BMW i3 A/C Compressor Noise: Yes, That's Normal...

Turn the volume up to hear the A/C compressor at work

Now that dog days of summer are upon us, I've noticed quite a few i3 owners popping up on social media sites like the i3 Facebook Group, the MyBMWi3 Forum and the BMW i Circuit Forum asking if the loud noise they hear coming from under their car is normal. Like all EVs, the i3 is very quiet most of the time so when you hear a loud noise coming from the vehicle which you've never heard before, it's understandable to assume there may be something wrong.

However in this case there is nothing to worry about. The loud noise you hear when you park the car or when you plug in to charge is just the air conditioning compressor running. The car's thermal management system is working to cool off the batteries. Keeping the batteries cool is vital to prolonging their life, and preventing early capacity loss. Some early Nissan LEAF owners who lived in warm weather climates experienced unacceptable battery capacity loss and actually sued Nissan over it. The LEAF uses a passive thermal management system which doesn't actively cool the batteries like most modern EVs do, and in extreme cases the batteries were damaged from the heat. There are different types of systems used in today's EVs, and the i3's is likely the best one out there. The thermal management system is just another reason the i3 has been called the most advanced vehicle on the planet.

The i3 has a sophisticated thermal management system which uses R134a refrigerant to cool the batteries. It's actually the only EV to employ this type of battery cooling method. Some electric vehicles from other manufacturers use fans to blow air across the batteries to cool them, while other more advanced systems use a liquid based thermal management system. Liquid based systems work well, but they use more energy than the i3's system does, and using an inert gas is also the safest way to cool the battery. If the i3's battery pack is somehow compromised, the gas will simply and harmlessly dissipate. One potential problem of liquid based thermal management systems is in the rare case of a catastrophic rupture of the battery pack, the liquid could act as an accelerant if the battery has a fire, spreading the fire to other parts of the pack. I don't see this as a serious flaw in liquid based thermal management systems, and I'd feel perfectly safe driving or owning an EV which had one. It's just that I believe the i3's TMS is simply better than the competition's.

So if you're an i3 owner and are wondering why the car has been making this loud buzzing noise recently, now you know. 

Born Electric Guest Blogger: Meet Steve from Washington

Hi! My name is Steve and I was born electric on August 15, 2012.


You highly intelligent, super savvy readers may be questioning my sanity. Or, at the very least, fact-checking. And those dubious thoughts are spot on. The above picture is me putting gas into a new kind of EV: a BMW i3. And those understanding of the i3 know that, in 2012, the i3 only existed as an internal tension at BMW between the maniacal engineers that thought a mass-market car could be made extensively with carbon fiber and the bean counters that believed BMW i was a financial money pit destined to ruin Team Bavaria. Eureka!

EV Bloodline

Our first three EVs were all-electric Nissan LEAFs. 

Back in the summer of 2012, we started replacing our gasoline-fueled family hauler fleet. The second LEAF came eight months later, making us an all-EV household. My wife and I defiantly and definitively proclaimed that we would never again visit a gas station. Then in 2014, I traded my beta test 2012 LEAF for a ready-for-market 2014 LEAF.  We were seemingly set with two very capable EVs in our garage: a 2013 Nissan LEAF SL and a 2014 Nissan LEAF SL.

Then the electric vehicle market expanded +1 in Washington state. BMW started selling its i3 in the State the latter half of 2014. By Christmas, I had one on an extended test drive. When we turned the i3 back over to the BMW dealership, we were conflicted. The i3, with its onboard gas generator, or Range Extender (REx), was far more capable as a transporting vehicle. However, Nissan's LEAF, with its CHAdeMo-equipped quick charging, was far more capable as an EV. 

Fallen LEAF

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) Passenger Cell

Unless you are a bot scouring the Interwebs, you have correctly surmised that we ended up buying an i3. On March 12, 2015, we traded in my wife's 2013 LEAF for a BMW i3 REx. The i3 is unlike any vehicle on the road: carbon fiber, suicide rear doors, and series-hybrid purity. The features and headlines that make the i3 such an emotionally appealing vehicle are all present in our Bimmer. Yes, there are plenty of bits to get excited about with the car. However, the deciding factor in selling a LEAF for the i3 was the REx option. 

For the past three years, we have traveled far, but not wide, in a LEAF. We have shown that all-electric travel is quite possible the 1,500 miles between Kamloops, British Columbia and the U.S.-Mexico border. But EV travel (sans Tesla EVs) is only practically doable in a narrow 200 mile east-west corridor along the entirety of the West Coast.

Road Trip! A Coram Family tradition.

My wife and I have a long history of road trips...long before we had EVs, long before we had kids. Now that we have EVs and kids, we have naturally invoked our parental obligations of perpetuating traditions with our Littles. And, we've all but exhausted the territory that we can travel to by LEAF. From here on out, the i3 will be taking over as the primary road trip car. With that in mind, I wanted to prepare a day trip for the i3 that would serve as a suitable first, of many, REx adventures.

