BMW i3 REx One Year Review

Delivery day: May 21st, 2014

Well that went by fast. After waiting patiently for years for BMW to bring the "Megacity" car, their first production electric vehicle to market, my first year of ownership really flew by quickly. On May 21st of last year I was the first i3 REx delivery in the US. My one year review is about a month late, but that has only given me some more time to gather my thoughts about it.

About a month into ownership last year, I authored two posts dedicated to my initial likes and dislikes. Many of those initial thoughts still hold true, but I've also had some changes of opinion as well as discovering new annoyances and new attributes which I appreciate.

One of the few pictures I have of my car in its real color; Laurel Grey. I wrapped it red the first week I had it.

Overall I'm very happy with my i3 and there isn't another car I'd prefer to have. It really suits my needs while offering the perfect balance of performance, utility, comfort and efficiency that I desire. I managed to pile up a little over 25,000 miles by my first year anniversary (I'm up to about 27k now) with 23,700 miles on battery alone and 1,300 miles with the REx engine running. That equates to about 95% all electric miles. I'm sure some will question whether I needed the range extender option at all since I only used it for about 5% of my driving and that's a valid question. I guess I didn't really need it, but I definitely don't regret spending the additional $3,850 for it and I'll explain why.

The REx performed perfectly on my 462 mile road trip from New Jersey to Vermont. Going there and back I drove a total of 111 miles on battery and 351 on the REx, needing a little under 10 gallons of gas for the trip. I'll gladly replace gassing up on long trips with a couple 30 minute quick charge stops once the infrastructure matures, but for now the REx is my best option for the occasional long trip.

First and foremost, the range extender allowed me to take the car every day without even thinking twice about whether I had enough range or whether or not I would have the opportunity to plug in during the day. Back when I did my initial likes and dislikes, the first thing I pointed out was that I think BMW missed an opportunity to separate themselves a bit from the pack of "80 mile EVs" out there. The 81 mile EPA range rating for the BEV i3 was just a little too low for me so I went for the REx. As it turns out, there weren't too many days which I needed the REx, but having it there allowed me to take the car on days I may not have because I wasn't sure how far I might need to drive that day. So in reality, the range extender allowed me to drive more electric miles than if I didn't have it. I'd say I probably only needed the REx about two or three times a month on average, and even then it was usually for less than twenty miles. There were a couple long road trips which accounted for the majority of miles, and a few times I needed it for 30 to 50 additional miles. When I first got the car I took it to get wrapped and the shop was about 130 miles from my house. The drive back was nearly all on the range extender. I took a couple 150 to 200 mile round trips, my wife took the car on a business trip to Pennsylvania and I also made a 462 mile round trip to Vermont. It's true I could have managed without the REx, but having it there increased the utility of the vehicle immensely and if I had it to do all over, I would definitely get the REx again. However, if BMW had optioned it with a 28-29kWh battery pack (33% larger), I would definitely choose that over the REx.

The car is holding up well and there are no squeaks or rattles to report. My interior still looks brand new, even with heavy use and high mileage for one year. I'm pointing that out because I have heard a few i3 owners report their leather seats showed premature wear, and even a couple people say the eucalyptus wood dash panels developing cracks (which BMW replaced under warranty). I have nothing negative or unusual to report on this though. Since I wrapped the car shortly after getting it, I can't really comment on how the exterior painted surfaces are fairing. Since this is the first BMW with all plastic body panels, and since BMW developed an entirely new way of painting the panels which uses 70 percent less water and 50 percent less energy than painting systems employed for their steel body panels, I think it's fair to wonder how well the painted panels will hold up over time. I have had a few people ask me how the wrap is doing and I can say that after a year of driving in New Jersey (including a harsh winter with a lot of snow and ice) the wrap is beginning to show signs of wear and even peeling on some of the corners. You really have to be looking at it hard to find the problem spots, but small issues are surfacing which I'm sure will only get worse. I really only intended to keep it wrapped for a year or so, so I'm not concerned. I figured this would happen after about a year. Just keep this in mind if you are planning to do a vehicle wrap. 

The wrap is bubbling a bit on the side mirrors

Wheel well beginning to peel

The redesigned fuel sensor

Over the year I had a couple of maintenance issues which needed service. The good thing was my dealer, JMK BMW, has i3s in their loaner fleet so I was able to drive an i3 even when my car was in for service, which amounted to a total of 14 days. The first issue was one that all the early i3's had, a blown onboard charger, or as BMW calls it, a KLE (Komfortladeelektronik or Comfort Charging Electronics in English). One good thing about the way BMW engineered the onboard charging is that there are two 3.7kW on board chargers, one in the main EME (Electrical Machine Electronics) and the other, the KLE, is installed separately from the EME. So if you do have a KLE failure, you can still charge the car, albeit at half speed. I can't give BMW a pass on this issue though. They had five years of field testing with the MINI-E and ActiveE, and to come out of the gate with a faulty on board charger is inexcusable in my opinion. To their credit, they quickly resolved the issue by re-engineering the KLE, and installing it in the existing i3 fleet. I've had the new KLE  in my car for 10 months now, and it's been working fine. There was another issue that all i3's with the range extender had, which was a faulty fuel pressure sensor. Almost immediately after the i3 launched, REx owners were getting a Check Engine light, even if they never fired up the REx. It turned out a fuel pressure sensor was getting corroded by the gasoline used in the US. Evidently the mixture is different from the gas used in Europe where the i3 had launched 6 months earlier without this issue, and the additives in the US gas were creating havoc with the sensor. Again BMW quickly made a new fuel pressure sensor, this one actually has gold plated connectors to resist corrosion.

My battery pack dropped from the car. The heating element is inside, below the battery modules

I also had a flaky voltage regulator for the battery heating element which was occasionally sending an error message. I don't think BMW was sure if the sensor was bad or if the regulator was bad so they just replaced both. That required removing my entire pack to replace the regulator. I was surprised that this major service was accomplished by my dealer in less than two days. The only other issues I had were flat tires; four of them to be exact. It's difficult for me to really assess blame on this, since flat tires are usually the fault of the driver for running over debris or adverse road conditions, but four flats in one year is a little troublesome. Could it be related to the rubber compound Bridgestone used to make these unique tires, or related to how tall and thin they are? The two main problems I have with this are the fact that since the i3 doesn't have a spare, you are left stranded unless the mobility kit (an air compressor and tire sealant) can temporarily seal the hole and allow you to drive home or to a repair shop. Secondly, the tall thin tires are unique to the i3, so they aren't always in stock at the dealer. One time I had to wait four days for the dealer to get one. 

