'the problem ... BMW’s desire ... i3 REx certified a BEVx vehicle by the California Air Resource Board ... allows ... the most ZEV credits'
% IMO: 'So not the drama' the media makes it to be> the i3rex design with a depleted pack is after all an 'EV with a small ice' pih to get you to a L3/2 EVSE, not an 'ice with a hint of EV-mode driving'. ?Isn't this like complaining that the emergency L1 EVSE is too slow? Perhaps a turtle-warning-light once in charge-depleted/75% SOC/ Hold-mode would be better for obnoxious-leadfoot-BMW-ice-drivers? % https://transportevolved.com/2014/10/13/bmw-promises-fix-anaemic-acceleration-bmw-i3-rex-range-extended-mode/ BMW Promises Fix for Anaemic Acceleration of BMW i3 REx in Range-Extended Mode October 13, 2014 By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield [images https://d2v41vkldk04pc.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/CT_111913_i3PrssDrv_0324.jpg Slower on hills: the BMW i3 REx could lose power on steep hills if its battery pack is fully depleted. https://d2v41vkldk04pc.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/CT_111913_i3PrssDrv_0484.jpg In most situations, the BMW i3 REx’s range extending engine can keep up. But outside of the city on steep, faster roads, there may be problems. https://d2v41vkldk04pc.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/i3-57.jpg Last year, a British Journalist suffered the same problem on the M20. ] When it comes to overtaking, there’s nothing more terrifying than committing to an overtaking manoeuvre on a hill to discover that you don’t have the power you need to successfully and safely accelerate past the vehicle you’re trying to overtake — especially if there’s someone else coming the other way. Luckily, it’s a situation which only likely happens if you’re someone who enjoys the charms of an underpowered classic car, but as Consumer Reports discovered recently, it’s a problem which also afflicts BMW’s first mass-produced range-extended electric car if you happen to come to a hill after depleting its on-board battery pack completely. And it’s a problem BMW says it is planning to fix with an upcoming ‘enhancement’ in spring 2015. Available in both pure electric i3 EV and range-extended i3 REx variants, the BMW i3 is a funky, futuristic, four-seat plug-in car that not only lays claim to being BMW’s first mass-produced electric car but also to being the most efficient plug-in car you can buy today. On paper, that means the BMW i3 EV travels an EPA-approved 81 miles from its 22 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, while the slightly heavier i3 REx — complete with its two-cylinder, 650cc gasoline range-extending engine — manages 72 miles per charge. While less efficient and marginally slower in the 0-60mph dash, the BMW i3 REx’s range-extending engine offers customers an additional 78 miles of range –150 miles in total electric+gasoline– from the car’s tiny 1.9 gallon gasoline tank, meaning it has sold far better than the electric-only i3 REx. Yet due to the way the on-board range-extending engine works, the i3 REx can become extremely anaemic in certain situations when its battery pack is fully depleted, as Consumer Reports discovered when trying to accelerate up a hill on gasoline power alone. The independent testing organisation, which buys all of the cars it tests direct from dealerships at full list price in order to retain its impartiality, says one of its BMW i3 REx test drivers recently tried to overtake a truck on a hilly two-lane after the car’s battery pack had been depleted. With only the tiny 650cc, 34 horsepower engine providing power, the BMW i3 REx’s normally powerful acceleration gave way to an asthmatic, dangerous overtake. “The i3 began to lose power without warning, subjecting the driver to more exposure in the oncoming lane,” Consumer Reports said. And while the car soon regained its power on coasting after the overtake — which Consumer Reports noted allowed the car time to replenish some of its battery pack — the test organisation said it was “disconcerting to say the least.” According to the organisation, further testing revealed that prolonged use of the throttle with no speed variation or braking while the battery pack was reaching empty meant that acceleration dramatically suffered, increasing 0-60 mph times from the usual 7.5 seconds experienced in all-electric mode and 9 seconds in range-extending mode to anywhere from 27 to 40 seconds. For those taking notes, the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, manages 0-60 mph in 30 seconds. The problem isn’t a new one either. Back in November last year, we brought you news of a BMW i3 REx test-drive carried out in the UK by Telegraph motoring correspondent Chris Knapman. Driving on the busy M20 motorway north from Kent into London, Knapman’s loaner BMW i3 ran out of electric power and switched on its tiny gasoline engine as he was trying to drive up a steep section of road at high speed. With no battery power left, the tiny 650cc engine struggled to keep up with the rest of traffic, slowing down to an unbelievable 44 mph on the steepest part of the motorway, some 6mph below the legal minimum speed for motorway traffic. In Knapman’s case, the circumstances which lead to his unfortunate incident could have been overcome, since the European i3 REx can turn on its gasoline range-extending engine before the battery pack is depleted — as long as it is below 75 percent full — at the discretion of the driver on longer-distance trips, ensuring there’s never any loss of power. In the U.S. — where the need to satisfy tough Californian regulations on plug-in