One of the great tests for EVs lies in day-tripping to the Olympic Peninsula from the Seattle area. I've done this trip twice with my children. The first attempt, ended in failure. The second a success, as we made it to Hurricane Ridge, a spectacular mountain region south of Port Angeles. What makes EV day travels to the Olympic Peninsula challenging is that the last ferry on the Kingston-Edmonds route departs at 11:00pm. In addition, there is not DC quick charging support, and only a limited number of Level 2 charging stations in the region. Basically, the furthest west a current generation LEAF can go in a day, from where we live in Lake Stevens, is Port Angeles.

The i3 REx faired much better. This is our report..

Topping off the 1.9 gallon gas tank!

We pulled out of the garage at about 7:00am, and made the ferry crossing and drive to Port Angeles by mid-morning. And after charging at a Sun Country-branded Clipper Creek High-Amp Level 2 (HAL2) charging station for a bit over an hour, we topped off the gas tank and continued west: Destination Cape Flattery 70+ miles away.

We made it to Neah Bay after about two hours of driving; WA-112 is not an interstate. The typical travel speed was about 45mph, and we had to watch out for the occasional herd of elk!

A herd of a few dozen elk crossed the road we were driving on!

The Makah Tribe, in the Neah Bay region, have started supporting electric vehicle tourism with several recent EVSE installations. The first, a HAL2 and dual Tesla High-Power Wall Chargers (HPWCs) are located in the town of Neah Bay. The second, another HAL2 and dual HPWCs are located at the Hobuck Beach Resort.

Both locations are glorious, in scenery and in EVSE support. In between these two gems, is a marvel in its own right: Cape Flattery. The Cape Flattery experience is second to none. It provides quintessential Pacific Northwest ocean views and kid-friendly hiking abound.

So, after trekking around Cape Flattery in the early afternoon, we let the kids play on the mile-wide Hobuck Beach, which has sand more reminiscent of a Hawaiian coastline than the typical pebbled Northwest affair.

Hobuck Beach: End of the road

By late afternoon, we were heading back east, towards Port Angeles, the Kingston-Edmonds ferry, and eventually home. Pulling into the garage at just past midnight, we were all exhausted, with both kids soundly asleep in the back of the i3. What was different about this trip: We covered 340 miles in a day (using less than 5 gallons of gasoline), and the kids were dead-tired because we had so much adventure outside of traveling in the car.

Tuckered out after a day of fun.

Road trips will forever be different for us, now that we have an i3 with REx. Whereas before, with a LEAF, every moment of the trip was in service of charging. The motto, "if it ain't movin', it better be chargin', " was not coined by somebody driving a hybrid, or Tesla for that matter.

With the i3, we will be able to drive all-electric, all the time. Or, if we wish, we can utilize the REx to take us where no Coram has gone before. Now, that sounds like an EVenture!

We love our new i3!

Born Electric Guest Blogger: Meet Mike From Virginia

My name is Mike from metro Richmond, Virginia.  I was Born Electric for the second time on August 11, 2014, with the purchase of a new i3 with Range Extender!  

The i3 is my first BMW but my sixth car from the BMW Group as I have owned several MINIs over the past twelve years ranging from a base Cooper to the track-ready JCW GP.  The i3 shares currently shares driving duties with my first EV, a 2012 Nissan LEAF SL.  It�s the first time in 25 years of driving that I don�t own an ICE car as well as a car with a manual transmission.  I think I am having serious withdrawals with no clutch as I really miss shifting for myself!

Racing the Sun

My first exposure to electric vehicles came at Virginia Tech as a student in the College of Engineering.  As a guy passionate about cars practically since birth, I naturally found myself working with peers to design and build a solar electric vehicle for entry in Sunrayce 97, a multi-day competition sponsored by GM and DOE.  This race would pit us against other schools from the U.S. and Canada and have us driving the car on public roads between Indianapolis and Colorado Springs with pit stops along the way.  A typical one-day stage had us driving 50-200 miles completely on electricity.  Hyper-miling techniques would take on new meaning and would have to be the norm rather than the exception!  Like the i3, the solar car made use of carbon fiber (plus Kevlar) and aluminum to keep weight low and strength high.  Unlike the BMW, our car employed several pounds of lead-acid batteries which were mandated as a means to level the playing field and keep costs low.  Boy has battery technology really evolved since 1997!  I would have the honor and privilege to qualify the car first at the GM Proving Grounds in Michigan and then across the bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Throughout the event at IMS, I remember watching GM reps drive through Gasoline Alley in an EV1 and thinking about how futuristic and cool it was at the time.  We ultimately made the race and I was able to drive the car across the finish line in Colorado.  It was both scary and thrilling at the same time!  I just knew at some point down the road I would have an electric vehicle of my own. Little did I know that the knowledge and experience that I gained from the solar car program would not only boost my interest in EVs, but also somewhat change my driving habits. 