With no spare tire onboard, a flat means you're getting towed

At least with a sidewall bubble you can drive to the dealer, but you still need to buy a new tire and hope it's in stock

Three of the four flats I had were caused by sidewall bubbles, which happen when the inner liner of the tire is damaged. Sidewall bubbles typically happen when you hit a pothole, curb or road debris. In all three cases when I had this happen, I hit a good sized pothole and immediately figured I'd have a problem. Pulling over once it was safe confirmed what I had expected. The other flat I had was caused by a large metal screw. In that case I was actually only a couple blocks from a BMW dealer who actually had the tire in stock and I was able to wait there and drive off about an hour later. A few years back I had a Porsche Boxster with low profile Pirelli tires and had sidewall bubble issues with that car also, so I know this is something that is common with low profile tires. The difference was the car had a spare tire and the Pirellis were available everywhere. If I could go back in time I probably wouldn't have gotten the $1,300 optional 20" sport wheels and I certainly would have paid the $1,000 for the tire and wheel insurance. I definitely like the look of the 20" wheels, but they are lower profile than the 19" stock wheels, and that makes them more susceptible to bubbling. 

91 miles on a charge is my personal best to date

As for the range, in warm weather (over 65 degrees) I can usually beat the EPA rated range of 72 miles per charge. In fact, I average about 78 miles per charge in these favorable conditions. The cold weather takes its toll and the worst range I ever got was 48 miles on a full charge before the REx turned on. This happened back in January when the temperature was below zero with ice covered roads and I didn't precondition the cabin or battery. I actually wanted to see just how bad the range could be in those conditions. However most of the winter when temperatures were under 30 degrees I averaged about 58 to 60 miles per charge. The furthest I ever drove before the REx kicked in was 91 miles, which I did shortly after taking delivery.

I'll now list the top ten things I either find annoying, would like to see corrected or added features to future i3s.

1) Configurable regenerative braking. I'd like to select how aggressive or weak the regenerative braking is. Other manufacturers offer this and the owners I've spoken with appreciate having control over their regen. The i3's regen does increase in strength when in Eco Pro and Eco Pro+ modes, but I'd prefer the ability to manually adjust it.

2) The car needs an extension flaps on the sun visors. There is a huge gap between the visors and early morning drives can be difficult when heading East. 

3) The charging connector needs to unlock from the vehicle when the charging session ends. BMW had said this would be part of the March 2015 software update (which I have) but it still doesn't work. 

The large gap between the visors allows the blinding sun to get through. Visor extension flaps would be appreciated.

4) The front storage compartment (frunk) should be waterproof. If that is problematic then install a snap-on or hinged cover to keep dirt and water spray out. 

The current configuration allows leaves, water and dirt to get into the frunk storage compartment. Anything stored up there gets dirty and wet. A cover would solve the issue. 

5) Remove the annoying disclaimers and seat belt gong every time you turn the car on.  The seat belt warning should give you ten or twenty seconds to buckle up before it sounds the alarm. I might code my car just to remove these.

6) Fix the windshield wiper. It currently pulls water back into the drivers view when it changes direction. During heavy rains there is a significant obstruction to the drivers view of the left side of the windshield. 

The wiper leaves a line of water on the windshield, and actually pulls it back into the drivers line of vision when it changes direction.

7) Add a battery temperature readout. BMW can bury it in iDrive if they don't want it on the main display screen, but put it somewhere. Many experienced electric vehicle drivers want to see their battery temperature.

8) Add a heated steering wheel. In my opinion heated seats and steering wheel should be standard on all EVs, especially ones from premium brands. I would have really appreciated it last winter.

9) Include an AM radio. Other EV manufacturers have figured out how to reduce the interference and offer it in their vehicles. I'm sure BMW can figure this out too, even if the reception isn't perfect. 

When the ACC disengages, you get this warning. The problem is by then it's already disengaged and the car is applying the regenerative braking.

10) Fix the Adaptive Cruise Control and Parking Assistant. These are really great features, and this kind of technology is expected in a car like the i3. The problem is the ACC disengages suddenly and doesn't recognize certain vehicles because of their tail light configuration. The car will drive right into the rear of a Dodge Charger for instance, because the Charger's taillights (which extend across the entire rear of the vehicle) for some reason confuse the ACC. Direct sunlight and sometimes overpasses also cause the system to shut off without warning. I dedicated a post to this issue a few months ago. The Parking Assistant is an automated parking feature which does an incredible job of parking the i3 in very tiny parking spots. It only needs an opening which is 22 inches longer than the car to park it. The problem is, I've had numerous people report to me that the car rubbed the curb during the automated parking, scratching the rims. I've had enough people tell me this happened to believe it wasn't just a couple cars malfunctioning. I believe there is an inherent flaw in this feature which needs to be fixed, so for now I recommend not using the Parking Assistant until we get word that the issue had been corrected. 

OK, so by now you must be thinking I must really hate the i3, considering all these things I've pointed out that I don't like. That wouldn't be correct. I actually love the car and wouldn't trade it for anything, but nothing's perfect, and BMW can definitely make adjustments which would improve the i3 in my opinion. Now I'll dive into my top ten i3 likes. 

1) Spacious interior. For a car that is only 13 feel long, it has a lot of interior room. It actually has nearly the same interior volume as a 3-Series which is more than two feet longer than the i3.

Spacious, comfortable and well laid out. The i3's interior is definitely one of its strong points

2) Beautiful interior. In my opinion the i3's interior is stunning and laid out perfectly. The seats are very comfortable and the outward vision is excellent.

3) It's incredibly fun to drive. The instant torque, combined with the light weight make the i3 the most fun to drive electric vehicle this side of a Tesla P85D. The low end acceleration (under 60mph) is fantastic and it's actually the fastest one of the fastest BMWs from 0-30mph. Somehow the tall, thin tires do their job and keep the car under control in hard turns. While it doesn't corner like an M3, it really does just fine when it needs to. I've let dozens of friends and family members drive it and they all walk away with an ear to ear grin. It's really a blast to drive.

4) Futuristic, sustainable construction. I love the fact that I'm driving the only volume production to ever be constructed with a passenger compartment primarily made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic, an all aluminum frame and thermoplastic body panels. There is absolutely nothing else like it on the road today. Plus, every stage of manufacturing and assembly was developed with sustainability in mind.100% of the electricity used in the Leipzig assembly plant is derived from the wind farm BMW installed on the site. It actually generates so much excess electricity that BMW sells the excess to the Volkswagen AG. Even the carbon fiber plant in Moses Lake, Washington where the CF is made is powered 100% by renewable hydro-power. 