hybrids and range-extended EVs mean that the range-extending engine only comes on after the battery pack has dropped below 6 percent full — that’s not an option. And with only six percent of battery charge remaining, it’s all too easy to deplete any remaining battery power if you’re in a particularly hilly area. While the BMW i3 REx is designed primarily as an suburban and urban vehicle and most i3 REx owners won’t experience this problem, we note that this could cause problems for those who like to make use of the range-extending engine for longer-distance trips, especially if they’re planning on making a longer-distance trip to see family or friends and are unaware of this issue. With such a small engine on-board, it comes as no surprise that this is an issue for some, but BMW says that it is working on an enhancement in the form of a battery state of charge indicator and an early-warning system to tell drivers when the car is likely to lose power due to low battery state of charge and high power drain. Similar to the mountain mode on the 2014 Chevrolet Volt, BMW says the i3 REx will also introduce a software update which will use the GPS system to automatically trigger a boosting of the battery state of charge when it detects the car is headed for hilly terrain. Free for all BMW i3 REx owners, the update will be rolled out some time next year. Until then, if you’re making a trip in a BMW i3 REx and plan on running its battery pack empty, be sure to remember that your car won’t have as much power in gasoline mode as it does when using electric power. [© transportevolved.com] ... http://www.torquenews.com/2250/bmw-i3-rex-has-potentially-dangerous-flaw-fix-way BMW i3 REx has a potentially dangerous flaw, but a fix is on the way By Luke Ottaway 2014-10-15 ... http://www.caradvice.com.au/313567/bmw-i3-acceleration-problems-will-be-sorted-out-in-2015/ BMW i3 acceleration problems will be sorted out in 2015 by Derek Fung 2014-10-16 http://www.caradvice.com.au/thumb/960/477/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bmw-i3-42-e1375093260315.jpg ... http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=so%20not%20the%20drama So not the drama http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=No%20drama ... https://www.google.com/search?q=obnoxious+bmw+leadfoot+drivers Obnoxious leadfoot BMW ice drivers http://www.bmwblog.com/2014/10/16/bmw-working-rex-upgrade-increase-performance/ BMW Working on a REx Upgrade to Increase Performance October 16th, 2014 by Horatiu Boeriu [images http://www.bmwblog.com/wp-content/uploads/BMW-i3-Range-Extender-750x500.jpg http://www.bmwblog.com/wp-content/uploads/lowSOC1-750x508.jpg http://www.bmwblog.com/wp-content/uploads/Hold-Mode1-750x359.jpg http://www.bmwblog.com/wp-content/uploads/DSC_12951-750x500.jpg http://www.bmwblog.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_20140817_150632271_HDR.jpg ] From the first word that the North American version of the i3 REx would have restrictions not found on its European counterpart, i3 enthusiasts and customers in the US and Canada have wondered how well it would work under strenuous driving conditions. In fact, it is by far the topic I now get the most correspondence over. I have probably received over 100 emails through this blog from followers that want to know how well the range extender works and how capable it is. People want to know things like what speed the car can maintain in charge sustaining mode and for how many miles can the car maintain highway speeds on a certain percentage upgrade, and so on. I even have had people ask me if I could conduct specific tests with my car to confirm it can do what they need it to. The reason being is the 34hp REx engine can only deliver about 25kWs (although some reports say BMW upped it to 28kWs) of power. That is plenty of power for nearly all normal driving needs, but not enough for continued high speed or long upgrade driving. The problem then arises if you continue to consume more energy than the REx can deliver. The root of the problem reverts back to BMW’s desire to have the i3 REx certified a BEVx vehicle by the California Air Resource Board. This allows BMW to get the most ZEV credits per vehicle, and also allows the i3 REx to qualify for other perks, like sales tax exemption in New Jersey and Washington State. It also allows the owner to get the full $2,500 California CVRP rebate, unlike all other PHEVs which only get $1,500. However this came with a cost. BMW had to restrict the REx use to comply with CARB’s BEVx classification. The European i3 REx can be manually turned on any time the state of charge is lower than 75%. This is called a Hold Mode and allows the driver to hold a higher state of charge and keep a higher battery buffer which they may need for continued strenuous driving conditions later in the journey. The North American version has no Hold Mode, and the range extender only comes on when the battery is reduced to a critically low 6.5%. For normal driving that is fine, but when really pressed for continued periods, the car cannot maintain full power. This creates a problem when the driver needs to drive for an extended period which demands an energy draw of more than 25kWs. The meager 6.5% battery reserve can quickly deplete in these conditions. When this happens, the car goes into a reduced power mode and can only maintain a speed of about 40mph. To make matter eve worse, the driver gets no warning and the car just slows down. This is not what you want happening to you when you are on a highway and cars are whizzing by you at 70mph. This is a real issue, and compounded by the problem that most