Enter Nissan LEAF

Fast forwarding into this century, I had anxiously awaited the arrival of LEAF and Volt in my area.  The Volt is nice, but I was more interested in the Nissan.  I carefully monitored sales, waited until prices came down a good bit, took a few test drives of the Nissan, and finally leased a new fully loaded 2012 LEAF SL in Blue Ocean.  The LEAF was my introduction to production electric vehicles and would allow me to gauge over a 24-month period whether or not a battery electric vehicle would mesh with my driving habits work in my life, allow me to explore the local charging infrastructure (or lack thereof), and force me to setup charging at home.  The central Virginia infrastructure currently shows only a few public charging stations, but we do have Tesla supercharging stations so hopefully more Level 2 stations will be installed in the near future.  More on the LEAF later, but let us now move into BMW territory.

One LEAF and one i3 REx. Could be the perfect garage!

No Availability of MINI-E and ActiveE

As a longtime MINI owner until a few months ago, I would have jumped at the opportunity to participate in the MINI-E and ActiveE trial programs but was unable to do so because neither one was available for lease in my area.  Shame on MINI and BMW for not offering these cars in non-urban markets!  I did get to see an ActiveE in person earlier this year which was an unexpected thrill.  An ActiveE owner from the greater New York City area moved to Virginia and returned the car to my local dealer.

Tom's MINI-E and my ActiveE, side by side.  Yes, I'm definitely jealous!

Choosing the i3 w/Range Extender

The BMW driving experience and range extender option are the two main reasons why I chose the i3.  The LEAF is a very good car especially for the price, however, I simply wanted more in my next plug-in: 

1)      Greater range with the ability to travel to Washington DC, North Carolina (to visit my family) and beyond without stopping for a lengthy recharge, even if it meant using a little gas

2)      Better all-around performance � handling, braking, acceleration

3)      More attractive styling outside and inside

4)      Remain practical enough to tote around my 8-year old son (who loves to ride!) and occasionally carry a few adults and stuff

5)      Greater use of available lightweight and/or sustainable materials

6)      All of the above for a decent price

The i3 Rex fits the bill almost perfectly for me (except for the lofty price!) because I can limit my environmental impact by driving the car as a BEV about 90% of the time and engage the Rex 10% of the time for long journeys.  My daily commute is less than 20 miles roundtrip.  Most of the time I won�t need the Rex, but it�s there when I do need it thus eliminating the need on a daily basis for an ICE vehicle.  The i3 is compact and roomy but not as limited in some areas as the MINI, it�s nimble and quick, it features traditional BMW rear-wheel-drive, it doesn�t look like any other car in terms of the exterior and interior styling, and I can take my 8-year son just about anywhere anytime.  I actually like the rear window styling and think it makes changing lanes a little safer since it improves visibility!  Does it look a bit strange?  Yes it does, but the rear window along with the rest of the i3 is interesting in a good way.

I think all of the entries in the plug-in category are terrific however the Tesla Model S and Cadillac ELR (not really a consideration) are priced out of my range.  The Chevy Volt is modern and refreshing on the outside but not so exciting on the inside.  I might have considered a Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive or VW e-Golf (my pick between these two cars) however both cars will not be available in my area for quite a while.  Sadly, the Honda Fit EV, Fiat 500e, Toyota RAV4 EV, and Chevy Spark EV are also not for sale leaving only a handful of plug-in EV models from which to choose out of the increasing pool.

Order, Production, and Shipping of my i3

My first trip to the local dealer took place way back in August 2013 not long after BMW released the first bits of information and images of the production i3.  The MINI sales manager, whom I knew very well, introduced me to the BMW sales manager.  I told him that I was very interested in the i3 and wanted to place my name at the top of the list.  The only major thing that I wasn�t sure about was the price as it had not been announced yet.  Meanwhile, I kept in touch with the dealer, followed the press releases, and discovered many i3 discussion groups and online forums.  Many thanks to Tom Moloughney, Chris Neff, and other i3 owners around the world for their knowledge sharing and great blogs!  I finally placed an order in early February for an i3 on somewhat of a reasonable budget with the following options: 

�        Range Extender

�        Solar Orange metallic paint (changed from my initial order of Andesite Silver)

�        Giga World trim

�        Technology and Driving Assistant Package

�        Heated Seats

The dealer pulled some strings to secure me a production slot in Week 10 (early March) only to have BMW headquarters push my order back a couple of months to build pre-configured i3s, accommodate supply constraints such as the shortage of Tera World leather, etc.  I am a patient guy so it was fine with me as long as I ultimately got the car I ordered in the right configuration.  While I received some updates from the dealer about my order, I frequently called the BMW Concierge to get information about my car. The Concierge was great and more than happy to give me the status of my order and answer any questions.  Thank you, BMW, for this welcome service!  My car entered production on May 21, completed production on May 30, passed QA with flying colors onJune 2, but then got held up at the factory nearly a month.  It shipped out to the VPC (New Jersey) at the end June and eventually arrived in Virginia around the 1^st of August.  I was perfectly fine with letting BMW keep my car as long as necessary to do more quality control, perform hardware and software updates, etc. as long as it arrived just the way I asked for it and without significant issues.  Total time from order to delivery was about 6 months.

i3 Colors

I ordered my i3 with the gorgeous Solar Orange metallic paint.  It really glows in the sun (pun intended!) and looks great with the two-tone interior of the Giga World trim level!  The color palette is pretty limited at the moment with too many silvers and greys, so it�s a good thing that I have wanted to buy an orange car for a long time.  Solar Orange truly hits the mark!  For the time being, I am the only one in my area with an i3 in this color although someone else in a different part of town has a Solar Orange / Mega i3.  My second and third choices, respectively, would have been Ionic Silver and Capparis White with either Mega World or Giga World trims.  I had considered the Andesite Silver, but deemed it too brown.