BMW's Leipzig plant where the i3 is made. The on site wind turbines produce more energy than the plant uses.

5) The charging rate. I can consistently pull 7.2kW at home (30 amps @ 240v) and now that there are finally some CCS DC fast Chargers being installed I can look forward to fast charging on the go. I'll soon be installing a 24kW CCS DC Fast charger at my restaurant so I'll have access to it every day. One of the advantages of having a relatively small battery is it charges quickly! I can fully recharge in a little under four hours while charging level 2, and I can be at 90% in about three hours. Tesla is the only EV manufacturer in the US making on board charging equipment which can deliver more than 7.2kW from a level 2 (240v) source.

6) The efficiency. According to the EPA, the i3 is currently the most efficient car sold in America. Over the entire year I averaged 3.9 miles per kWh. In the warmer weather I'm usually around 4.5 mi/kWh and in the winter I was averaging about 3.5 mi/kWh. I should note that I don't drive the car softly, and I'm certain many other i3 owners see much better consumption figures. It's way too much fun to drive it like it was a Prius. Averaging 4 mi/kWh the i3 would cost the average American about $400 per year to drive 15,000 electric miles.

I needed to drive over 200 miles on the range extender when I drove it to Vermont last winter. I set the cruise control to 70 mph and the REx was able to sustain the charge level the entire trip without any issue, even with needing to make a few elevation climbs.

7) The range extender. I know above I said I'd prefer a larger battery over the REx, but that just isn't an option at this time. As far as range extenders go, I like how BMW set this one up. It's truly an auxiliary power unit, one that has no physical connection with the wheels and cannot drive the wheels under any condition. It's sole purpose is to maintain the battery state of charge and allow the driver to continue along until they have the opportunity to plug in. You'd never buy an i3 REx and not charge it, simply driving on gas all the time. It's not meant to drive just as well on gas as it is on electric and I like that. It's an electric car with a secondary power source meant for occasional use, and in that vein it works perfectly - well for me at least. In all of my REx-ing, I never had the vehicle go into reduced power mode which can happen if you are using more energy than the 650cc engine can deliver. This can happen under long sustained hill climbing at highway speeds. BMW is currently working on a solution which will allow for more robust range extender use. This feature will be called Hill Climb Assist and will be available in the Fall. All current REx cars will get the update. There is another option which some owners have done, and that's coding the car to allow REx-on-demand. I have not done that to my car because the range extender has been able to do anything I've called for it to do so far, and I've found that as long as I set the cruise control for 70 mph or lower, I can drive indefinitely, provided I keep refueling every 60 miles or so. Probably the best thing I can say about the range  extender is it's allowed me to never even think about my range anymore, I just get in the car everyday and drive. 

Resting at home. You can see the winter tire/wheel combo on the rack above the car. The Bridgestone Blizzak tires were excellent in the snow. I suspect this was an instance where the tall, thin tires actually improved the traction.

8) The attention. Everywhere I go people stop and ask me about the car. I understand many people might not like that, but I do like talking about it and having a discussion about why they should consider driving electric too. I know there are people who think the i3 is ugly, but the response I get from the majority of people is they think it's cool. I don't think the i3 is the best looking car on the road, but I definitely don't see it as ugly and neither do most of the people who stop me to ask about it. When I'm working I can see it through the windows in the parking lot. Every day people walk up to it, look inside and many take pictures of it. Like it or not, it generates a lot of interest.

9) Battery management system & preconditioning. The i3 has a sophisticated thermal management system which works with the preconditioning feature to keep the batteries within the optimum operating temperatures. Which, for the Samsung cells used by BMW is 67 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. When the batteries are much cooler than 67 degrees, you begin to lose range and when the battery temperature is above 104 degrees the cells degrade and begin to lose capacity. Excessive heat can be one of the biggest enemies for prolonging lithium ion battery life so a good thermal management system will help extend the battery's life. The i3 uses R134a refrigerant which not only works very well, but also is extremely safe in the event of an accident. Liquid based thermal management systems have an elevated risk of fire in the event of a battery module rupture. In many of these systems it's possible for the liquid to act as an accelerant, and intensify the fire. R134a is an inert gas and simply dissipates in the event of a ruptured pack or fire. It's actually the same refrigerant used in most car air conditioning systems. I'm not saying I think liquid thermal management systems aren't safe, because that's not the case. I just believe using an inert gas is better, and the i3 is the only EV to employ this technology so it's worth noting. It's just another aspect of the car which demonstrates how far outside the box BMW went when engineering the i3, and a perfect example of why the i3 has been called "The most advanced vehicle on the planet".

The i3's navigation "spider map" offers a pretty accurate visual display on the cars current range in the different driving modes.

10) A lot of small things add up to really enhance the ownership experience. Besides the usual attributes expected in all electric vehicles like the quiet cabin and the smooth linear acceleration with instant torque, the i3 has some extras that really seem to make the whole car exceed the sum of its parts. I love the hill hold feature which keeps it from rolling like many other EVs do while stopped. The absence of artificial creep is a welcomed "addition" that some other EV manufacturers just don't seem to get. I've done more than one poll on this topic and the vast majority of people say they don't want artificial creep in their electric vehicle and BMW got this right. I love how the aggressive regen really allows "one pedal driving". While I did mention above that I wish the regen was adjustable, the level it's set at now is just about perfect for me in most driving conditions. Adjustable would be better, but as is the regen level is very good, probably the best of any electric vehicle in my opinion. The soft speed limiter helps to coach you to drive more efficiently if you want to, and the three different driving modes (Comfort, Eco Pro & Eco Pro+) gives the driver the ability to extend their range significantly. The "spider map" display in the navigation system shows how far the car can go in each driving mode, and alerts the driver if their selected destination is beyond the range, pointing them to possible charging stations along the desired route. The brake assist will sound an audible alert if it senses the car is rapidly approaching the vehicle in front of it and it will even apply the brakes automatically if you are going under 30 mph and it determines you are about to have a possible collision. I also really appreciate that most BMW dealerships now have i3s as loaner cars so i3 owners can continue to drive electric even if their car is in for service. Finally, the large center display screen is as crisp and clear as any I've seen. It is positioned so there is almost no glare issues and the HD rear view camera is television-quality clear.

