BMW i3 REx European Road Trip!

Back in February we featured Steven from The Netherlands as a Born Electric guest blogger. At the time he mentioned to me that he was planning a road trip with his i3 REx that would take him on a fantastic journey from The Netherlands through Germany and France to the final destination of Switzerland. The funny thing is, I almost was able to meet him along the trip because I was actually in Switzerland the week before he arrived and my wife and I even spent an afternoon at the same lake in Zurich you see pictured below! In any event, once I heard Steven was about to engage upon this 1,100 mile road trip I asked him if he wouldn't mind sharing the details here once he returns and he was kind enough to do so. I get a lot of questions about the range extender, and many people want to know if it is possible to take it on a long trip. This post doesn't answer every question, but it does give some insight into how the car will perform on sure an extended road trip. I haven't read any story of an i3 doing a road trip over 1,100 miles yet, so this may be the first account of such a journey.

Travelcompanion: i3

OK, so we have this i3. It was, and still is, marketed as a city slicker. The question arises: is BMW underestimating itself ?

To begin with the conclusion: yes and no. It will go outside the city and beyond, with quite an aplomb at that, but its driver needs some commitment and perseverance to get there. As stated by Tom elsewhere: it is not a go anywhere, do anything car. With a normal to brisk driving style, it excels on local trips with perhaps a charge or two along the way. But when taking it easy, tourist style, it can haul you much further than your cities limits.

Once you get used to its unconventional lines the design grows on you.
Our i3 in the Appenzeller mountains.

The commitment starts with a careful planning. Call me a nerd, but I rather like planning a trip in detail, time allowing. However, the limited electric range did cause a little frustration. Frustration about not being able to reach the higher alpine passes in the six days we reserved for this trip. When pushed, we certainly could have done it, but in the end we opted to make the journey itself the goal.

The first hurdle is Europe not being the United States of Europe. Different plugs, different chargecards, you name it. Totally unfunny. Luckily, one of Hollands energy suppliers is owned by RWE, a large German energy supplier, so we could apply for a German charge-ID. You’ll need an app on your iPhone to start the charger, but that’s ok. For France and Switzerland, we’re out of luck. A lot of local/regional initiatives, so charging possibilities are limited to free chargers or, in Switzerland, chargers mounted in parking garages where charging is complementary or at a cost, payable at the checkout machines. And these have to match our Mennekes plug as well.

As you’ll understand, planning took a while, especially while I was not only looking for locations to charge, but also for roads worth driving and places worth visiting while charging. Not much fun to be stuck on an industrial estate for three hours… In the end, I planned our trip so that it would take us three days to reach Switzerland, leaving much of the motorway behind after crossing the Dutch border. Slow tourism, like our parents did with their 2cv, before Europe was shrunk by the proliferation of the Autobahn.

Departure

Smoothly gliding away, to not disturb our neighbours, is uneventful in itself. EcoPro is on, but so is the heat, for it was freezing during the night. Damn, we’ll need those electrons! Well, not entirely, to be truthful, for our first stop is at a 50 KW fast charger. The residual charge doesn’t seem to matter much at the fast chargers’; it’ll charge to 90% in 30 minutes anyway. But there seems to be a catch. We left the charger with ~94%, but the charge dropped right down to 86% in a matter of minutes. Something we have observed more than once after a fast charge. A pity in this case, because the next station should have been reachable with a margin. A margin worth having, for we were able to reach our designated charger with only 5 km (3 mi) on the clock. But hey, it was supposed to be an adventure !

This is the point where I have to admit we are driving the i3 ‘chicken version’, with the little REx in the boot. The upside: unlimited mobility. The downside: REx wakes at 5-6 km, no matter what. So we were at the threshold of failure to do the E-thing, and that only two hours into our journey! But we made it. We had lunch, walked the totally unremarkable town, takin’ it easy as promised, until the car was charged enough to reach our next goal. The ability to use your smartphone to monitor the car is invaluable.

The next goal: Monschau. A quaint little town, picture book stuff. Flocking with tourists of a more advanced age when in season, it is actually very nice when not. Coffee, apfelstrudel, you’ll get my drift how we passed the time.

Chargetourism: Monschau

With enough inside us and in the i3, off to the next charger. A short charging session of 32 minutes at 32 amps in Daun was all it took to take us to our hotel in Bernkastel-Kues. Again a picturesque village, this time with a larger river (the Mosel) and an ancient castle on the adjoining mountain. And the best news: we have entered the wine region, so the i3 was not the only one being replenished :)

At this hotel, we had the first experience of the friendly cooperation we would encounter along the way. We were fully prepared to have to drive the car to a charging station nearby and to walk back, but the hotel owner promptly offered us a spot in his yard where we were able to plug in under the carport. Sweet.

France

Day two took us through Germany to France. Our second hurdle: the designated electrospots in Saarbrücken were occupied by gas-burners! A Zoe was already double parked and charging, but i3’s cable is not long enough to do this. Damn. Now what? Time for friendly cooperation example #2: the receptionist of the adjoining offices came out to ask us if everything was ok, noticing of course it wasn’t because of me standing there with a large blue cable in my hands, looking lost. The solution was easy: one of the owners of the damned vehicles didn’t mind to take a hike, so we could charge, albeit with a little delay. The upside: the German owner of the double parked Zoe turned up, so we had an opportunity for a nice conversation about the future of the world.