 

Options

Here is my opinion regarding each trim level and individual option:

�        Range Extender � Must have in my case, biggest distinguishing feature between i3 and other EVs

�        Mega World � Looks good with some colors, if seats are a bit light and materials not as rich looking as Giga World and Tera World trim, no Comfort Access and Sirius radio (can be added)

�        Giga World � Best suits my taste with two-tone cloth and leather combination, leather dash, and eucalyptus wood plus you get Comfort Access, Sirius satellite radio, and garage door opener

�        Tera World � Too dark for my taste, reduces the light and airy feeling of the passenger compartment; Climate is too hot / cold here in Virginia to have dark brown leather seats

�        Technology and Driving Assistant Package � Required in my opinion since you are spending this much money on a high-tech car you should have the big center screen and bells / whistles too

�        Parking Assistant Package � Did not order, but decent value at $1,000; Most likely would never use the autonomous parking; Backup cameras will be required on all U.S. cars starting in 2018

�        20-inch Wheels � Gorgeous, but slightly harsher ride, more noise, perhaps more punctures

�        DC Fast Charging � Currently no infrastructure in my area to support this option

�        Heated Seats � Won�t buy a new car without them, great with cloth and/or leather seats

 

Solar Orange with Giga World interior is the best combo IMO.

Frustrating Delivery

I feel that I should mention here that the actual delivery of my new i3 Rex was quite disappointing.  Not only was the car not even halfway charged nor did it contain even remotely close to a full tank of gas (even if it is only a whopping 1.9 gal!), but I would ultimately have to return to the dealer not once but TWICE to re-sign all of the Owner�s Choice with Flex financing paperwork making a total of three times to sign all the important documents.  The dealer had driven the car to a local music festival along with other vehicles without asking me when they knew darn well that I had ordered the car and was close to coming to get it as I was negotiating with the sales manager but had not yet taken full possession of it. Plus it was not plugged into the charger, thus leaving the SOC around 30% at the time of the delivery.  We did go to the gas station and fill up the tiny tank with Shell premium unleaded for just $6.55.  At least it was squeaky clean as they had run it through the detail shop.  While my car was on order, my Client Advisor had been promoted to a Finance person so I will chalk up the first mistake to the learning curve with his new role. The second mistake was inexcusable as I was told i3 financing paperwork had to be printed on �special� printer paper.  Excuse my ignorance, what is wrong with the regular printer paper which is probably made of the same recycled paper?  Honestly, I could discern no differences when I sat down for the third time to sign the paperwork.  At least I got the dealer to discount the car by $1,000 (not great considering better deals could be had 100 miles away) and throw in some accessories.  

Accessories and Paint Protection

As part of my deal for the i3, I asked the dealer to provide me with the all-weather mats and trunk mat/box free of charge.  The trunk mat doubles as a cargo box with the pull of the drawstring which is kind of cool.  I highly recommend the all-weather mats as they are significantly easier to live with than the standard Giga cr�me mats!  For extra protection in the interior, I went to Target and purchased charcoal grey bath towels to place over the seats, particularly in the rear where my son will sit.  The dealer also gave me a voucher for $50 for use in the parts shop which I took over to get two blue glow-in-the-dark key covers and the BMW i notebook.  Additionally, I placed a call to Joe @ Autobahnd (for those of you with i3s in central Virginia he does top notch work) shortly after delivery to cover the front of my i3 with clear bra to protect that luscious orange paint.  Joe did a great job and charged me $650 for full hood, front bumper, headlights, fog lights, A-pillars, and the trapezoidal lower sections behind the front wheels.  I will ask Joe to return in the near future to do my lower doors and front fenders also.

Applying the clear bra

Home EVSE

I charged the LEAF over the past two years using a combination of Level 1 (home) and Level 2 (work) chargers.  Now that I own two EVs, I went ahead and purchased a Bosch Power Max EL-51253 home charging station from Amazon for about $550 (after using a $50 gift card that I had lying around).  The only disadvantage is the 18 foot cord, but it is long enough for my needs.  I highly recommend this charger as it was easy to install, looks great in my garage, and charges the i3 and the LEAF without fail!