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The "Secret Service Menu" shows I have 19.1 kWh available when fully charged

So that pretty much sums up my thoughts after one year of ownership. I listed ten positives and ten negatives and hope the information above helps to paint a picture of what I believe are the i3's strengths and weaknesses. One more topic I'd like to touch on though is battery degradation. There are a lot of people curious about how well the battery is holding up over time and use. I'm going to be doing a more comprehensive post on this soon, but I'd like to at least mention what I've observed after 13 months and 27,000 miles. Fortunately, the i3 has a "secret service menu" in the OBC which allows the battery capacity to be displayed. While BMW officially states the i3 has a usable 18.8 kWh of the 21.6 kWh total battery pack, the service menu indicates we get a little more to access. An entire kWh more in fact. When new, the service menu shows approximately 19.8 kWh available. I've had others report seeing slightly less, but the majority of people who know how to access this info have told me the highest capacity figure they've seen was 19.8 kWh. I have been checking my capacity and watching it slowly decrease. It's currently showing that I have 19.1 kWh available, which would mean I've lost about 3.5% of my capacity in 13 months and 27,000 miles. I've plugged about 700 times during the year and virtually always charge to 100%. I'll be keeping an eye on this and will report back on the capacity loss here from time to time.

I have an 8.8kW solar array on my home in Chester, NJ. It generates most of the electricity I use for the house and charging needs.

I'd like to also point out that during the year, BMW added a numeric state of charge display. This was something I, and many other i3 owners asked for. It might seem like a minor detail, but what's most encouraging is BMW responded to their customer requests and through a software update added the SOC display. Of course there was always a SOC display there, in the form of a bar graph, but many people wanted to see it displayed more precisely, in a numeric value as well and BMW delivered. Now let's see if we can get the battery temperature display in year two...

By toggling through the OBC options, you can see the SOC of 47% in the upper left hand corner of the drivers display screen.

In closing, the i3 pretty much ended up as I expected. It's far from perfect, but so is every other car I've ever driven. I wish it had a larger battery (or a larger battery option), a few monochromatic paint scheme options (like I did with the wrap), offered in a "sport" version with the coilovers that come standard in the Japanese market and a few other sporty upgrades and I think BMW needs to address the issues with the ACC and Parking Assistant features. I don't mind that the moonroof isn't available in the US, and the unconventional exterior styling doesn't bother me. I am much more concerned with the car's interior since that is what I interact with while driving. Speaking of driving, for me it really all comes down to that. The i3 delivers more fun than you should legally be allowed to have at 4 miles per kilowatt-hour.

BMW i3 REx vs Chevy Volt: My Take

The Challenge

Last week I was contacted by High Gear Media Senior Editor, John Voelcker and asked if I had interest in doing a head to head comparison piece between my i3 REx and a Chevy Volt. Green Car Reports contributor David Noland (who happens to own a Volt and a Model S) wanted to pit the Volt against an i3 REx and asked John to reach out to me and find out if I was up for it.

I liked the idea of swapping cars and driving side by side for a few hours and that met David's needs as well. David wanted to do an efficiency test and measure the miles per kWh's used driving 15 to 20 miles in a city environment, and then do the same thing at highway speeds of 65 to 75mph. Going in, David expected the i3 to be more efficient in the city driving test, but the Volt to be more efficient on the highway test where weight plays a lesser role and aerodynamics are more important. The i3 is tall, has a large front area and is a bit boxy compared to the Volt. This creates a much higher CdA which will lower the i3's efficiency at high speeds. Having driven my i3 for a while now, I knew it would be more efficient in the city cycle, but I figured it would probably tie the Volt on the highway leg of the test. My i3's life time efficiency so far is 4.5 miles per kWh and I do at least 50% of my driving at highway speeds.

David averaged 4.1 miles per kWh over a 46 mile drive at highway speeds. This was driving about 15 miles in charge depleting mode and another 31 miles with the range extender running.  The display only shows an average speed of 56.7mph, but much of the trip was done at 70+ mph

David was also very interested to find out how the range extender performed. In my opinion, the i3's range extender is largely misunderstood. Even months after the launch, few people really understand how it works, what it can and cannot do. It has been called everything from a "limp mode" to an "emergency use only" option, and quite honestly BMW hasn't done itself any favors by not fully explaining how it works and how to use it properly. I promised David he could drive it as he wished, and even purposefully overwhelm the REx by driving fast enough to use more energy than the range extender could produce, should he desire to do so. At one point he even asked if I minded if he did just that, but due to the other traffic we couldn't really sustain a speed much over 70mph for long and we were not going up and long, steep inclines so the REx was able to put out enough power to maintain the SOC between about 4% and 6%. In short, we couldn't overwhelm it without driving in a an unsafe manner.

Getting ready to take off from Nauna's Bella Casa in Montclair

There aren't many long climbs in my area and I've driven with the range extender on quite a bit. I haven't found any condition where it isn't perfectly capable of allowing me to drive as long as I needed to, including hundreds of miles if I really wanted. However I know the REx has its limits, unlike the Volt. I have heard stories of people not being able to maintain highway speeds as the car drops to 45 mph suddenly. That's a problem that BMW needs to address. I think they need to make a better effort to communicate to the customers what the limits are, and I also believe the customer needs to be cognizant of the limits and keep an eye on the SOC under high speed driving up long inclines. It's not a do-all-under-any-condition vehicle. The range extender has limits but I definitely believe that for the vast majority of people it will do just about anything they need. Also, since the i3's electric range is double that of the Volt, the range extender will be used much less, so it's reasonable to understand why it is less robust.

People are surprised when they see the i3 next to other EVs. It is larger than I believe many people think it is.

On the Road
 
I felt very comfortable behind the wheel of the Volt as I've driven many of them and have always liked the driving experience that they offer. However, this was the first time I've driven a Volt since getting my i3 REx three months and about 6,500 miles ago. The two cars definitely feel very different. The much heavier Volt absorbs road irregularities better and is quieter at high speeds, where the boxy i3 has noticeable wind noise. The i3 is much quicker, especially at higher speeds and has better braking and handling. The i3's steering is more direct and sensitive and the Volt's brakes seemed a little spongy or squishy compared to what I'm used to in the i3. The i3 is clearly more of a performance car, while the Volt offers a more supple, softer ride. The regenerative braking on the i3 is much stronger than the Volt's, even in Sport mode and low driving gear. I'm sure I would adjust to it if I had a Volt for awhile, but I just couldn't get myself to stop for traffic lights without needing to depress the friction brake pedal every time. I almost never use the friction brake pedal on my i3 unless it's an emergency situation where I need to slow down unexpectedly. I really love this on the i3, and haven't found any other EV to have a regen system that matches it. It's definitely one thing that BMW got right. I know the Volt blends regen with friction braking so I suspect most of the time I depressed the brake pedal I wasn't even using the friction brakes, but I've really grown fond of the one-pedal driving of my i3 that anything else now seems sub-standard.