Charged and fed, off to France we went. One possibility to charge with no alternatives. Gold or bust! Golden it was. Free of charge as well. Very good of the Cora supermarket to lure crazy dutch electrotourists to their store :) With enough cheese and charge, we took off through the Alsace, an area we always quite enjoy for a lot of reasons.

One of the reasons is that it has some nice drivers’ roads with not to much other people on them. We already enjoyed some nice, but not too quick, driving in the German Eifel yesterday, and the Alsace didn’t disappoint. Nor did the i3, so it is time for some car stuff, for this is supposed to be a car blog last time I checked….

Like!

I like to start with some downsides here, so I can end the paragraph on a positive note. And I will lift a tip of the vail: it is a very positive note. But first: the grind. Although visibility all around isn’t exactly bad, the car is difficult to oversee, so it takes more practice than I’m accustomed to, to position the car in exactly the spot on the  road you want it to be when driving spiritedly. It is growing on me, of course, but it is still not an intuitive process. I guess it has to do something with not seeing any of the nose or any other external part and the overview you miss in tight left hand bends because of the drivers side A pillar. I am still not used to have to look through the side windows to oversee that tight left-hander. Then there is the steering. Once accustomed, it is excellent and precise, but so direct that you’ll have to handle it smoothly if you want to impress your co-driver with your cornering style. And the last grump, which is really a very small niggle: close the rear doors firmly before doin’ the bends, for the warning signal for these is on a hair-trigger. (Tom's note: I have had other i3 owners tell me this also. If you don't close the rear door firmly, the "door ajar" light can light up while you are driving. It's in no danger of opening, it's just an oversensitive trigger than needs to be fully depressed).

Now for the gold: Do we enjoy it when it is going where no i3 has gone before? Oh yes! Yes! It is fast and nimble, which is good in itself, but it is the smooth as cream comfort that is the hammer. The suspension is firm, you already know that, so that is not the unique selling point comfort-wise. It is the easy, creamy-smooth instant power, the effortless recuperation, the relaxed one pedal driving that makes it so enjoyable to drive on your winding Alsacien roads! Take it out, that i3, if you have it, I’ll think you’ll enjoy it as much as I do !

With plenty charge left, we arrived in the quaint Alsacien winemakers’ town to fill up us and the i3 again at the B&B, a winemakers establishment. My advice: go there, drive the roads, drink the wine. Just do it in that order!

Switzerland

Not much to tell about day three, this being a car blog. Only that the leg to Basel was 106 km, mainly motorway, so we kept it between 90-100 (55-60) in the right lane to reach our destination with some electrons to spare, for alternative usable charging stations are sparse around there. With plenty of charge to get us to our next B&B we left sunny Basel and the river Rhine. 40% charge was a luxury I could enjoy for the 10 km (6 mi) drive to and fro from the B&B to the evenings’ restaurant later. This little drive was, besides enjoyable, also a good reminder for me to keep driving carefully during the day to make the most of our E-range, for the battery had only 16% remaining when plugging back in at our B&B at night. Do the math if you like. In our defence, we had the heat on on the way back…

Goal #1: Make it to Zurich using only electric power

Being already very pleased we reached our goal of getting to Zürich fully electric the next day, we set a new goal of reaching at least 1000 km (621 mi) of uninterrupted E-use. After a very enjoyable day in Zürich and at our friends there, totally uninteresting for you i3 enthousiasts, we started drifting in the ‘back’ direction on Saturday afternoon. With one final Swiss charge in St Gallen remaining, we took the i3 through Appenzell. Some mountain roads, not the most spectacular passes, but still sporting brisk climbs once more affirmed our belief that the i3 is a very nice car indeed. It's hard to keep your foot off that throttle :-)).

Goal #2: 1,000 km all electric

Then we reached the dreaded point that was looming in the planning all along. It was not the Swiss border which we passed without ado, it was the point at which the beast in the back had to be awoken. Time for a little car talk intermezzo.

REx

I can understand that a lot of people question the execution of BMW’s REx solution. On the risk of repeating myself: I think they did a wonderful job, for it feels nearly sinful to start the REx after driving on electrons. So smooth. So quiet. So soothing for the conscience. You really get the feeling of doing the wrong thing when firing up ye olde’ ICE. And this is how it should be. It is an electric vehicle extended, mind you! Besides from this, the little bugger does its best to keep you mobile. We here in Europe have it easy, sorry about that American brethren, for we can engage REx at will, so we don’t have to motor through towns and countryside, but we can plan our  REx extension to happen anywhere along the way. The added bonus is of course that you can keep a nice safety cushion in the battery to get it up that Autobahn-slope, although it has to be said I was quite taken with the ability if the REx to keep up the battery when doing 120 (75) on the cruise with A/C to boot. On those not to steep but long slopes (climbing ~250 meters in ~35 km (~820 ft/~22 mi)), the battery level drops a little bit, of course, but I would say that a cushion of around 5% could just about, or just about not, suffice for most journeys. One thing I have noticed is that is seems that the car allows for a bigger battery-drift if you engage the REx earlier. One advantage of this is that it doesn’t have to run at top revs all the time to keep the state of charge on the small marker on your dash-display. Once the state of charge is low, it works very hard to maintain the 5% and prevent very low charge. To end this intermezzo about the REx something on fuel consumption. Exactly economical it is not. Doing 120 (75mph) on cruise gives you something of 15-16 km per litre (35-38 mpg us). Not too bad, not great. Taking 10 km (6 mi/hr) off the speed does wonders to this consumption however, but we kept it at 120 (75) where allowed.