Overall Impressions

The i3 has been a blast to drive and trouble-free throughout my ownership period of two months and 1200 miles, with no warning lights or error messages.  Overall, the car is fast, comfortable, efficient, fun, and turns some heads!  The acceleration throws you back in the seat and the steering is very responsive, almost too fast.  BMW engineers nailed the steering however I will have to spend more time evaluating the suspension to determine if BMW got the handling right because while the ride is fine I am not sure if the suspension and large wheel / tire combination really hit the mark.  The i3 carves a very nice arc and corners more flatly than the LEAF but it doesn�t feel as stable and composed over bumps as I would expect from a BMW.  My favorite part of the car is the strong regenerative braking � I LOVE the one-pedal driving!  Switching the car into Eco Pro or Eco Pro+ mode allows me to complete local but long round trip drives (without tapping into the range extender) that I could not previously do in the LEAF, even driving conservatively in the middle of summer.  The i3 BEV is fantastic also, but the range extender makes the car just that much more versatile.  Visibility to the front and sides is excellent with a commanding view of the road ahead.  I feel like I sit higher in the i3 than I do in the LEAF, which is surprising.  I would not call visibility to the rear great, but the standard parking sensors work well enough.  I am not a music lover, however, the base stereo sounds good considering there are no rear speakers and I have come to enjoy the Sirius radio on my commutes to work.  My last few cars have all had Sirius and I had never spent more than a few minutes listening to it but now I do in the i3.  If there is one thing to which I am not accustomed yet, it would be the drive pod (transmission).  While easy to operate, it does not feel intuitive as I find myself often selecting Drive rather than Reverse or vice versa.

    

Operation of Range Extender

A few weeks ago, I was able to experience the range extender by taking a 215-mile roundtrip deep into the Blue Ridge mountain range to do some apple picking with my son.  The trip would prove one way or the other if the Rex was worth the extra dough as I would be driving mostly at highway speeds along both flat stretches of road and moderate hills along Route 29 between Charlottesville and Lynchburg.  The night before going to the orchard, I was pulling the i3 into my garage when I noticed a message on the professional navigation screen saying the Rex would run in maintenance mode the next time I drove the car below 75% SOC.  Sure enough, the next day driving along I-64 the little engine came to life for about 10 minutes holding the charge steady as I cruised around 70 mph on the way to the orchard.  I can enthusiastically say that we made it to the orchard and back without a hitch!  Here is the mileage I was able to obtain during this trip starting with a full charge and the gas added by the dealer at delivery:

�        EV range (highway):  74 miles

�        1^st Rex tank (used 2/3 tank of fuel):  47 miles

�        2^nd Rex tank (used � tank of fuel):  49 miles

�        3^rd Rex tank (used � tank of fuel):  45 miles

�        Total mileage:  EV:  74 miles; Rex:  141 miles

I arrived home with just under � tank of fuel after depleting the batteries and stopping twice very conservatively for a couple splashes of gas.  This trip was my first chance to try out the Rex and I didn�t want to be left stranded somewhere with my son.  The Rex performed flawlessly, going about its business without much fanfare!  I could not tell it was operating at all on the highway, even with the windows up although we had the windows cracked all the way to the orchard.  I could only make out a little bit of noise below 50 mph or so with more noise as I approached stoplights.  There is also a tad bit of vibration through the seats when the Rex is running.  The vibration becomes more pronounced when the Rex is really cranked to its max.  I wouldn�t go so far as to call it thrashing, but it is definitely more noticeable at times.  The only negative thing I noticed was some hesitation in power during one of two hill climbs, however, the car never lost more than a few mph and giving me the confidence to continue driving with a few changes to my throttle position.  I should add that the hesitation occurred after the blue bar had dropped down below the 6.5% threshold and inched closer to the 0% SOC mark.  Prior to this hesitation, I had taken off quickly from a stoplight in Comfort mode to gain momentum going up a hill but didn�t think about my acceleration affecting the power.  The blue bar WILL move toward away from the small triangle and toward the 0% SOC mark if you accelerate hard and expend more power than the Rex is producing.  I would suggest selecting Eco Pro or Eco Pro+ to avoid over exerting your right foot and closely monitoring both your speed and the SOC level.  You shouldn�t have any problems!

Likes

Here are the aspects of the i3 that I like the most: 

1.      Strong regenerative braking � love using the motor to stop the car instead of the brakes

2.      Strong acceleration � put the hammer down and it flies

3.      Steering � ultra quick with a ridiculous turning circle

4.      Exterior styling � futuristic and bold, especially in Solar Orange or Ionic Silver

5.      Interior styling � love the design and use of different materials throughout

6.      iDrive � completely new to me but I like it so far

7.      Comfortable and supportive seats � conform well to my 5�7�, 160-pound body, no   aches / pains

8.      Clamshell (�suicide�) rear doors � easy getting stuff and / or my son in and out

9.      Range Extender � brilliant, so far it has worked as advertised!

10.   Adaptive Cruise Control � makes the car even easier to drive on the highway

11.   Mirrors that fold down in Reverse � nice touch that makes parking that much easier

12.   Enhancements � can be mostly done with software and hardware updates for current owners

Dislikes

There are a few things that either I don�t like or would like to see  about the car, even though it is genius in several ways!  Most of these items are minor and some even downright petty:

