To REx or Not To REx, That is The Question

The concept i3 sitting pretty in Chicago recently during a commercial shoot

In just about two years from now, you will be able to walk into any BMW showroom and drive away with an i3 electric car. It will be the first electric car BMW sells. Shortly thereafter, you will be able to buy that same i3, but with a gasoline engine range extender that BMW is calling REx, as an option. BMW hasn't commented on the cost of the REx option, but it's likely to be at least a few thousand dollars.

While I've really become a pure BEV guy, I have to admit I'm interested in the REx feature. Especially if the gasoline engine is very efficient. I would want the car to achieve at least 40mpg in REx mode, and preferably closer to 50 in order to seriously consider it.

There are also other factors that will influence my interest in the REx option. First, and most importantly, the range of the BEV i3 without REx. I'm beginning to get a little concerned about this because everything I have ever heard about the i3 pointed to at least a100 mile range. Now, at the official unveiling of the concept i3 the press is reporting a 80 to 100 mile range. Hmm. Red flag alert. I don't know why BMW would give the i3 a range less than 100 miles since they purposely made the MINI-E and the ActiveE have 100 mile ranges. Why go backwards now? BMW is a premium brand and the i3 will be a premium car with a premium price tag. In the EV world, there is nothing more premium than a greater range than your competition. I just hope BMW was just underselling the i3, basically doing the exact opposite that Nissan did by promising a 100 mile range for the LEAF and then delivering a 75 mile EV. If they state 80 to 100 miles and most people get 90+ miles during normal driving conditions then that's fine, but if you need to hypermile to get over 85 miles than I think they made a huge mistake. I'm probably just getting worked up about nothing. The folks over at BMW seem to really get it. I don't think they would make this big of a mistake. I've had many meetings and discussions with various members of the EV division and they all say 100 miles is the sweet spot, so we'll see..

Another factor in deciding if I want the REx option will be how much longer after the BEV i3 is introduced will the REx option be available. If we're talking a matter of months and the i3 really only has an 80 mile real world range, than I'd have to really consider waiting for it. However if at the i3 launch BMW still hasn't announced an availability date for the REx, then I doubt I'd even consider it.

Finally, the cost. I think I'd be willing to pay $2000 to $3,000 for the REx option, but definitely not more. Actually what I'd really wish BMW would offer is a larger battery pack option. How about 5 more kWh for the same $2000 to $3000? If that were available all this discussion would be moot. I'd buy the bigger battery in a heartbeat. Five more kWh would increase the cars range by 25 to 30 miles and for me, that would make it perfect. A 110 to 130 mile range BEV would cover virtually 100% of my daily driving needs and would end the discussion for a gasoline range extender. Anybody over at BMW listening???

BMW CEO: BMW i3 Will Cost Less Than a 5 Series

 

BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer recently stated that the 2013 BMW i3 would cost less than a BMW 5 series sedan. While that may not be earth shattering news, it does give us a pretty good idea where the i3 will be positioned price wise. List price for a new 528i is currently about $45,000 so my thoughts that the i3 would be somewhere between the $35,000 price that Car & Driver recently reported the i3 would cost and the rumors that it would be in the low to mid 40's seem to be right on target.

At this point I'm going to guess a starting list price of $42,500. If you qualify for the $7,500 federal tax incentive (and if it's still there in 2013!) then you could drive away in your new i3 for around $35,000 to $38,000 depending on how well appointed you want it. I think that a pretty fair price for a car that has the kind of cutting edge technology the i3 is going to have.

BMW i3 Spotted in Chicago Filming a Commercial

It's only a short clip, but it's nice to see the concept i3 rolling down a street in Chicago. Although the concept has features like glass doors and roof, you can really see from this what the car will look like. On stage at the unveiling is one thing, but watching it drive on the street in the video gives a better sense of it's dimensions and shape. I can't wait until we see it in production trim!

BMW i3 Concept Revealed!

So here it is. It's been over two years since we first started hearing about the mysterious BMW "Megacity Vehicle" since dubbed the 2013 BMW i3 and we're finally getting an official look at what BMW has been cooking up.