Driving on the Autobahn: Speed kills - consumption rate that is!

A relatively uneventful 628 km (390 mi) later: home. We made a little touristic detour along the Rhine, which we used to recharge a bit during lunch, so we could cruise the 50 km (31 mi) of Rhine-borders in tranquility, and we recharged again at our nearby fast charger to make the last stretch on electricity before parking the car at its homespot with a feeling of well done planner, well done driver, well done little car. It is not perfect, but it is loveable all the way. And it’ll go further if you dare it…

Final stats of the journey

Map of journey

1780 km (1,104 mi), plugging in 16 times during the trip
Approximation of route travelled (source: Google)


Disclaimer - We have undertaken this trip and I have written this article on a strictly personal basis. I am not affiliated to BMW or anyones business mentioned in this story. Please mind that everything you’ve read here are my/our personal experiences and opinions and should be treated as such. Also, bear in mind that the English language is not my native one, so be patient if I’ve made some mistakes or used clumsy language. Any offence is unintentional.

Regards, Steven

A postcard from Steven to summarize his charging efforts along the way!

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Born Electric Guest Blogger: Meet Ross from The UK

 

Ross and his new baby in front of  Chatsworth House, Derbyshire

Hello, I'm Ross from The UK and I was Born Electric on Saturday, March 1st, 2014.

Why an i3?

I will start this blog by saying that I am totally obsessed by cars.  I love cars, I always have, and the cars that find their way into our household are usually of the performance variety, ranging from TVRs to Hondas with even the occasional 4x4.  To be perfectly honest, electric cars had never really appeared on my radar.  I was aware of them obviously, but had never considered owning one.  My view was that most of them were slow, couldn’t go very far and generally a bit dull.  

However, one of my favourite websites is Pistonheads, and I happened to read their review of the new BMW i3 back in October.  Wow!  This sounded like one exciting little car.  So, at this point I started doing some more research, reading every i3 review I could find.  At this time, my car was an E92 M3 and my wife was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee.  This meant that we had two cars that were pretty expensive to run.  Both had annual road tax of £490 and not so great fuel consumption.  So, the i3 was beginning to sound attractive as it was fun, funky and cheap to run.  That the electric only version could be run as a company car with zero benefit-in-kind was the clincher.

So, it came to be that I ordered an electric only i3 without seeing or test driving one - with the proviso that I could cancel my order if I didn’t like it when I test drove it.  I had to wait about 3 weeks till the 16th November before I could get my hands on one.

Is it a real BMW?

I have owned three BMWs previously, an E46 330i (saloon), an E91 335i (touring) and the E92 M3 we have now. My wife had also owned two minis, a Cooper S and a Cooper S JCW. So we had high expectations. Before getting our test drive, we had an opportunity to have a good look around the showroom car. The consensus from all the family was that it was larger than expected and that from the outside the overall appearance was ‘funky’. Inside the i3, it was even better; the interior feels really modern especially with the large central nav screen.

We were blown away on the test drive.  Putting your foot down just elicits a huge grin.  It is such a hoot to drive.  The instant and rapid acceleration takes a bit of getting used to but is addictive.  Also being able to drive with just one pedal is great and it only takes a few moments to become accustomed to it.  We were sold!

It really does drive like a BMW; the way it handles the road and the feel of the steering all felt familiar.  Since taking delivery of my own i3, I have also taken it to a local sprint circuit.  The circuit is only 600 metres in length but over 3 laps the i3 was great.  It really surprised most of the people there and I was posting times that were quicker than two MX5s, an MR2 and and an E36 328i.  I have also since discovered that the i3 is compatible with the ///M laptimer app.  That said, don’t buy one as a track car!  The range was down to just 43 miles on the day including driving there and back on a dual carriageway.  The M3 is much better suited to track work.

The Options

For anyone considering the purchase of an i3, the options list can be a bit daunting.  I chose laurus (laurel in the US) grey which I am really pleased with and the standard interior because I liked it!  Suite was a consideration but at £2,000 I felt it was too expensive.  I have recently discovered that the mood lighting with colour change is not included with the standard interior - this isn’t mentioned in the brochures or the website.  I was lucky to get the Pro Sat Nav free as I placed my order early and I think everyone should consider this as it really suits the interior of the car.  I ordered the heat pump option as BMW erroneously told me this was required to preheat the vehicle - it isn’t. Supposedly this gives better range in cold weather due to more efficient heating, but as I have nothing to compare it too I have no idea how effective it is. The Harmon Kardon hi-fi option is utterly brilliant and I am really pleased that I added that to my spec. In my opinion the standard wheels are awful, and the 428 alloys I ordered receive very positive comments. The heated seats are the fastest / hottest of any car I’ve owned and therefore a must.