1.      Unsettled suspension motions over bumps and changing pavement -  could be more composed

2.      Thin steering wheel � nice material, small diameter, but wimpy thickness

3.      White / cream floor mats with Giga World � practically useless to me, what was BMW thinking?

4.      Car  is turned on but then turns off when door is opened � lawyers went overboard here   

5.      Transmission control stalk � not intuitive as I get confused selecting Drive or Reverse

6.      Extras not available � heated steering wheel and opening rear side windows would be welcome

Summary

The i3 Rex has generally lived up to my expectations thus far as the first electric offering from BMW.  This car is the most expensive vehicle that I have ever purchased, so I just hope it will deliver real value as the LEAF has a lot going for it at just $250 per month in my case!  Frankly, the more I drive the i3 the more I really like it although I need to spend more time with it to understand its full capabilities.  It was very exciting to drive my i3 a total distance of 200+ miles in one day � a genuine delight!  I plan to keep the car for about 5 to 7 years and really look forward to a positive and rewarding ownership experience!

Nissan LEAF Owner Reviews the i3 After 3-Day Extended Test Drive

I have always maintained that a good number of i3 buyers will be Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF owners that have just finished up the three year lease on their vehicle. Phil Tipper is an EV "early adopter" and leased a Nissan LEAF. His lease will expire next spring so he's trying to decide which plug in vehicle he'll get next. The i3 is on his list of possibilities and when BMW recently offered the i3 extended test drive Phil  jumped on the opportunity to get to know the car a little more. I love this extended test drive offering from BMW. I think it's a great way to give prospective customers a chance to absorb what the i3 is all about. Phil is already an experienced electric car driver so he could focus more on the specific features of the i3, but many others who have never experienced electric drive will find the extended time they have with an i3 intoxicating. Having more than a few minutes during a quick test drive at a dealership will absolutely help convince people that may have been on the fence. It's simple, the more you drive electric the more you like it. That extra time behind the wheel may be all they need to make the decision to go electric for the first time. Phil wrote of his experience and thoughts on his time with the i3 and posted it to his blog. I thought is was interesting to hear what a Nissan LEAF driver thought of the i3 so I asked him if I could post it here and he obliged. Below is the post from Phil's personal blog:

As regular readers of my blog know, I'm actively researching the next electric car to replace our 2013 Nissan LEAF SL when its two year lease expires next June, and that the BMW i3 is on the top of my list of contenders.

I like the BMW because of its light weight for an EV (because of the carbon fiber structure of its "life module"), giving it the potential for good energy efficiency and promising good handling around corners, because it has a relatively powerful and torquey motor making it quick off the line, because BMW has tuned in tight steering and minimal body roll, because it is a rear wheel drive design (for classic sports car handling), because I like BMWs and I like the personal service that a premium brand provides, and because I can get a model with a range extender that offers a total of about 150 miles of range, with more range available with a fill-up of a tiny bit of gasoline. I like the idea that a range extender will let us take trips as far as Santa Barbara and San Diego without worrying as much about the reliability of public charging and the time recharging would take.

I'm also fascinated by the concept that having a range extender as a cushion will actually let us, paradoxically, drive more electric miles because we'll be more likely to take the EV than to fall back on the Prius, and because we'll be comfortable dipping deep into the battery's charge because the range extender will be there as a cushion and we won't risk needing a charge to get home.

On brief test drives of the i3, I had been able to briefly sample the car's quick acceleration and tight steering, but I'd had trouble getting used to the strong regeneration when the accelerator pedal is released, and I had even felt a bit of vertigo, especially as a passenger when the car was driven vigorously. So I had some concerns to resolve. On Facebook and in person, drivers of the i3 had told me that these concerns would resolve themselves quickly after I had gotten more used to driving the car. A longer test drive was needed.

To my delight, some BMW dealers recently began offering three-day test drives of the i3. This was exactly what I wanted. I found a dealer within 25 miles of my home that was offering the long test drives, Shelly BMW in Buena Park, California, and I found their internet team responsive and easy to work with. I thank them and applaud their willingness to take on the bother and expense of offering this program. To me, the BMW i3 is a car that benefits from a longer test drive so that the customer can learn its unusual.driving dynamics. In fact, I think that brief test drives around the block can be misleading, mostly because of the strong regeneration. I picked up a base model "Mega" i3 with the range extender engine and the optional 20 inch wheels and tires last Thursday morning.
Here are some of the comments about my experiences that I posted on the BMW i3 Facebook group.

Random impressions from first 24 hours, 150 miles:
Regen braking:

It's pretty much a non-issue and I beg to retract all of my earlier doubtful and even downright negative comments about it. It is different, but it is manageable and you adjust fairly quickly. I would still like to have the regen strength adjustable for a more relaxed driving experience in certain situations. At low speeds with this car, you WILL brake significantly if you need to lift your foot to readjust its position on the accelerator, and it would be very nice to be able to reduce the regen power if you just want to relax and coast with your foot off the pedal for a few seconds. Also, as many have said, the regen strength is lower at high speeds, so you don't go into full-on braking at freeway speeds if you lift off. My wife's first test drive comes in a day or so, and I expect her to have issues learning to drive the car smoothly, and I also expect uncontrollable giggling at some point during her test drive (from her, not from me). But I was able to drive her on a day trip today without her feeling too jerked about. And that was in both Comfort and EcoPro modes.

