that they stopped to help. The rear-wheel-drive i3 was hopeless in extricating itself from the mess.

Did you somehow miss the debunking of this claim a few messages above yours?  That car had 20" summer performance tires, the exact same tires that came on my i3 (they only make summer performance tires with that wheel style). Any car with such will be HORRIBLE in even a dusting of snow.

I have an i3 with Bridgestone Blizzaks and I assure you, not only is the car safe, it's excellent in the snow. The thin tires cut through the stuff like butter, and the electronic drivetrain is an order of magnitude faster to respond to loss of traction than a gas car, since power can be cut almost instantly with no waiting for the various drivetrain components (engine, transmission) to "catch up".

Also there is absolutely zero problems with regen and 1-pedal driving. The driver has full control over the amount of regen.

[bye]

Nice first post fellow EV brother, carma sent your way.

[EV Dan]

Welcome to the forum Steve!