I’ve had the car for just over two weeks and already done more than 900 miles.  Range anxiety really hasn’t been an issue although I have got home a couple of times with only 3 miles left.  It’s a great car and it seems that for the distances we generally travel it is going to meet most of our journey needs. For those occasions when it doesn’t I will just have to put up with that howling V8...

_______________________________________________________________

This makes the seventh Born Electric guest blogger here. The other posts can be viewed here: 

Andy from The UK 
Hil from Holland  
Toni from Belgium 
Jan from Belgium 
Steven from The Netherlands   
Jon from Norway

If you own an i3 and would like to participate here in the Born Electric guest blogger series, email me at: tom.moloughney@gmail.com

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Born Electric Guest Blogger: Meet Jon From Norway

So Far we've had Andy from the UK , Hil from Holland , Toni from Belgium, Jan From Belgium, and Steven from the Netherlands.   We'll now be traveling to Norway to see what Jon has to say about his Solar Orange BEV i3.

Hello, I'm Jon from Norway and I was Born Electric on February 13th.

Until now I’ve been "partly electric" by cycling once a week (not in winter) to work with an electric bike. It's 17km each way and I've done 1000km in total. Living in the southwest of Norway, in Sandnes and working in Stavanger, nearby.

Electric or hybrid?

I first started looking for a hybrid vehicle that could go electric to and from work. Toyota and Lexus could just go a few kilometers in electric mode which wasn't enough for me. Then Volvo came up with one, but it was too expensive. The i3 was the first all-electric that I found interesting. In the past two years the most we have driven at any time was about 100km. If we need to travel longer than that, we go by air. After reading just about everything I could find about the i3, I decided to sign an informal agreement to buy one on July 11. Since then, Audi and VW have announced a few interesting hybrids, but the Norwegian tax system gives the all-electric cars some advantages (at the moment). That meant the all electric BMW i3 is actually less expensive then the competing hybrids, plus it gets toll free passage and is free on ferries!

I like the blue LED interior lights when you lock or unlock the doors. You can also change the color if you don't like the blue

Buying it:

In October, BMW put an i3 in front of the Oslo Marathon to serve as a pace car. The BMW shop Bavaria in Stavanger lent it for a day and had it on exibition in town. I went there, took a glance, and felt in love. Unfortunately the salespersons knew even less than I did (Hi Tom, It’s the same mess in Norway!), so I spoke with two engineers that came to look at the charging system. Together we agreed that BMW needs another type of way to sell these electric cars. Speciliasts that have been properly trained for these unique vehicles. My experience earlier was that coming in to the BMW car shop speaking Oslo dialect got them to believe that I worked with Statoil and was looking for an expensive model. The salespersons focus on status models with big engines is not suitable for electric cars! These cars are different and the sales processes should be different as well. When i3 was introduced in November, I took it for a spin and was convinced. I was about the 50th person to sign a contract out of the 550 in total in the southwest of Norway. After seven long months of waiting, I finally have it!

My son and grandson like the i3 too!

Driving it:

It is a pleasure to drive! It is fast when you need it, yet with smooth and easy ride. Small and quick in town and with an impressive turning radius! Many Norwegian families have two cars because both parents use a car to come to work and the i3 can be a perfect second car for many of them. Quite often they will have a large car to go to their cottage in weekends. However from now on, the second should be all-electric like the i3! Moreover, for some of us it is the primary car, the one that gets the most use. The one foot driving is perfect! In the morning rush, I used to step on the brake pedal hundreds of times to avoid crashing. Now I just regulate the speed by the accelerator pedal. Even better, I go into the line of cars on the motorway and turn on the adaptive Cruise control. It's possible for me to travel the whole 15 km on the motorway just steering, not touching the any pedals! (Try that, Tesla!) I have a very good second car, a Saab 9.3 automatic, but I will now use it only if we decide to go by car to Oslo (500km, We have only Japanese fast charging system here now) or if I need to fetch something with a trailer. Last week we went to visit some relatives in the Archipelago north of Stavanger. The car did fine on the 80km drive, even with 5 degrees Celsius and strong winds. I was worried about the distance and how much air conditioning (heating) I could use, but was relieved when the car showed 55km to go after driving the 80km. Since the i3 is a tall car, strong winds do affect the steering more than I am used to, but it is not a big deal once you get used to it.

Perfect choice?

As a city car, I believe the best choice for the i3 is the all-electric car version now. Agile, quick and fun to drive. I like the narrow tires because they will not float in snow and they will not follow tracks in the asphalt. Norwegian roads have often tracks from cars with studded tires. The i3 REx would definitely make my range anxiety disappear, but here in Norway, it is too expensive because of the special tax system. To have the newest in security, you must add much of the extras BMW provide!  I paid 36% extra to get the essentials! (Tyre Pressure Monitor is free). I believe i3 is the only all-electric car with adaptive Cruise Control. That is a great, but soon  the electric VW Golf comes with it as a standard feature! Relative to the range anxiety, both Audi A3 and VW Golf comes with 204hk hybrid cars that uses 0,15l/10km! If BMW does not come up with wider range of electric cars, or hybrid 4x4, then VW-Audi will achieve their European goal, being the leading automaker here, also in electric and hybrid cars. As for the sound system, the car is a virtual concert hall with the Harman Kardon loudspeakers. I have a lot of music stored on the hard disk in the car. To listen to quiet parts of classical music without disturbance from the petrol motor is perfect. The extras are from the ordinary BMWs, and suits the i3 well. To give i3 the right premium feel along with the rest of the BMWs, I think you need optional equipment like adaptive Cruise Control, stop and go and Harman Kardon loudspeakers. However, as said before, these features do cost a lot! In Norway the base i3, the Leaf and Golf cost about the same without optional equipment. For me, i3 wins even though you do not buy optional equipment.