Ride and handling:

The car does bounce around a bit more than I like on uneven pavement in situations when I want a smooth ride, especially when I have a passenger. When I'm out for sporty driving by myself, the ride is tight and just fine for me. I put a lot of this down to the short wheelbase that allows the car to bob over bumps, and the 20 inch wheels with low profile tires. I had mentioned getting just a touch motion sick on short test drives before, but I have to say that I really haven't felt that in my first full day of driving the car. I imagine that having a chance for my inner ear and brain to get used to the car has something to do with that. I'll just say that the car is less relaxing to cruise in than my Leaf is because the steering is very responsive to any turning input and I find that I have to pay more attention to where the car is in the lane than I do with the Leaf. Some would say that's the price you pay for responsive steering. Fair enough.

Sporty driving:

Oh hell yes! You owners know this, but I think that the best kept public secret about the i3 is that there is a little sports car demon hiding inside this little thing. When I'm driving alone on a twisty, hilly road, it feels as good as any sports car I've driven (remember that I'm in the Mazda, Nissan, 3-Series class, not the Ferrari, Porsche class). The skinny tires grip on curves like the devil and the torque of the motor just goes on and on. Very, very grin-inducing, and very BMW. For me, this is the one and only reason for ME to get this car. Frankly, a fully optioned Leaf SL or a Mercedes B Class EV would do as good or better job for family cruising duty. They are more spacious and more relaxing to cruise around in. But in my experience, the i3 is more fun to fling around than a Tesla Model S because of its small size, light weight and tight handling. And I've driven a Model S on some of the same twisty roads. Given that I'm limited on parking space and we can't really have more than two cars, my EV has to be my fun car as well as being practical. Since the FUN potential of the i3 is so high, I can probably live with the practical downsides of the car.

Performance on Rex:

I haven't had much time driving the car in REx mode, but I purposely ran the battery down so that the car would go into Rex. There is a slight, almost unnoticeable vibration in the cabin, and you can hear the two cylinder motor chugging a little back there with the windows up. I drove the car fast up a pretty steep hill with the REx running and there was no reduction in power that I could detect. I must say that I do like having the REx there as a cushion. I've been driving EVs for over three years and I know how to handle range issues, but it was very nice to see a 40 mile cushion on the dashboard as we finished our 70 mile trip today (Note: The gas tank was less than 3/4 full).

Driving efficiency:

If the mi/kWh onboard readouts are to be believed, I'm getting no better efficiency in the i3 than I do with similar driving in my 2013 Leaf SL. I expected something like 20% better efficiency in the i3, but as near as I can tell, Nope! (Note: see my revised comment on efficiency near the end of the article.) You might say that I must be pushing the i3 harder, but after a day of cruising with my spouse aboard, I got around 4.2 mi/kWh, which is what I'd expect from my (heavier) Leaf in the same kind or driving. This was a mix of suburban and freeway driving, in a mix of EcoPro and Comfort mode. Go figure.

Random minor observations:
I like having frameless windows on the front doors. Getting in and out of the car is a pleasure when I don't have to contort to get around the upper door frame.

I like the placement of the 12v power plug for a phone charger. My phone sits down there in that well with the charger plug and I don't have wires everywhere.

The door pockets are spacious and handy for carrying all kinds of small items.

Installing kiddie seats in the back seats was a bit challenging. We have two grandkids, a four year-old and an infant. I had to remove the rear seat headrest so that the bigger kid seat would fit properly down into place. The base for the infant seat takes up a surprisingly large amount of space front-to-rear, so when we put in the actual carrier cradle into the base, the front seat will have to be moved forward a lot. Since I'm long-legged and tallish, we'll have to put the infant base behind the passenger and have her move her seat forward, and we'll have the bigger kiddo sit behind me, the driver, and she and I will have to negotiate over leg room.

Finally (after first 24 hours): No electronic or mechanical gremlins, errors, CELs, nothing. Very reassuring.

And here is my summary of my experience after the end of the three day test drive:

I'll summarize by saying that I liked the car very much, and that most of my concerns were eliminated after a few days driving it.

Positives:

+ The strong regen is a non-issue. It took a long test drive like this to convince me, but I no longer see this as a problem. Even my wife found it manageable. (BUT I do have to mention that she did have a second of unintended acceleration when she wanted to use the brake and forgot that her foot was still on the e-pedal. This was after only ten minutes driving the car for the first time, and we're sure that with more familiarity, this wouldn't be a problem.)

+ The quick acceleration and tight handling were really rewarding and these would be the biggest reasons that I'd choose an i3 over any of the competitive cars. This is really a little sports car disguised as an economical city car, and it's the true standout, as far as I'm concerned, for sportiest small four-door EV. (I know that the Spark is pretty quick, but it's really a tiny little thing and wouldn't work for us as a family hauler.)