The interior of the Volt

The interior of the i3

I found both cars comparable in seating comfort and room, with the Volt having a larger cargo area. Because the e-drive motor and range extender are under the deck behind the rear seats, the i3's cargo deck is higher, which cuts down on the cargo space, but it also doesn't have a tailgate lip so you can slide objects in and out without having to pick them up over the lip to remove them as is the case with the Volt, which my bad back appreciates. Personally I like the uncluttered, modern interior look of the i3 better, and the large center display probably is the nicest I've seen in any car besides the Model S. However the exterior styling of the i3 is definitely unconventional and I'm sure many people will say they like the look of the Volt better, but styling is subjective so I'm not really going to get too caught up appearance here. One thing I really do like in my i3 is how the absence of a center transmission tunnel (battery tunnel on the Volt) provides a much more open, spacious feel in the cockpit. In fact, this makes it quite easy to slide across from the drivers seat and exit from the passengers door if you want to.  

The Volt has a larger cargo capacity, but with the rear seats folded flat, the i3's cargo space is definitely adequate for my needs.

Efficiency

David really wanted to focus on the efficiency of the cars so we did roughly 15 miles of city driving, followed by 15 miles of highway driving at 60 -70 mph. There were a few occasions we got up to 75 or so to pass other vehicles but for the most part we drove in the middle lane and averaged a little under 70mph. In the city cycle the i3 averaged a 5 miles per kWh used compared to the Volts 4.5. The Volt did better than I expected in this part of the test though, which I am happy to report. On the highway test the i3 delivered  4 miles per kWh used and the Volt averaged 3.5 mi/kWh. David and I were both surprised that the i3 actually had a larger advantage on highway driving than it did in city driving, but was 14% on the highway. I suspect if we drove faster, and averaged over 70 mph, the Volt would have caught the i3 in efficiency. The test also isn't perfectly controlled, since David and I aren't the exact same drivers. However, we are both very experienced electric vehicle drivers, and understand perfectly well how to maximize efficiency with the use of regenerative braking and limiting jack-rabbit style take offs. We drove with the climate controls set to 72 degrees and the windows closed.

During the city driving test. I jumped out of the Volt at a red light to grab this picture.

Conclusions

Having had quite a bit of previous experience driving Volts, there were really no surprises for me. I have always liked the Volt, and nothing from this experience has changed that. It's a very capable extended range electric car that offers a good ride, decent performance and nice styling. It is a better choice for long range driving (over 200 miles) and definitely if you live in a mountainous area. I can't even count how many people I've recommended the Volt to; and many have stopped back to my restaurant weeks or months later to show me that they took my advice. With a starting price of $34,999 it's a really a great deal. The i3 REx on the other hand starts at $46,125 which is $11,000 more. Yes, you do get a more nicely optioned vehicle but it's very hard to ignore the $11,000 difference. If price is a big consideration then it's hard not to pocket the eleven grand and take home a Volt.

However buying a car isn't always a rational decision, and there are indeed emotions involved. If that weren't the case we'd all be driving $15,000 Honda Fits. There are a lot of reasons why the i3 REx is a better EV for me than the Volt. First off, I drive about 33,000 per year, and the 38 mile AER of the Volt would mean I'd be driving on gas about as much as I drove on electric. The i3 REx will allow me to drive on electric over 90% of the time. For me to increase that 100% I'd need to jump up to Model S-type range because the times I have needed the REx were usually 150 to 200 driving mile days and there are no other current production electric vehicles capable of doing that without using a robust DCQC network which doesn't yet exist in the Northast. Another consideration is the 3.3kW onboard charger that the Volt has. I'd find it very hard to buy any EV that was limited to 3.3kW charging. My i3 can actually charge faster from zero to full an a level 2 EVSE than a Volt can, yet it has twice the electric range. GM absolutely needs to upgrade the onboard charger to a minimum of 6.6kW for the next generation Volt in my opinion.

I've read many comments on various online forums regarding the size of the i3's gas tank and I can say I categorically disagree with the notion that the car needs a larger gas tank. In fact, I'd be fine with a smaller one. If you think you need a bigger gas tank on the i3, then what you really need is a Volt because you're buying it for a use that it's not really intended for. The i3 REx is fine for driving in range extender mode for short distances, and I think it's really a great car for trips up to 150 miles or so, but if you really need to frequently drive more than that, it just may not be the best fit. If you need to go further once a month or so, then sure that shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't mind the 2-3 minute stop to refill the tiny tank, but frequent long distance driving just isn't the car's best use.

I also put a big emphasis on the driving experience and the i3 is really a blast to drive. The Volt is fun in its own right, and it is certainly no slouch by any means, but the i3 is noticeably faster and has a much more direct steering feel. I also love the fact that the i3 is all carbon fiber reinforced plastic and aluminum, the open cockpit and simple dashboard with the large center display. It was indeed the better choice for me, but honestly, I would be very happy driving a Volt also, especially if I drove less than the 90 miles a day that I do now. I don't think you can lose with either of these extended range EVs. Just pick the one that fits your budget, needs and desires and you'll be happy with whichever you choose.

You can read David's thoughts on his Green Car Reports article here.

After 2,000 Miles: The Likes

Now that I've had my i3 for nearly a month, I'm starting to get a good feel for what I like and what I don't. My initial thought was to do one post with both the likes and dislikes at this point, but after assembling the lists, I realized I wouldn't be able to spend enough time on each topic if I did it that way. Therefore I decided I'd do two consecutive posts, with one for the likes and one for the dislikes. I'm tackling the easy one first, the likes:


Adaptive Cruise Control With Stop & Go: This feature is really useful. It's kind of like locking in on the vehicle in front of you with a tractor beam and letting it pull you along. I've found it great for both low speed and high speed driving and the car will even come to a complete stop and accelerate again once the car in front of you does. The only things that aren't perfect is I've found it sometimes leaves too large of a gap in between you and the car you are chasing (for safety reasons I guess) but that allows people to easily cut in front of you if they want to. Also, some times it disengages for no apparent reason and when it does that, the car goes into full regenerative braking mode, since you don't have your foot on the accelerator. It seems to do it more in the rain and also when approaching overpasses. Both could possible confuse the camera-based system. That is not an ideal situation by any means, and something I hope BMW will address with a software update in the future. If the adaptive cruise control does disengage by itself, the car should temporally suspend the regenerative braking until the driver touches either the brake or the accelerator themselves. 