Two practical things about the i3 that I'd like to recommend: Floor mats in white velor are nice to look at, but not to use in winter. Also do not put the electric cables under the bonnet. The wet environment might damage it, they said. Therefore, I recommend using a waterproof bag for them like I do.

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BMW i3 Born Electric Guest Blogger: Meet Steven From The Netherlands

So Far we've had Andy from the UK , Hil from Holland , Toni from Belgium and Jan From Belgium. We'll now be traveling to The Netherlands to see what Steven has to say about his Laurel Grey i3 REx which he picked up on Valentines Day:

My name is Steven and I was Born Electric on Friday, 14th February, 2014. 

Love

Do I? Oh yes! BMW may not have delivered the alpha and omega of the motoring world, but boy, how good is it?

Every aspect to like has been covered in many a publication on many a different medium, but does this bombardment of information convey the feeling of ’togetherness’ of the finished product I have? I guess not, but I leave this for everyone to judge for themselves. Having driven 1600 km (around 1000 mi) the last week, of which 1230 km (765 mi) electric, my preliminary conclusion is that BMW has delivered something good here. And I’m not going to be talking about the performance, which is excellent, E-range, which is adequate, or about the battery, knowing that it could have been larger, but I will tell you a story about what you can do while having a nice conversation with your mother-in-law.

Our i3/REx at a motorway charging station

To begin with the latter: the effortless way the performance is delivered is absolutely fabulous. It is not just about sheer speed, there are faster cars, it is about acceleration with a creamy topping. This allows, for instance, for keeping up nicely, in this case up to 80 km/h (50 mi/h) in city traffic, with, say, a dark-blue 911 with spoilers extended and engine roaring. Whilst having a civilized conversation. With my mother-in-law, her being the least ‘brave’ of passengers one could imagine. Not a peep. At least not in the i3 :-) Just the subdued jet-airplane whine of its motor.

The same goes for decelerating. The recuperation is done very well, it comes naturally almost instantly. If one does need the footbrake, the transition is seamless. It is like the engine braking of a heavy diesel-powered vehicle and then some. Excellent !

To round it off, the comfort level is kept up nicely by the suspension and the road holding abilities are surprisingly good. The suspension is not soft, the wheelbase is on the short side, you’ll notice this on speed-bumps and short humps, but safe and comfortable it feels. It could be it is simply exactly to my taste and on par with my expectations. Just don’t ask me for an unbiased review then…

So, I like driving it. Almost as much as I like the interior now, for which I needed some time to get accustomed to the wild styling. We went for Lodge, being the light wool/leather combination. In our original order, we ordered the standard grey, but after driving our friend’s BEV with the white Loft interior, we changed our order on the very last moment. The light upholstery combines so much better with the interior design. Especially while ours is Laurel Grey on the outside. Not a topping, but a creamy center in this case. Nice. The feel and quality of it is absolutely on par with other BMW products, I am relieved to say, for we where a bit worried by the pre production cars we were presented with last year. It looks good, it feels good, even the doors sound fine now.

The ergonomics are ok. Some bonuspoints are not scored, some function follows form, as is the case in some other aspects of the i3, but if you are accustomed to other BMWs, you’ll get in and drive off. Also, the interior space is quite good. Everyone taking a ride is surprised the car is bigger than expected on the outside and roomier than expected on the inside. Fine for four adults not going around the world. When 1m90 (6’3”) though, it does get a little tight on the backseat. The ceiling is a tad on the low side for your average basketball-player. Also, the bootspace is, as widely written about, not ideal to cater for your basketball-team. It still is a small car, one needs to remember…

Finally, my take on the much debated exterior. It isn’t exactly pretty, but I like it a lot for all its quirkiness, what can I say ? The size is spot-on for me, with a length of 3999 mm (157.5”), the proportions render a sturdy image, the details look great in real life. Except the rear. It remains just too weird. But hey, nobody is perfect !

Lost

Love lost ? That is overstating it for dramatic purposes, but downsides there are. It feels like most of it is caused by form prevailing over function or, maybe, judgmental errors. For instance, the front windows seem to have difficulty coping with heavy gales. The top can leak air in this case. Also, the frameless windows cause a little turbulence around its rubbers on the B-pillar. The frameless windows could be a weight-saving measure and I am not against letting design rule over function, but I do question the decision to omit the window-frames.

Next issue: the charger. This is a big one. It is inexcusable BMW didn’t fit a three-phase AC charger. I really don’t get it, it is simply stupid. It could be that three-phase electrics aren’t common outside our little corner of the world, but north-western European customers could have benefited greatly having their AC charging times cut to one third. Let’s hope DC charging catches on…

On a 50 kW DC fast charger the i3 charges a little over 2.5 % every minute up to a charging level of around 90% before slowing down. State of charge 11 to 91% in half an hour.