BMW client advisers didn’t know how to communicate this to the customers and sold them the cars without informing them how to properly operate the vehicle in REx mode. I’ve had people contact me that were completely unaware of how the range extender worked and said they were told by their client adviser that “the car can do anything in range extender mode as it can in all electric mode, it just doesn’t have quite as much power.” That isn’t true, and many early i3 REx customers were disappointed when they found out they couldn’t drive up that mountain to their summer home, for example. In fact, one the Born Electric guest bloggers here mentioned an instance where he went into reduced power mode with a car full of friends. All that said, I now have over 10,000 miles on my i3 REx and not once have I ever gone into reduced power mode, and I’ve actually tried to make it happen! The “problem” I’m having is the highways are relatively flat here in New Jersey and the REx can basically handle anything I give it. The times I have tried to make it happen the flow of traffic wasn’t fast enough for me to maintain a speed of over 75mph for a long enough period. 75 mph on relatively flat ground seems to be the upper limit the REx can handle for continued driving. There is plenty of energy to go up and down the hills I routinely drive over, and also to have short bursts of power well past 80 mph for passing if needed in REx mode, so for me the car works perfectly and I really don’t need a modification. However my friends in California and other areas of the country that have long, steep inclines to negotiate disagree, and want to see some kind of modification to allow the range extender to turn on at a higher state of charge so the vehicle has a larger electric buffer. In fact, there will soon be a two-part post here by an i3 Rex owner in California that has been obsessing a bit over this very topic. (well, I call it obsessing, he calls it studying – I’ll let you be the judge when you read his post next week!) So now that we understand the problem, what is the solution. Should BMW simply give up the value of the BEVx designation and allow the driver to initiate Hold Mode as the European i3 REx owners can? That isn’t happening as far as I can tell. What I do believe is going to happen? Well for starters there will be software updates that include better indicators that the car may be headed to reduced power mode if you don’t take action to alleviate it. Perhaps by slowing down 5-10 mph you can completely avoid having a problem at all. I also expect there will be a better state of charge display so the driver has more accurate display of how much power they have left. I would also love if BMW could add a display that would show the actual power draw you are using, so the driver can see if they are drawing more energy than the REx is producing. That would be an awesome tool for the driver to use in these situations and I do hope the BMW engineers consider adding it.. However I’m saving the best for last. It is my belief that BMW is working on an update that will indeed allow the range extender to turn on much earlier than the 6.5% threshold if the car determines you will need the extra power. This will work with the navigation system which accounts for topography. Once a destination is entered, the car will determine how early the REx will need to be turned on so it avoids reduced power while climbing an upgrade at the end of the journey. While this isn’t quite as good as having the ability to manually turn on the range extender, it’s pretty close. The bottom line is people just want to be able to get to their destination without worry of a reduced power “slowdown” while driving on the highway. If the modifications that BMW are working on do indeed work, I don’t think anyone will complain. In fact, I’ve privately asked this very question to quite a few current i3 REx owners and every one said as long as it works, and they can use the car to drive up long, sustained inclines at highway speeds, then they’ll be very happy. From what I understand the update could be available as early as the first quarter of 2015 and will indeed be available as a software update to existing i3 REx owners.Of course it would have been better if this was available right from the launch, but at least BMW is working quickly (the i3 has only been available for about five months in North America) to correct the problem. [© bmwblog.com] For EVLN posts use: http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html#nabble+template%2FNamlServlet.jtp%3Fmacro%3Dsearch_page%26node%3D413529%26query%3Devln%26sort%3Ddate http://www.ibtimes.com/down-electric-cars-chrysler-ceo-marchionne-speeding-delivery-plug-hybrid-electric-town-1700606 Down-On-EVs CEO-Marchionne Speeding-Up Town&Country Minivan pih R&D ... http://cleantechnica.com/2014/10/15/chrysler-launching-phev-minivan-late-next-year-according-ceo-sergio-marchionne/ Chrysler Launching Plug-in Hybrid Minivan Late Next Year http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/weak-demand-oil-sign-weak-global-economy Weak oil demand signs the rise of the EV & ice-efficiency gains http://www.delawareonline.com/story/money/business/2014/10/10/questions-answered-rehoboth-charging-stations/17058293/ Delware slow to embrace public EVSE and making mistakes ... http://pluginsites.org/delaware-welcome-center-75-amp-level-2/ + EVLN: Puky romps his i3 EV on Circuito del Jarama.es (video) {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-CR-complains-charge-depleted-i3rex-pih-not-racing-up-hills-tp4672148.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