This display appears when the adaptive cruise control system automatically disengages

Seating Position: Like many things in any "likes & dislikes" list, this is highly subjective. The seating position in the i3 is very high, and really "un-sports car like". It's actually like sitting in a mini SUV. I like this position and really like the outward vision you get in the car, with lots of glass surfaces and an absolutely huge windshield. The only thing I had to get used to was that you cannot see the nose of the car at all. The hood drops off so prominently, it's impossible to see it from inside the car. After a week or two I was past that though, and feel totally comfortable with not being able to see the nose at all.

The high seating position and the abundance of glass allow for a great outward view

Charging Rate: One of the advantages of having a small battery in your electric vehicle is that it will charge quickly, provided it has a robust onboard charger. The i3 is supposed to be able to accept up to 32 amps @240V which would be about 7.7kW. I haven't seen my charge rate quite that high, but I do seem to be pulling about 6.9kW from my home EVSE. That's good enough to refill a fully discharged battery in about 3.5 hours, or give me roughly 25 miles of range per hour of charging. My ActiveE took about 5 hours to fully charge when it was new, and then when BMW lowered the charge rate due to onboard charger problems, it was taking nearly 7 hours to fully charge. My i3 charges in about half the time it was taking my ActiveE and that makes such a difference for someone like me that does a lot of driving.

Charging at home. The quick charge rate has allowed me to drive 120+ electric miles in the same day without the need of the REx a couple times already.

Cargo Space: For the past five years I've been driving BMW's beta test electric vehicles which were converted gas cars. Both vehicles had severely compromised cargo areas because they were conversions. I use my car to run errands for my restaurant and I'm frequently picking up various supplies. The hatchback cargo area of the i3, especially with the seats down is so much more useful than either the MINI-E or the ActiveE was and I'm so happy to finally have a real purpose built electric vehicle. The battery packaging doesn't interfere with any of the passenger or cargo space, as it's located directly beneath the passenger compartment in one large aluminum case. As much as I liked my previous EV's, the fact that they were indeed conversions did limit their utility.

Delivering a catering order

Picking up some supplies

The Interior: If the unconventional exterior styling has some people scratching their heads, just tell them to open the doors and take a seat inside. The interior is stunningly beautiful, with well laid out instruments and more space than a car of this size ever deserves to have. The tall body and wide stance allows the i3, which is more than a foot smaller than a 1-Series to have nearly as much interior space as a 3-Series. The huge 8.8" center instrumentation screen is amazingly clear, and somehow doesn't have a glare problem as I feared it may. The seats are comfortable and the armrest is adjustable so you can set it at the height you prefer. There is plenty of space to store stuff with huge door pockets, each that will hold two beverage bottles. There are two cup holders between the rear seats and two cup holders in the front with a slot for another optional cup holder. In all the car has up to nine beverage holders. I thought German engineers didn't understand the American obsession to hold drinks in the car?

The "Tera World" interior of my i3

The Efficiency: The i3 is the most efficient passenger car available in the US. So far, according to the data I'm compiling it's nearly 25% more efficient than my ActiveE was. That means I'm using 25% less energy that the ActiveE which was a pretty efficient EV in its own right. I actually did a blog post last week on the subject of efficiency which you can view here.

If you can curb your enthusiasm for the instant torque, the i3 can be an extremely efficient machine

Comfort Access: OK, so this isn't really anything related to it being an electric vehicle, but it's the first car I've owned with this feature. You just walk up to the car with the key in the pocket and it unlocks when you grab the handle. Then get inside and just press the start button and it turns on. When you leave you just touch the door handle in a particular spot and it locks. The only thing I don't like about this, which will definitely be mentioned in my "dislikes" post, is the extremely loud beep the car makes when you lock or unlock the doors. It's ear-piercingly loud and makes everyone in the general vicinity look your way. Update: It was pointed out to me in the BMW i3 Facebook group that you can disable the beep which I just did. For those wanting to do the same, it's in Settings>Doors/Key>Acuoustic sig.Lock/Unlock. I believe the base model (Mega World in the US) doesn't have the beep feature, but Giga and Tera Worlds do, and you can disable it there.

The Range Extender: I was on the fence for a long time trying to decide whether to get the REx or not. Once it became evident the BEV i3 wouldn't have a real 100 mile range that I could depend on, the REx really became a necessary decision. I'd prefer having a 100 mile EV and a good robust fast charge network, but that will take a few more years, at least here in the North East. For now, the range extender concept works perfectly for me. When I first got the car I purposely didn't charge it so I could fully test the REx performance and it worked even better than I imagined. I did about two hundred miles of driving in REx mode, mostly highway driving at 70 to 75 mph and it was perfectly capable of maintaining the charge. I still haven't had time to really test it by overworking it until it cannot sustain the charge, but I will. The good news is that I'll have to actually try to do that, because it is definitely robust enough to do anything I'll need it to, and that includes 230 mile trips to Vermont. I drive about 30,000 miles per year, and I'm guessing I'll do about 1,000 miles with the REx running. The one great thing about the REx is not having to think about where I'm going in order to make sure I can plug in if I need to drive a little farther than planned. I believe in the near future the range extender won't be necessary, but with where battery tech and charging infrastructure is today, I believe it makes sense for a lot of people and will certainly help with the adoption of electric vehicles.

The i3's range extender sits next to the electric motor above the rear axle.

Collision Warning: Collision Warning with Brake Priming Function is activated at speeds up to 35 mph. It  is able to respond to both moving and stationary vehicles ahead, as well as to pedestrians. If you are rapidly approaching a vehicle or pedestrian, it offers a audible warning and "primes" the brakes so they are ready for the moment you depress the brake pedal. BMW claims this allows for shorter stopping distances. What I really like though is the audible alert. I've only had it come on twice so far and in neither time did it actually prevent me from having a collision, but I could definitely see it doing just that under certain circumstances (like distracted driving). It's definitely a neat safety device and one that I hope all cars have some day.

Hill Hold: If the BMW engineers that are responsible for the hill hold on the i3 are reading this I'd like to say something: Bravo! You nailed it! Electric cars will roll freely forwards or backwards like manual transmission cars do. For the ActiveE, BMW employed the same kind of hill hold feature like they do on their conventionally-powered cars. You needed to depress the brake pedal to activate the hill hold feature, and it would release in a couple seconds. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't perfect either. The i3 won't roll backwards at all unless you put it in reverse, and you don't need to depress the brake pedal to activate the hill hold, it just does it automatically. However it will roll forward to assist in your launch, which is the way it should be. The hill hold feature doesn't time-out, and holds the vehicle as long as you need it to. This seems so natural when you drive it, and now that I've experienced it I'm wondering why no other electric vehicle manufacturer has come up with this yet. I'm sure they will copy it though.