Also high on my could-be-better list is the remote control. It is such a small part of the car, but you’ll handle it multiple times every day. It is a sort of plastic/metallic fob with buttons one can’t discern by touch, so it is not easy to press the right buttons unless looking while doing.

On top of this there are some niggles. The modulation of the heater could be better. And there are the caps (blind plugs ?) for the charge ports. Why ? And why the little hook for these to hang them from the flap ? It is all but useless. And why the rubber cord holding the two caps to the car (which I removed) ? And why is the flap covering the charge-port so big that I fear that somebody will break it off while walking past the car one day ? And why is there not a kind of courtesy handle for unlatching the security latch of the bonnet, like on our good old 3 series ? Oh well…

Born to live electric

What range do I get ? Perhaps the single most important question for battery drivers. This depends heavily on the driving style and top speed of course. My combined total is now around 17 kWh/100 km (62 mi) doing mixed driving and including road testing from me and my family members. I have observed a consumption of around 17-18 kWh/100 km (62 mi) when driving a hundred (62 mi/h), around 18-19 when driving one-ten (68), around 21-22 doing one-twenty (75) and around 24 doing 130 km/h (80). In not too cold weather (approx. 8 degrees centigrade (46 F)), and without too much wind and no torrential downpours.

My preferred mode of operation is using EcoPro with the climate control excluded and set to 19˚C (66 F), without A/C, the fans on the lowest setting and seat heating for driver and passenger activated as needed. This gives us a nice balance between comfort and consumption, for I don’t like the EcoPro implementation for the climate control. It is a very good thing one can exclude the climate control from EcoPro.

In real use, I haven’t used my REx all last week, doing 1000 km (621 mi) on electricity, I am pleased to say. For instance, we did a full-electric roundtrip to Germany yesterday of 290 km (180 mi) with a stop to and fro at a DC fast-charger and charging in Germany during our shopping expedition without a problem. One has to be careful to feather the throttle, even in EcoPro modus, and one has to keep Vmax at around 110 (68) for best results. I admit I couldn’t keep myself in check all the time, driving is supposed to be fun at times, right, so I used a little more than I could have used, but there was no problem reaching our designated charging stations. Driving like a granny is no prerequisite for driving off your kitchen socket….

Range: Extended

Of course, I cannot get away here without telling you something about our i3’s party trick: the never ending range. At least until we’ve managed to drain all earths resources. The REx has been much disputed, highly coveted and widely renounced. For me, it’s just perfect. It does its job nicely but not so nice as to forgo on charging the car at all. The exterior noise is reminiscent of the good old loveable Italian egg, the original Fiat 500. Although not air-cooled, it sounds eerily similar. Inside, the noise is never a real issue. It is never exactly loud, however you’ll hear it when it needs to work hard to keep your seats heated and your speed on the other side of 100 km/h (62 mi/h).

Our REx kicked in automatically with around 6 km (4 mi) of range remaining. When cruising along, even with this minute battery reserve, the engine adjusts its output to match the car’s requirements nicely. Until you start to floor the throttle at the lights. Every flat-out acceleration will cost you around one km of range, so the engine starts revving up time after time, a couple of seconds after taking off. It keeps up the revs until the range start to creep back up.

The same thing happens on the motorway. Taking it easy, doing a 100 km/h (62) with mod cons, the engine keeps its revs in check. When picking up the pace, going 120 km/h (75) in EcoPro with heater in Comfort mode set at reasonable temperature, using 21-22kW to heat and propel the i3 with two passengers, the engine starts to work. Depending on the wind and terrain, which is nice and flat here for it was designed especially to suit E-vehicles when creating the Dutch ‘polders’ from the seventeenth century onwards, the engine keeps it up nicely though. Even with a fully drained battery so it seems. I tested this on the motorway in the torrential rains and high winds we had here last Friday night. But that is about it. Going 130 km/h (80), using 24-25kW will see you eating into your reserve, albeit slowly. My preliminary conclusion is that our little REx pumps out something close to 22 kW of electric power, enough to keep up a pace of around 120 km/h (75 mi/h).

That said, the little bee under the floor didn’t mind buzzing for an over hour at a stretch with 100-110 km/h (62-68) on the clock with windforce 9 plus gales against and not much left in the battery (11 km (7 mi) of range to be exact). This on a day on which we drove 320 km (200 mi), of which only 100 km (62 mi) electric. It did consume 8 litres in 100 km (29 MPG US) doing this exercise though. But I also scored 4.25 l/100 km (55 MPG US) driving around 80 km (50 mi) at a stretch going the other direction and 6 l/100 km (39 MPG US) on a 160 km  (100 mi) round trip the next day. The variation in the data is still quite large, and our experience not extensive after a total of 370 km (230 mi) of buzzing, but my estimate would be it is going to do a little over 6 l/100km (39 MPG US) for us.

Verdict

The aforementioned shortcomings, niggles and design choices still bother me a little because the car is, in essence, so good. I’ll get used to them. I’ve done over sixteen hundred kilometers (1000 mi) at the time of writing this. It has been a joy, it will continue to be a joy I guess. I expect some other niggles or problems popping up because of the innovative nature of the i3 and the inexperience of BMW with many of its parts and materials, but I really like what they have done with their 3 billion euros. It is absolutely not merely a city car, feeling like riding a lame duck on the motorway, it is a proper little beemer. BMW scored, for me, a 7 out of 10 when we first saw the car at the introduction, but it ramped up to an outstanding 9 out of 10 for the Münchener.

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BMW i3 Born Electric Guest Blogger: Meet Jan From Belgium

A while ago I announced that I would be starting a new series here called, "I was Born Electric on...". The series will be featuring readers who are i3 owners and who are willing to share their thoughts on the car after owning it for a while. They will begin the post by introducing themselves and stating the date they were Born Electric, which is when they picked up their i3. Andy from the UK kicked off the Born Electric series and we then visited Hil from Holland and Toni from Belgium. We will be staying in Belgium for this next installment as we hear what Jan has to say:

My name is Jan and I was Born Electric on Wednesday, 30th January, 2014. 

How did I get to know the BMW i3?

Well, by coincidence. I saw the small car on the Brussels car show/exhibition (Autosalon) last year in January. It was presented there as concept car which would be available very soon to the audience, as kind of a car of the future which one could buy now. When I saw it I couldn't make up my mind: Did I like this car, or not? It was so special I couldn't turn my eyes off it. I had to see it closer. I asked a salesman if I could enter the closed area to have a look inside. Then was the moment when I fell in love. This car was so unique in a pleasant kind of way. The interior looked like the interior of a small science-fiction spaceship. The exterior was so special yet attractive looking in every kind of way.

I must say I had many questions before starting this adventure. I had never driven an electric vehicle before. The salesman could answer most of my questions. What made me take my decision to consider this BMW i3 as our next second car were not only the unique looks of this car, but also all the advantages which came with it: it was for 120-150% tax reductible, it doesn't spill any CO2 whatsoever, no taxes when the car needs to driven first (it has a name 'inschrijvingtax' 'registration taxes?'), the lowest yearly driving taxes since it is full electric. All this just looked too good to be true.

I came home and told my wife 'Yes! I have found the perfect next car for you!' Yes, this car is for purpose as a second car to us. It is the car my wife uses to drive to her job on a daily base which is only 10km away, and to drive my son to his gym training four times a week which is about 30km far away. So, there really wasn't any real range anxiety to the story either. For long distance driving we have our other bigger family car. All I needed to do now is to convince my wife, which didn't seem to be as hard as I thought. She seemed to like this strange little car on first sight too!

The waiting:

As from this moment I checked out everything what there was to be found on the net about electric driving in general and the BMW i3 in particular. That's when I soon became a big fan of your specialized blog. Already in February I had told the BMW salesmen I showed a big interest in this car and if any news would be still as positive as all that I had read until then, I would like to be one of the first who would drive the full-electric BMW i3 in Belgium. BMW kept me posting on regular intervals. I could download the BMW I electric app on my smartphone and calculate my daily traffic to see there was no need in range anxiety at all. I was invited in an exhibition of the BMW i3 in the summer. Each time I got more convinced I was going to make the right decision. I was kept waiting until end of October to actually register me for a confirmed interest in buying this car, and finally the first week of January I signed the contract and closed the deal. The car would arrive 4-5 weeks after...

I was Born Electric On...

Wednesday 30th of January! Finally the car had arrived. It had taken less time as predicted, but still I am an impatient man. I was very curious of how it would look like, because I had never seen the car in the combination I had ordered it: BMW i3 Advanced in Ionic Blue Silver with Loft interior design. And I must say: I loved the looks! I have been the lucky one to own the first BMW i3 in our state. It all makes it even more special.

I think these colours are just the real deal for this car. It is extra-ordinary looking, special and shiny. It contrasts greatly with the black toppings and with the (electric) blue stripes beneath the doors. (The colour showing here doesn't really add up to it, but there are plenty more better pictures to be found to show the perfect match of this color for this car).

 I am very excited of the choice of my interior: Loft. It just ads up to the uniqueness of this car. It just fits. It makes it so much more space-like and futuristic looking. It is light, spacious looking and yet thrilling due to the electric lines fitting of the car seats and the blue lines which contrast nicely in details. One can tell that a whole team of enthusiastic decorating engineers have worked on this here. 

 The dashboard just like so great! Spacious, nicely shaped. I love the look of the darker dashboard going down under the console. It isn't the eucalyptus wood. That was nice too, but I thought it kind of disturbed the futuristic looks of the dashboard, making it a more ordinary car. Well, everyone has it taste, but I am happy with my decision. The big center screen which one can module along one's taste: here shown with the electric features and the entertainment details with a nice big picture of the song that is playing. 

 

The supercool startup-close status of the car. When one closes the car with the key, the insides of the car glow blue, the lights in the door handle turn on. This really ads a nice touch to the futuristic space-oddity of the car! (only available if LED packet is taken). You can be sure there are lots of amazed faces when these lights are set on on a public parking lot at night.

Driving experience:

I am really, really impressed by the fun driving experience of this little car. Also my wife, who isn't into cars at all, loves this one all the more. The first time she drove this car together with the kids my daughter said: mom, this thing is propelling like a rocket. She had just left our parking lot and stepped on the pedal; after merely 100 metres she was flying at 60 miles per hour. Which is kind of dangerous, because judging by the quietness in which this car boosts off, you really can't tell how fast you are driving. I love the sound of the car when I give full throttle. It's actually more like an electric train than a car. No roars, just power whistling.