+ Material and build quality were very good, even in the base Mega model. I happen to find the interior materials interesting and even the compressed Kenaf panels are fine with me.

+ I liked the maneuverability and tight turning circle.

+ I happen to like the car's unusual styling.

+ We were able to install kiddie seats for our two grandkids and reassure ourselves that the car would work for kid transport duty. This included one rear-facing infant seat and one front-facing kid seat. Space wasn't plentiful. The infant seat base takes up a lot of horizontal (front-rear) space, so it limits how far back a front passenger can move their seat. So we put the infant seat base behind the front passenger so that as the driver, I can get my needed leg space.

Features that I found only so-so:

* Having no keyless entry on the base car is cheesy, especially since the car has keyless-go.

* No option for power seats. That really should be an option for those who want it, with full disclosure that it adds weight and might harm range.

* I still find the seating position too high, and I kept wanting to lower the seat below the lowest setting. Ditto the steering wheel. It feels too high even at its lowest, and the high steering wheel position gives me a kink in my right upper shoulder.

* Loud and uncomfortable wind buffeting with the windows down above about 55 mph. I like to drive with the windows down, and without rear windows to open (or a sunroof) the "air hammer" that happens with the windows down is severe. I found that raising both windows to within about 4 inches of closed helps a lot.

* There was an annoying "reciprocating" thrum that I heard/felt at moderate to low speeds. I was never sure whether it was tire noise or drivetrain noise, or both, but it wasn't a typical EV driveline low howl that changes pitch as you slow to a stop. It was more of a cyclical thrum that got slower in its cycle as I slowed down. Is this typical for the i3, is it unusual, or could it have been specific to the 20 inch tires? (Update: Tom Moloughney, our i3 online guru, told me that he had confirmed this sound in his own i3 to be coming from the 20 inch tires.)

* The short wheelbase (five inches shorter than a LEAF's) makes the car rock and bob over road imperfections. It's tolerable but it sure isn't a serene riding car. For most of my personal driving, it's no problem at all, but for times when I want to treat my passengers to a smooth ride, it's intrusive.

* I won't get into complaints about the crippled USA REx implementation, but the EV range that I got with the car was an unimpressive 72-ish miles. That's fine for most of my driving, but I'm used to getting about 85 miles with my Leaf, so this felt a bit limited. I do like having the cushion of the REx, though, and I think it would let me drive more EV miles, because I'd choose to take the i3 more often when planned trip lengths are a bit long, and a total range of about 150 miles with the range extender is very attractive after driving a Leaf for three years. It will make the difference between being able to use the car fully and not being able to in the spread-out LA metro area.

* Energy economy was poorer than in my Leaf on the freeway, but better than the Leaf on suburban streets, including with spirited driving. I find this rather disappointing because if I get an i3 REx, I'd like to do more regional driving trips with it, and I was hoping for better freeway economy. OTOH, with the good economy at lower speeds, I can drive it around like a hooligan without any misgivings (free energy from our home's solar roof).

- The "coach" doors. Awkward to move kiddie seats in and out of the back seats unless you have plenty of space on the side of the car. We had to back the i3 out of the garage into the driveway to have enough space to swap the kiddie seats in and out. The maneuver also required removing one rear head rest because it interfered with the upper part of the forward-facing child seat, and this requires partially folding that rear seat forward to be able to remove the head rest. We found that it was also necessary to slide the front seats forward and flip the back rests forward so that we had enough room to get to the child seat restraints and belts.

We wind up needing to swap out the child seats a couple times a week because we have two cars and only one pair of child seats. So this will become a frequent exercise. Not a huge deal, but if it's raining (if it ever does around here again), I'd be either doing this drill in the rain in the driveway, or back the Prius out in the rain to be able to get the i3 doors fully open and move the kid seats in and out. First world problems, to be sure.

- The placement of the charge access door on the right rear fender. I was lucky that I chose a 25 foot cable when I bought my Aerovironment L2 EVSE. Since I mounted the EVSE near the left front fender of a headed-in car, my choices with the i3 are to back the car into the garage or to wrap the cord around the car to get the plug to the i3 charge port. The latter choice was the more appealing one to me, and it worked fine, aided by the i3's short overall length.

* And of course, I find the car's price and value for money proposition disappointing. I'm going to want a good sized discount AND a boost to the residual percentage to feel okay about the lease pricing. We'll see how things are next Spring, when I'm in the market. But BMW really needs to kick in the whole $7,500 Fed rebate, or price the car to make up for the difference. OCF (Owner's Choice with Flex - a purchase program with a guaranteed buy-back at the end of the term) programs are less attractive in California because you're charged sales tax on the car's full cost, even though you're only using it for a portion of its life. Leasing would be more attractive to me, but not at BMW's current pricing, rebate amount and residuals.

Lastly, the only issue or problem I had in three days and 265 miles was a problem with " low cost charging". Even though I had set the car in that mode, it insisted on charging immediately. This was with Level 2 charging with about 15% SOC remaining.

And by the way, my existing Aerovironment Level 2 home EVSE with Nissan badging worked great with the i3.