Soft Speed Limiter: This is another feature that I believe is unique to the i3 and is pretty innovative. Perhaps the biggest range thief with electric vehicles is excessive speed. The i3 employes a unique soft speed limiter to gently remind you that you are driving fast and perhaps you should consider slowing down to extend your range. There are three driving modes in the i3: Comfort (this is what the car defaults to) Eco Pro and Eco Pro +. There is no soft speed limit in Comfort mode, but while driving in Eco Pro and Eco Pro +, the soft speed limits are at 75mph and 55mph respectively. The reasoning behind this is if you are in comfort mode, you likely have plenty of range and aren't consciously concerned with extending it. However if you selected Eco Pro or Eco Pro +, you likely are concerned with how much range you have and are making an effort to maximize it. Since driving fast is very inefficient, the car coaches you a bit and "reminds" you that you may want to slow down. Here's how it works: When you reach the speed that the soft limit is set at (75 mph  for Eco Pro and 55 mph for Eco Pro +) the car will not exceed that speed, even if you continue to depress the accelerator. In order to go faster, you need to continue to depress the accelerator further and after a couple seconds it realized that you are aware that you're passing the soft limit but wish to do so anyway, and it will indeed accelerate. It actually takes off rather quickly with an abrupt burst of speed at that point, almost as if to say "Well you asked for it!" I really like this "coaching" feature. There have been plenty of times in my other EVs that I was driving on the highway and wanted to keep my speed down a bit to conserve energy but would find myself creeping up and driving faster than I wanted to without noticing it. With this feature, you really won't pass the soft limit without really intending to, you can't do it by accident.

When you activate Eco Pro +  mode, you get this display prompting you to keep your speed under 55 mph for maximum range. This lead some people to assume it meant the car wouldn't go faster than 55 mph in this mode, which is not correct.

Acceleration: I saved the best for last. The i3 is really a blast to drive. I have the REx i3 which is about a half a second slower than the BEV and have been timing myself from 0-60 in around 7.6 seconds. It's not Tesla fast, but it is a really a quick little car and is much faster and more fun to drive than my ActiveE was. The instant power in the 10 mph to 50 mph range is amazing and feels quicker than my Porsche Boxster did when accelerating at those speeds. This is indeed a fun car to drive, and drives so much better than anyone would expect just from looking at it.

The LA Auto Show: Driving Impressions & Details Learned

It's been a long time coming but I finally got to drive an i3. I've actually been getting tired of having journalists contact me and ask me for my opinion of it on the road compared to the MINI-E and ActiveE and having to tell them I haven't had the opportunity to drive one yet! So did it live up to my (high) expectations? Yes, it did. It's certainly not "the perfect EV," but in my opinion, it does do more things better than any other electric vehicle that costs less than $70,000. And yes, the $70,000 is the threshold mentioned because slightly above that, (actually $72,240) is the starting point before incentives, for the least expensive Model S you can buy in the US.

Lined up for test drives

Price is worth mentioning here because since the i3 has launched there have been endless comparisons between it and the Model S. My contention is that they are both excellent electric vehicles and while there will be inevitable comparisons and even some cross-shopping, they are really vastly different cars and if they weren't both electric would never be compared. The i3's base price is $42,275. That's $29,965 or about 40% less than a base Model S and that alone should end the need to compare them. However I feel it was important to touch on this because everybody else is. These are both excellent EVs, but they serve different masters. The one thing fascinating about the Model S is that it's such a great electric vehicle, that every other electric vehicle that comes along will now be compared to it, well done Tesla.

The back up camera video is extremely clear

In addition to my test drives I had the opportunity to sit down and interview just about every BMW representative there and I will do a future blog post dedicated to at least one of those interviews. However, here I'm going to focus on my thoughts on the driving experience and answering the many questions about the i3 I've received in the past few weeks in the form of comments, personal emails or posts on the BMW i3 Facebook page or in the BMW i3 forum, both of which I am the administrator of.

Tera World interior is all leather

BMW had fifty identical i3s at the LA Auto Show for test drives. They were all exactly the same color, had the 20" wheels, the top of the line Tera World interior and had every available option the i3 will offer. I later found out from BMW NA i3 product manager Jose Guerrero that these cars were actually the very first i3s to roll off the assembly line and that they were pre-production vehicles and European spec so they had to be updated with US charging ports, navigation software and other small modifications so they could be used here in the US for test drives. Also, after the LA Auto show these cars will gradually filter to dealers all over the US so depending on where you live your local BMW dealer may get one soon for demonstration and test drives.

What about the range extender?

Harb addresses the ActiveE drivers

Unfortunately none of the cars had range extenders so I can't answer many of the REx questions I've had like: "How quiet is it?  Can you feel the vibrations when it's on?  What MPG does it deliver?" I did learn some new details which I'll discuss later in the post though. I will say this though because the question of how robust the range extender is has been a common theme on every website that has an i3 discussion. At a private event on Thursday that BMW held for the ActiveE drivers that question was brought up and Jacob Harb, BMW's North American manager of sales and strategy for electric vehicles said he wanted to straighten out the confusion around a comment that a BMW representative once said, and that was that the REx wasn't meant for daily use. Jacob said you can certainly use it every day if you need to, but that BMW didn't envision the car being used by someone that has a 120 or 130 mile daily commute. The car could do it, but if your daily driving needs were this extensive then perhaps a different vehicle might be a better choice. He was then asked about taking it on a long drive and refilling the tank and continuing to drive. Again he said that BMW doesn't really envision people using the car like that all the time, but technically it's perfectly capable of doing so. He even said that technically speaking, you could drive an i3 from New York to LA simply by stopping for gas every 50 or 60 miles and refueling, and then qualified it by saying, "But I don't know why anybody would want to do that."  And personally I agree.

Driving in LA:

I stopped for quick photo op

I actually had the opportunity to drive the i3 twice, and do a ride along once so I probably spent a collective 20 miles in the car. I had a press pass so I registered for a press drive and then at the ActiveE event we were all allowed one test drive, plus I rode along when fellow Electronaut Todd Crook took his turn. On the first drive BMW handed me a course that they wanted the press to follow. It was basically a 3 mile loop that had you driving five blocks and turn right four times and you ended back where the ride originated from which was the Staples Center parking lot. You were alone, so you could of course vary from the course if you "got lost."  Being from New Jersey and never having driven in LA before I found it difficult staying on course and accidentally drove a little longer. It was pretty much what I expected it to be. Very quick, (we were told it does 0-60 in 7.0 seconds) very quiet (quieter than the ActiveE for sure), it has very responsive steering, an amazingly short turning radius and the braking was probably the best I've ever experienced. I practiced some emergency stops in a parking lot and the car stopped in exceptionally short distances. I can't wait to see official road tests when they measure braking distances. I predict it will deliver some of the shortest braking distances of any car on the road today.