And if you are driving at slow pace, you really can't hear the car is running, not at the inside, neither at the outside. The onboard entertainment system is just great also. Lots of options, lots of possibilities, all pleasantly and clear shown on the big central screen. Another great feature which works great is the full automatic parking. It all adds to the ease of use and to the futuristic impression one gets driving this car. Also the very small turning circle is quite impressive and it makes this car very easy and agile to drive.

About the range anxiety, I have to be honest, that's something I still got to get used to. I always am quite focused on the remaining range, especially when I have taken the highway, since the range goes down quite steadily and fast. Especially if one is driving vividly, it really can be seen on the remaining range. But that's a choice everyone makes for his own. I personally enjoy this car's potential too much for now, to drive it in a real eco pro mode. (But I am sure it will come eventually). I love to stand next to a fast car (yes, mostly BMW or Audi) at the red lights, then step on it when it turns green, and enjoy to see the amazed faces in the rear mirror as my car sprints before them without any effort!

Of course it means that the battery has to be charged more often, and it means also that we - for the first time- have to somewhat plan our trips with this car, because where I liked to use my first car in the past to do the shopping and stuff, I also take this car now because hey - it's cheaper, it's more fun and it's ecologic.

And it means that sometimes we just have to wait and don't take this car because it's not yet charged enough to take the trip. However, I have to be honest that I have not already installed a wallbox and am still charging the car on our regular home electricity network. I have chosen to go for the Wallbox Pro - which is a real supercharger - but it will only be available second trimester of this year. I will surely let you guys know what's the difference with the ability to fastcharge. I am sure we will use the car even more then.

Another not so pleasant thing is that I have been trying to install the Connected Drive system for more than four days now, and it just doesn't want to work. The problem is that my registration to Connected Drive on the net isn't transferred to the car, so I don't get a confirmation code in the car to finish the connection. It's an internet portal problem, they said at the local Connected Drive center in Belgium, so they have to manually fill in an application and send it over to Germany. It will take about a week before it will be solved. Which is kind of disappointing because I really wanted to try out the BMW i Remote app on my smartphone right away. I will keep you posted too when this is installed and working too.

But besides that, it really is a superb car to drive. As an owner of a BMW i3, you will have to get used to all the looks of amazed and sometimes confused faces. I just come back from a restaurant, and while I sit inside, I see people stopping by the car and taking pictures. I have never experienced something strange like this. And returning from a great meal at the restaurant, driving this unique car, fast and agile in total relaxing silence, while playing 'Life's for the Living' of Passenger out loud like you are in a concert hall on the first row; there's only one thing I can say: Sheer pleasure and happiness!

A little about range:

I have been driving the car for about a week now and I come to understand the calculation of the estimated range a little bit better now. I have noticed that the car calculates the maximum range after a night's charging depending on the driving style and circumstances of the last drive. So, when fully charged the maximum distance can vary from about 113km (70 miles) to about 135 km (84 miles)  in comfort mode.

On a morning when fully charged, and when the day before the car had purely driven in the city (meaning lower speeds) the battery indicated 135 km (84 miles) in Comfort mode, 137 km (85 miles) in Eco Pro-mode, and 150 km (93 miles) in Eco Pro+ mode. I think this must be about the real maximum range one can get with this car, stating that the car is driven in the city in an average driving style, lower speed, and frequent stops to recharge the battery while driving. However, if I step on the pedal and drive more sporty (and I must admit it is difficult not to do this, because it's just sooo much fun! ) and certainly if I drive on the highway, meaning speeds of about 130 km/h ( 80 mile per hour), you can't really depend on these figures anymore.

Eco Pro Mode only added 1 mile 

In Comfort mode the range was 84 miles

However Eco Pro+ mode added 9 miles for an estimate of  93 miles

To give an example I have noted precisely a trip I have driven: 

The trip goes from my home to the sportshall where I drop my son off. It's 28 km in total (18 miles), of which about 18 kms (11 miles) on the highway, where I usually drive about 130 km/h (80 miles per hour). After a night charging the range meter shows 113 km (70 miles). So normally when the calculation would be absolute there would still be 85 km (52 miles) left on the counter when I arrive at my destination. However, when I arrived at my destination the counter only showed 53 km (33 miles) left! Which is kind of scary, because a big part of the battery range seemed to be lost there!

However, when I get back in the car to come back to home, it's another story: The meter now shows 59 km (36.5 miles) left. So normally when I arrive at home there should be 31 km (19 miles) left. However when I arrived at home the calculator still showed 33 km (20.5 miles), which was a gain of 2km. So it was actually quite perfectly measured. It seemed to really have taken into account the weather conditions, the road ahead, the driving style, the maximum speed etcetera.

To sumarize: If one drives always into the same pace and always into the city at lower speeds I really think that 130-140 km (80 - 87 miles) is quite a realistic estimation of the effective driving range. However if one like to drive sportive and quite some distance on the highway doing higher speeds, I think 100 km (60 miles) would also be a realistic estimation as the maximum range. 

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