Love that you are doing these i3 videos! I own a ‘17 REX with the bigger battery and also live in the country. So far it’s been a totally capable back road machine, and the REX obliterates range anxiety. Even did a 600-mile round trip in it. Keep the videos coming!
Great video Tommy !! You should code your i3. I coded my i3 a few months ago and it is AWESOME!! You have the capability to turn on the REX once your battery charge goes below 75%. Your i3 will run even more efficiently, especially on longer trips - Happy Holidays 👍🎄🏂😎😎
@@rdougan Totally agree with you Robert. I think that the REX option on the BMW i3 is one of the best idea's. Especially when you have the option of turning it on and off when ever you need to use it. Absolutely love my i3, such a great car !!
I did two 850 mile(went home and back) trips in my i3 REX. Definitely more than you should drive in one in a day, but it can road trip 😁. Also had my 60 pound pit bull with me.
@@goldenstatew2399 I did a couple charge stops, but it was mostly refilling the tank. The charge stops were a good opportunity for me and my dog to relax and take a walk.
Just traveled cross country, (heavily loaded), in one of our Chevy 2017 Volts. The battery on each car normally gets us about 50 miles for our daily all electric commutes. We never took one Cross country until recently. I found I could only charge at a few hotels and locations but really didn't need to. The Volt's "Range Extender" got us an honest 40 mpg, sometimes more while cruising 75 -77 mph using the engine alone on Regular Grade gas. The car is smooth, confortable, and though not muscle car fast, will hold it's own at the stoplight drags. The adaptive cruise control takes a lot of the aggravation out of traffic congested areas. Never once did I need to apply the brakes in mountain grades and used the regenerative paddle which recovered sometimes 10+ miles of battery range coming down the mountains. Overall what a great car to see America in!
What a fantastic and insightful video. I recently transitioned from owning a 2012 BMW X5 35i to a 2017 BMW i3 REx and totally love my new EV! I haven't quite taken the i3 on an official road trip but have experienced very positive drives from San Francisco, CA to Bolinas, CA. Would love to see your team post more videos of the i3 being driven in "non-traditional" manners outside of the typical city-scape. So glad you guys were able to get this vehicle in your fleet!
The look on his face when he wasnt sure if the range extender came on is the same face i have all the time. Its always a great idea to look at current flow to be sure it is indeed running. Also, that engine is all but quiet IMO. When youre doing 55 and its at a very charge, that little motor will get very loud very fast xD Also to anyone with an i3, get yours coded so you can run the engine below 75% and make sure to run it for a few miles, like 5 to 10 at least every few weeks or even once a month. Remember it still is a combustion engine and getting oil up into the head and cylinderwalls helps especially if you have to use it in more colder climate.
@@TFLnow yes Merry Christmas to you and Everyone at TFL! Let me know when you want to sell this one. I'd be interested. Have you looked at converting to the larger European gas tank? Is there a hack to use heat from the REX motor yet?
Kyle from out of spec on youtube drove it from rocky mount nc to Colorado . He had the range extender coded to get the max mikes and filled up a lot. He did charge it 2 times on the trip because he drives too fast for the range extender
@@markfitzpatrick6692 I drive to fast for the rex but time my eating and sleeping around dc fast charging so I do charge 3-4 times omw from ca to co. I'm also going 80-85, and filling up is the worst part but I have dogs that like to get out and walk anyways. 100,000 problem free miles.
That's interesting. Will there be any potential costly repair if getting a used one? I can only see some pure ev ones 15 model around. Heard the coolant pump may go out some time.
@@RuijieZhou I did end up having to spend around $4700 on repair for the rear motor mounts as they were the older ABS design not the new or metal design. That was the costliest repair I had but otherwise I did not have many repairs just little things like backup camera and he did see that were covered under warranty. I also drove the car roughly 3 miles A-day on dirt roads so it handled it's serious work schedule pretty well.
IIRC you can tell when the range extender is on when the gasoline fuel meter is slightly brighter. You can barely see the difference, but basically it's 'dimmed' gray when on electric only, and then it 'lights up' when the REx kicks in. Yeah, I could not see the difference in broad daylight, much better to look at the energy flow by using the quick keys. BTW the electronic limitation of the REx functionality (and gasoline tank use) in the USA is ridiculous, limiting the i3's performance significantly. It's understandable why so many US owners do the hack to enable normal REx functionality. In the Euro model I could just use a programmable quick key to turn on the REx whenever I wanted to.
Auto Auction Rebuilds took his from Ok City to Los Angeles. He used Eco Pro (or max?) setting a couple of times. It only allows 50 MPH, but sips electricity, giving a few extra miles of range. A couple of long stretches with no charging stations.
Loved the video. I’ve found that keeping highway speeds at 62 mph can really stretch the battery in my 2017 i3 on long trips. Winter driving with just heated seats is also a good way to stretch the battery, but the windows have a tendency to fog up so I usually run the heater fan on the lowest setting. Looking forward to more great videos from you guys in the New Year.
Some energy hints: Use the nav even if you know the way - it has the best range prediction. Set your leave timer and pre-heat the car while charging. Don't use AC in winter. Use the seat heater only when your seat feels cold. I wondered why the farm had no 3 phase 400V AC (CEE16 red) for its machines...
If you're struggling with the traction control cutting power in snowy/ icy conditions there is a dyno mode you can put the car in that completely turns all those systems off.
I have opel ampera (chevrolet volt) and it works also as ev (30 - 40 mile range) and has 1.4 l gasoline engine as generator 95% of my daily driving is done with electric driving and I do some longer driving at weekends I have owned it ~ 6 months and done 7000 miles and average fuel consumption is 130 mpg
you guys should talk to the guy from out of spec motoring he has one of them cars and there's this thing you can do to it to make the range extender just come on and keep the battery topped or something so you get more range out of it and then you can leave the range extender on while you're parked and it will keep the battery charged up if you get out of the driver's seat and keep the buckle locked in
Yeah, but I am sure Tommy knows all about coding the i3 to European specs to get the SOC Hold mode on the i3.. The challenge in this video was to drive until the battery was near empty and allow the REx to turn its self on.. Also, the challenge included hill climbing, which is suppose to allegedly render the i3 REx useless, of course Tommy just proved quite the opposite. It is very possible to do a long freeway/hwy road trip in a 22kwh battery i3 REx (imagine the possibilities if this i3 had the CCS charging option).
Tommy kyle Connor from out of spec on youtube is living ft Collins now. He drove his i3 from North Carolina to Colorado in oct31st. Lots of fill ups and a few charges
Different i3.. Out of Spec has DC Fast Charging in their i3 and their car is coded to European specs, this is how he was able to drive from North Carolina to Colorado right beside the Tesla Model 3.
@@mamadouaziza2536 cool. Thanks! I know Kyle drove on gas before going to electric so that threw me off some. It needs to be changeable from little motor to battery at the turn of a switch in my opinion.
when you run the battery all the way down and then invoke the gas engine is the performance compromised at all? Or can the gas motor provide enough energy in any given moment to cater for normal 'electric' driving? Cheers
I want one....definitely a used i3. It would be nice if you did a video on what to look for when considering a i3 other than appearance; for example, mileage, brakes, ice generator condition, steering, suspension, etc. Still, great video like always.
At least do a price comparo between dealer with warranty, I warranty came in handy, the DC fast charger plug got loose and a dashboard panel needed replacing.
Just picked one up to play with. Great prices for old cars now. You said basically that the battery in these is only able to charge to roughly 80%. Where did you find that stat? It makes sense because my Tesla will let you charge to 100% if you wish. But obviously on the daily you should only charge it to 75 or 80%. I was wondering how the BMW handled that. Also, I am ready to code for /hack my i3 as well. Did you ever do that?
Couple of those things running around here north Scottsdale. Also recall one on a roll-back headed towards dealer too. I'll have a different outlook on them now. Merry XMAS boys!
Great car but $900 to replace a malfunctioning seatbelt, advisable to get a warranty. I think you had to buy an upgraded subscription to preheat from the app, not sure the app supported at all anymore, at least early models (2015). It does use a lot of power for heat, but ignore the range estimator it only shows instantaneous info, it's more of a panic generator. Use heat very sparingly, use heaters as primary heating, if you need the range.
In the USA lot of people normally drive 90 to 100mph while on the freeway not highway. A highway has intersections and traffic stops and lights, a freeway is a continuous multi lane road without traffic lights and the speed of traffic is usually 75mph legally. I'm from France and no one in around Paris is driving 100mph on the freeway.
@@mamadouaziza2536 Maybe he meant 90-110 KPH? When I was living in Montana, freeway (Or interstate highways) were 80 MPH speed limits And while yeah I'd cruise at 90-100 mph because there's typically maybe a handful of cars driving around at any given time it's relatively safe. But back in the 90's, Montana didn't have posted speed limits on the Interstate, and they had less accidents and more courteous drivers because people didn't play the left lane hog game because they knew someone could be doing 100+ coming up behind them. But here in Colorado going down I-25 some days you're doing 90, some days you're doing 45. Just depends how many people are out lol. But I don't think I've ever seen traffic anywhere across the US flow at 100 MPH. Sure, I've done 100 MPH through cities like St. Louis or Chicago with 3-4 other random cars trailing around the same speed weaving through traffic, but that's also pretty dangerous and it does typically end up in people getting pulled over lol.
Have you guys ever done a video going up Pike's Peak? I was there a few weeks ago. Would be curious to see how much battery a Tesla/other EV uses on the way up, and how much it regains on the way down. Can EV brakes get too hot?
They did that test already. I just tested an older i3 from 500 ft above sea level to 3000 feet above sea level all high hill climbing. Yes, the climbing will tax the range.
Merry Christmas Tommy! Brisk 30°F compared to 5°F in Minneapolis. So does "accessories" affect the mileage? Lights, wipers, heater/AC, heated seat, or extremely cold weather (-0). 650cc range extender should get a Japanese KEI car/truck/vans with 660cc some in 4WD. Thanks for the review.
@@mamadouaziza2536 it has to have the Rex because there aren't many charging stations around where I live and I would hate to confine it to just driving within say 30 miles. One thing I would also have to get is some kind of extended warranty as we know all BMWs are very trouble-prone and very expensive to fix especially when they get up in mileage. Thanks for your comment!
@@hoozthair6076 Some of these i3's have a range of 150 miles on just electricity and if it has a REx, you can squeeze another 100 miles out of the battery. 250 mile range.
When driving an EV with a range under 200 miles, always have a friend in a gasoline-powered vehicle follow you, with that other vehicle towing a flat-bed trailer so they can bring you back home when you run out of juice.
If you don't mind thinking about heat, AC, headlights, radio, and anything else that uses power. Personally I'll just fill my tank, blast the AC and radio and cruise on!
Turn by turn talking navigation takes a bigger hit on EV range than the A/C does. I went from 80 miles of range to 55 miles of range just by turn on the nav, I quickly turned it off and just used my mobile phone's Goggle nav. Radio and headlight do not drain the battery as much because some of the power comes from the battery in the front trunk.
I had a Fiat 500e back in early 2010's and little sub-100 mile EVs (i3, Mini, etc) are fun, affordable city cars, but with +200 mile range becoming the norm for reasonably priced EVs (Bolt, Leaf, iD 4, etc) I don't know why you'd want to deal with the range anxiety. It works if it's your daily driver and you have an ICE for weekends/longer trips, but most people probably can't afford 2 cars.
But you buy according to your needs/lifestyle and budget. The i3 is an engineering marvel and if your daily commute is less than 50 miles roundtrip, I see no reason why you shouldn't consider an earlier model i3 especially if you can get a used one at $14k. The REx can be coded to manually turn on once the battery reaches 75% and you can drive for miles as long as you have gas in the REx. Yes, used Chevy Bolts with 230 miles of range are now going for $16k. However, the build quality in a Bolt is horrible compared to an i3. Hell, the earlier Model 3s build quality is less than an i3..
I have a short range i3 REX and a Fiat 500e. They're great for most of our needs, car budget was a big consideration. It's occasionally inconvenient but BMW gives us a free loaner for the rare long trips.
Really enjoyed this video, very interesting to see some real world experience with the i3. The range is a little low for me, but the later models had a bigger battery. Interested in the options and features like remotely turning on climate to pre-warm it, and of it will sustain 70mph on the range extender for example. Also, how much will it charge when going down a huge hill?
Yes, with the earlier models you can program the cars to turn on the climate controls via your smart phone. The car does not need to be plugged in, but it helps to preserve the battery if the car is plugged in when climate control is activated.
Yes, the REx will and can sustain 70mph on the freeway and hold the battery at whatever percent its currently at. However, the battery will slowly drain as you continue to climb hills and fastly maneuver on the freeway. The battery drain will be a lot slower with the REx on versus with it off. The key is to place the car in either Eco Pro or Eco Pro+ Mode and drive 56 to 66mph on the freeway and use as little A/C as possible, its better to just turn on the fan. If you need the power to overtake a car, you just press harder on the accelerator paddle and the i3 will temporarily move into a more powerful mode as you overtake a vehicle.
My understanding of i3 is that you don't have unlimited range with full power, once battery is depleted and you are running on just range extender engine, especially on hilly terrain. Meaning, you can't keep putting gas into tank and running with just with range extender, without penalty. i3's computer will cut maximum speed and place you in a mandated slow lane, until you recharge battery. Can you verify this? It seemed like you were trying to add plug-in battery juice during this trip and not use the heater to avoid this reality? Maybe "Ike Gauntlet" this vehicle and see if just the range extender can take it uphill for extended trip at reasonable speed? Great Channel!!! Happy Holidays!
Yep. If you live in Colorada and go over 10,000ft passes at 70mph daily, it might disappoint. We live in hilly Seattle area, and 300 mile day trips over the Cascade Mountain passes (4000 ft) are no sweat.
This car is not meant to climb steep 5000ft above sea level mountains. Any EV that has its battery at 6% charge will slow down and crawl going up a hill and may even stall on the hill (any EV including Tesla). The trick is to slow down and turn off the heater when going up steep hills if you only have 6% of battery left... I mean who the hell drives 75mph up a steep hill in an EV with only 6% of battery with all the creature comforts on, who? On a level road or a leveled freeway, the i3 retains FULL POWER while the REx is on and while the battery is at 6%. But keep in mind that the faster you drive the battery will start to drain quickly and the REx will not be able to generate enough electricity for the battery and your i3 will alert you to pull over and charge. Its best to always keep a steady speed of 60mph and put the car in one of the Economy Modes to preserve battery integrity even while the REx is engaged. You have to play around with the i3 to get the best out of it for your needs.
@@TFLnow Did you check your motor mounts and mount bolts yet? These early i3s are notorious for having plastic motor mounts that crack and break which allows the motor to drop.. Better to have the aluminum or steel mounts in place.
Just want to point out a little glitch here. For the price of a "fill-up", it should not be calculated in this way since the charging is not 100% efficient. To charge 18kWh into the battery you are looking at consuming about 20-30kWh of electricity, which would be about 3-4 dollars. That's still much cheaper than gas though.
Merry Christmas! Thank you for the video. It was not clear from the video, do you have a 220 volt portable EVSE and you just didn't bring it? If your farm friend could have given you access to a 220 volt AC and you had the portable 220 EVSE you could have easily done it all on electricity.