The optional wide nav screen looks great

I really didn't get the chance to push the handling because of the LA city environment but I did have some fun weaving in and out of traffic, sprinting from streetlight to streetlight and mashing the accelerator to the floor at every opportunity. I don't know how it will do auto crossing (yet), but I give it an A+ for making the most fun you can out of city driving. I even tried out the Parking Assistant and it worked perfectly. I also purposely hit every pothole there was - and incidentally LA doesn't have nearly as many of them as we do in New York, and the car absorbed them without a problem and I didn't hear any unusual rattles or noises that I've read a few other journalists report when driving over bumps. The regenerative braking was about 10% weaker than it is on the ActiveE, but it's still by far the strongest regenerative braking on any electric vehicle. I'd say the Volt in low driving mode and the Model S are tied for 2nd, but the i3 has stayed true to BMW's promise of having the strongest regen in the industry which really allows for "one pedal driving." Like on the ActiveE there is what BMW calls a glide mode (basically the ability to coast to improve efficiency). By slightly easing back on the accelerator, the motor decouples and the car freewheels. While this isn't what you would normally need in a city driving environment, it will come in handy at higher speeds on the freeway. By easing back a bit more on the accelerator the motor then reengages and the regenerative braking grabs. 

Lift the armrest & you can slide across

The seats were comfortable and supportive and felt like they would do fine holding you in place during spirited driving but definitely don't grab you into place like seats in a sports car would. This, plus the lack of a center tunnel on the floor does allow you to easily slide across to the other side of the car and exit out of the passenger side if you wanted to, which I did just to see how easy it would be. The back seats have plenty of room for two big adults. I even brought along three passengers on my second test drive to see how we all fit and if the extra 600+ lbs would effect the driving dynamics. The car was slightly slower as you would expect but the handling felt just as good as when I was driving alone but again, I couldn't push it much on the streets of LA but I did make some rapid lane changes at about 40 mph and the car felt precise and planted even with the full load. 

What was learned: 

As I mentioned above I've had a lot of people ask me i3 questions recently and I promised I'd do my best to get answers once I drove the car and had the opportunity to speak to the program managers again. Without listing the specific questions here the answers to most of what I've been asked:


-The range extender engine is liquid cooled, but it's a different system and coolant than what is used for the battery management system. In fact, the i3 REx has three separate cooling systems. One for the BMS, one for the passenger cabin and one for the REx engine. The battery pack uses air conditioning refrigerant and the REx engine uses conventional liquid coolant.

-Waste heat from the REx is not used to heat the cabin.

-In the US the heat pump is standard on all BEV i3s, but it's not available on the i3 REx. BMW doesn't believe it's a necessary option if you have the range extender.

-Yes, you can certainly precondition the cabin (heat or cool) and the battery even if you have the REx. (Two people from the UK asked me this so evidently there is inaccurate info somewhere there)

-European delivery will not be offered on the i3.

-There are no optional interior color choices. Each interior level only comes in the color shown. So you can't for instance get the Terra World with gray interior, it only is available in the brown leather like the pictures shown above.

-The REx does not turn on until the state of charge is under 5%. It is robust enough to maintain the charge under all but the most strenuous conditions. You can manually shut it off so it doesn't turn on at all for instances when you know you'll make your destination on battery alone. If you do so it resets once you turn the car off and on again. This way you can't forget you shut the REx off.

-The REx has start/stop technology and shuts off when you are driving under 10mph unless the SOC is so low that it needs to stay on to get the car to 5% SOC. This is so that the car remains quiet at low speeds and while parked. This means you can't park the car with the REx on and let it charge up for a while.

-There is no speed limiter when the REx is running, but there is when you choose Eco Pro+ mode. In Eco Pro+ mode you are limited to 56 mph. Jose Guererro showed the ActiveE group a picture of the speedometer he took while driving an i3 with the REx running and he was going about 70-75mph (I don't remember exactly) he also said the car was maintaining the charge without a problem at that speed.

*UPDATE: The US i3's will not be speed limited in Eco Pro+ mode like I wrote above. The European i3's are though, and the car I drove was a European spec i3, so when I put it in Eco Pro+ mode the speed restriction display showed, which is why I reported it as such.

-Heated seats are optional, and this was a bit of a head scratcher: You can't precondition the passenger cabin with heat unless you get the seat heater option. I don't get that at all, but that's the way it is. Anyone who lives in an area that has cold temperatures during the year simply must get the heated seats option in my opinion or they will regret it later.

-The rear seats fold down completely flat and split 50/50. 

-Comfort Access is standard with Giga and Terra World trim packages, as is the sunroof.

-The battery pack is comprised of 8 modules which each have 12 individual cells. The cells are supplied by Samsung but BMW assembles the modules in house.

-You have to get the Parking Assistant package to get the rear view camera, it's not a standalone option.

-US orders will begin in January, not in November as previously reported on InsideEVs.com

-i3s bound for the US will begin production in March, likely arrive in the US for delivery sometime in April.

I was also asked to take some specific pictures, here they are:

Taken by my friend Andre

There were 6 CCS quick chargers there

The display while DC fast charging

One battery module contains 12 cells

There is one more thing that I learned. For some reason, BMW has decided to omit a state of charge gauge. My head nearly exploded when I found this out. Both the MINI-E and ActiveE had state of charge meters and quite honestly it's all I use when I drive. I never use the predicted remaining miles, or the bar graph. I love the simplicity of a simply number, from 0 to 100% to tell me how much energy I have to work with. I am not alone either, when the other ActiveE drivers found out they were as shocked as I was. In fact we brought it up and protested so much the i3 management team promised they would revisit this. I'm going to dedicate my next blog post on this topic, because I don't want this post to be all about the SOC. Other than this topic, most everything else was extremely positive. The car drives as great as I had hoped it would and BMW announced to the ActiveE group that as a thank you for our participation, they would be making a special edition i3 that will only be available for us, and our cars will be some of the first i3s delivered to the US.  I hope I got to everyone's questions and requests. Please leave any other questions in the comment area and I'll answer them if I can.