This is a concept, so the production version will be a bit different, but overall the shape will be pretty much what we see here. They will of course lose the glass side panels and roof, both to be replaced with carbon fiber panels as is the entire outer shell. If you compare it to the renderings in the post below this, you see it is kind of a hybrid of a few of them. There haven't been much details released yet, but some of them of note that I did read are the car will have tall 19" wheels, which are very large diameter for a car of this size. The stated purpose for these are that they lower the rolling resistance and improve efficiency. It will also go 0-60 in under 8 seconds. It will charge on a regular household 110v outlet in six hours. That basically means the battery pack is small as previously reported, probably 16 to 18 kWh. It will also have a range extender option that BMW calls i-REx. The range extender will be a small gasoline(not diesel) engine that will only charge the battery pack, it will not have the ability to drive the wheels directly like the Chevy Volt can under certain circumstances.

 I'm sure there will be lot's of info coming out in the next few days, I'll try to get it all up here as soon as it's available.

BMW i3 Rendering Review

I have heard from various sources that BMW is going to publicly unveil their pre-production version of the 2013 i3 at a press gathering on July 28th. I have had a few journalists that have been invited reach out to me and ask if I would be attending also. I will not, but I'm sure it won't be long after that I get the details of what whs announced and even some nice photo's of the i3.

Since we'll finally get to see what the BMW designers have come up with, I thought I'd post some of the artist renderings we have has to look at since the i3 was first announced last year. Back then, BMW would only refer to it as the MegaCity vehicle. I'll start it off with the spy photograph that was taken of the car during cold weather testing is Sweden earlier this year.  You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

As you can see there are common themes that hold up through most of the renderings. In less than a month I think we'll know who was closest to the mark. Stay tuned...

BMW i3: The Intersection of Policy, Business, & Carbon

I recently came across this interesting report. It's titled "BMW: i3 Electric Vehicle. The Intersection of Policy, Business, & Carbon" and was written by Lauren Blasch, Jeremy Pomp, Marla Stancil, Shyam Vijayaraghavan.







The report focuses on electric vehicles and their carbon footprint in general, as opposed to being i3 specific. It demonstrates that depending on the source of the electricity used for charging the car, EV's can range from better to worse than a Toyota Prius in carbon emissions. It's interesting that they used the most efficient hybrid currently available to compare electric vehicle emissions to. I think it might have been more useful to use the Pruis and also show on the graph the average internal combustion engine cars carbon emissions also. They even go as far as to detail which states are better suited for electric cars based on their electricity generation mix. The good news is that New York and California, the target markets for the i3 since they both have "megacities" were two of the states that were "EV favorable" The report is only 28 pages long and many of the pages are graphs so it doesn't take long to read. There are some interesting fact in there so I recommend reading it if you are interested in electric vehicles and their impact on the environment.

One thing to consider though, the report is strictly focused on the carbon emissions of vehicles and I advocate electric cars for more reasons than just their carbon footprint. Even if you live in a state that produces 100% of it's electricity from burning coal, and by using an EV you are producing more carbon than if you owned a Toyota Prius, you are still spending your energy dollars on a DOMESTIC product. You are not contributing to the crushing trade imbalance, much of which is created from importing foreign oil and you are not sending some your money to radical Middle Eastern regimes, many of which hate us. Electricity is produced and distributed by local and regional companies, and 100% of the money you spend on it stays local. If you ask me, that's reason enough to drive an electric car.

BMW i3 To be Officially Introduced in July!

 

According to BMWCOOP and some of my other sources, the BMW i3 as well as the i8 may be formally introduced as early as late July. This goes against most reports that the i3 will be seen for the very first time at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. 

While BMW has shown pre-production i8's in videos, they have never shown the public an i3 in the flesh and have only provided vague sketches of the car that is hoped to revolutionize the electric car market, setting new standards for efficiency as well as being the first-ever mass produced car that is made entirely of lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic and aluminum. This car may very well pave the way for BMW as well as other major OEM's to offer dramatically lighter, more efficient cars that require less energy to operate.