Question for you, do you still have your i3 and with what you know now would you buy a higher range i3? I'm asking because I'm looking to get a 2015 or 2016 i3, I live in the city (chicago) and i dont plan on doing any long distance driving. The i3 used market, has some pretty good deals.
Not really. The challenge is to see how far one can go in a 22kwh battery i3 REx and let the REx automatically turn on at 6%. As you can clearly see in the video the i3 handled hill climbing with ease while the REx was on.. The dude from Out of Spec drove his i3 REx from North Carolina to Colorado because he coded the car to Euro specs and he added TJA self driving and his i3 has the CCS Fast Charging option. He made it easier on himself pertaining to long freeway driving. Tommy kept his i3 car unmodified and stayed true to NA specs. So, knowing an unmodified non CCS i3 REx can climb hills and not render itself motionless is great because one of the complaints was that while the i3 is in REx mode at 6% battery the car would lose power on the freeway and it certainly couldn't climb hills.
I would've expected that heat from the batteries could be used for climate control if it's heating that you need. Might be worth it to look into how the EV does it's climate control to decide under what conditions you need to cut it for more range.
It can but in the US you would need to code the car to enable 'hold state of charge'. When the battery is at 75% or below you enable hold mode and it uses the generator's heat for the cabin and it holds the battery's charge level.
@@youtubekill7868 True. The heat generated by the REx is not enough to heat a hot dog. If you must have heat, just use the heated seats or while the car is plugged in, just preheat the car while its charging. Also, these i3s are not meant for long distance driving and hill climbing to 4000+ feet above sea level, its nice that these i3s when pushed can achieve the feat.
@@youtubekill7868 Obviously not! Out of spec channel shows there are only 2 winter truly snow rated tire types from Continental and Nokian Hakkapeliitta. Tommy mentioned winter tires but never said which. In the video he was skidding driving uphill before regaining traction. Nokian brand never does skid.
@@nevco8774 You are wrong. There are at least 5 different winter tire types from 4 different brands available for the i3. There is also no such thing as a tire that never skids.
The Volt is a much much better car. The Volt cost a lot more used. It is worth it. A late model Volt can easily go 50 miles on a charge then you have over 240 miles of gas range. Unlike the BMW the Volt is very reliable.
The i3 would be an excellent used car. They really are very inexpensive to by used. The I3 lacks reliability and is very expensive to repair and maintain. In fact the i3 is the LEASET reliable car BMW makes in a car company that is not known for reliability. Cool toy maybe to run around with the factory warranty in tacked. No way I would by one out of warranty at any price.
I just bought one which arrives in two weeks but I was under the impression that the range extender literally charges the entire battery so you could do a road trip with it.
Mines arrives next week. I’m a college student flying down to my hometown to pick up this bad boy. I will be driving back w/ it. Traveling approximately 300 miles.. I’m nervous!!
Only maintains the charge at which you turn it on or at which it comes on... There's a lot of miss information about this car... In this video some incorrect statements.... 1st of all you do not turn the heat on to warm the car up on only 110 as you will lose state of charge... Of course like everyone knows you can code the car so that you can turn the range extender on anytime below 75%... It's also a myth that you shouldn't use the range extender for any extended periods of time... Unfortunately one of the executives made an off hand comment and it's stuck But there's no truth to it and in fact it makes no logical sense... With the heat on at about 21 to 22ﾟ you will lose about 20 to 25% range... If you will also lose range on the range extender as well as it has to work harder... Always know when the range extender comes on as The display will go bright and the Battery display will go dim... Also as soon as the range extender comes on after about a minute it will do a warm up. In which it's revealed at 2500 rpm and you will hear that... After this it will settle down. Also you can't entirely disengage the traction control Unless you get into The Secret menu...
Merry Christmas Tommy 🙂, awesome video and scenic drive on the way to Happy Yak Farm.
Love that you are doing these i3 videos! I own a ‘17 REX with the bigger battery and also live in the country. So far it’s been a totally capable back road machine, and the REX obliterates range anxiety. Even did a 600-mile round trip in it. