'BMW i3 EV Quirk> Why No AM Radio?'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ultra-low-emission-vehicles/11706375/bmw-i3-car-review.html Rachel Riley test drives the new BMW i3 29 Jun 2015 Rachel Riley drives the BMW i3 electric car and finds it responsive, light and good for running around town with no lag when you put your foot down [image] Life of Riley: Rachel likes to buy things after people have already tried, tested and improved I’m not an early adopter of technology. With phones and things, I like to be in the second wave, when people have tried it, tested it and improved it. This BMW i3 feels like a second wave of electric cars. It’s really responsive, light and good for running around town, quicker than most little cars I’ve driven, with no lag when you put your foot down. Even going up a steep hill, you just zoom. But the main thing is how user-friendly it is. Driving the car is just as simple. It tells you clearly what your range is, with bars that change as you use up the charge. Modes such as Eco and Eco Plus maximise your range by limiting your speed and energy use. I put it in Eco Plus for the motorway. You can disable the feature, but using it makes you aware of your energy use. Knowing that you’re not producing emissions in this car is a good feeling The car also comes with an app, installed on the dashboard and downloadable to your phone, to help you find the nearest charging points – and if they’re occupied or available. You reserve a slot, park, touch your membership card (like an Oyster card) on the reader and plug in. The app tells you what time it’ll be fully charged. I drove 50 miles to Oxford and back, within the i3’s electric range. Then I popped into Bicester Village. The app told me there are four charging points there. All were available, so I plugged in, shopped and when I got back to the car it was fully charged. I tend to drive around London most of the time, with the occasional trip to Manchester. For a long trip like that I’d need the Range-Extender version of the i3, which has a little petrol engine to charge up the battery. But I did all my driving on battery power. The car comes with an app to help you find the nearest charging points There are other benefits too. I cycle around London a lot and I’ve really noticed in the last few months how many fumes I’m breathing in. Knowing that you’re not producing emissions in this car is a good feeling. A big reason for buying one is the £5,000 grant from the government off the purchase price and there’s no road tax to pay. What’s more, if you’re in London, you don’t have to pay the Congestion Charge, and there’s free parking in many areas. As batteries improve, charging gets faster and the charging point network grows, there’s no question we’ll all be driving these. Next time I get a new car, I’ll definitely look at electric first. [© telegraph.co.uk] http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098893_bmw-i3-electric-car-quirk-no-am-radio--but-why BMW i3 Electric Car Quirk: No AM Radio--But Why? By John Voelcker Jun 29, 2015 [images http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/2015-bmw-i3_100509377_l.jpg 2015 BMW i3 REx - Driven, Portland OR, April 2015 http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/2015-bmw-i3_100509396_l.jpg http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/2015-bmw-i3_100509397_l.jpg ] The BMW i3 electric car is a tour de force of advanced engineering--and the most energy-efficient car sold in the U.S. this year. Its body shell is made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic, riding on an aluminum platform containing the lithium-ion battery, the electric motor, and the crash structures. But you can't get AM radio in the car. In other words, no local traffic reports or news headlines for you, harried commuter. We noticed this quirk in the BMW i3 REx extended-range electric cars tested over the last few months by several High Gear Media editors. And as devotees of New York City's 50-year-old 1010WINS--with its traffic updates "every 10 minutes on the ones"--we wondered why the car didn't include AM reception. "AM is not offered due to negative performance influences of the electromagnetic interference of the electric drivetrain," said Rebecca K. Kiehne, a BMW product and technical communications spokesperson. "Electric motors cause interference on AM which is why BMW decided to remove this option. "While it could be offered, BMW’s performance standards are very high and we don’t offer a product that meets less than those high standards." This puzzled us, since virtually every other electric or hybrid car on the market manages to include AM radio without trouble. We asked Kuehn for more details, but didn't get specific answers on why the interference would be comparatively greater in the BMW i3 than in any other vehicle with an electric traction motor. We surmise it could have something to do with the CFRP body shell, but Kuehn wasn't terribly forthcoming. BMW's two prior electric-car test fleets managed to incorporate AM radio: It was a standard fitting in both the MINI E and the BMW ActiveE. "It wasn't great," said one driver familiar with all three cars, "but it wasn't terrible either." Even stranger, it turns out the BMW i3 does have AM radio built in--but BMW has disabled it. "Depending on where you live," an i3 owner told us, "the reception can be very bad due to interference from the electric drive electronics." "From what I got out of BMW, the interference was unacceptable for them and they felt their customers would be complaining about it," he said. But those customers would "bring the cars to the dealers, and the dealers wouldn't be able to do anything." So, at least for the moment, the BMW i3 offers energy efficiency, power, and its unique optional range-extending two-cylinder engine. It just doesn't offer AM radio. Some owners, we later learned, have gone in and modified the software in their cars, known as "coding" the i3--which we strongly suspect may void some or all of the warranty. Those owners have said the AM radio largely works fine. Some report minor interference, but most say it's perfectly acceptable. And there you have it. With web-connected 4G mobile devices and live traffic data integrated into the i3's navigation system, perhaps AM radio is now simply a relic of the past that drivers can do without--rather like CD players? [© 2015 Green Car Reports] ... http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1092779_bmw-i3-electric-car-ultimate-guide Ultimate Guide to the BMW i3 For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://www.businesscar.co.uk/news/2015/lex-adds-2000th-electric-vehicle-to-fleet lexautolease.co.uk adds Nissan e-nv200 as its 2000th fleet EV http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/208844-how-ford-will-sell-more-cars-by-pushing-electric-bicycles-smart-watches-and-ride-sharing Ford will sell more ice by pushing ebicycles ... ... http://www.examiner.com/article/ford-will-let-you-rent-your-new-car-out-to-pay-your-car-loan Ford GoDrive ride sharing EVs for 1way between 20 London.uk locations http://www.ktvn.com/story/29337000/nevada-electric-highway-to-link-reno-to-las-vegas 'Nevada Electric Highway' to EVSE-Link Reno to Las Vegas-NV http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/energy/electric-charging-stations-planned-between-las-vegas-northern-nevada + EVLN: 250-mile range Leaf EV less than three years away {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-She-test-drives-i3-Why-Is-There-No-AM-Radio-tp4676597.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)
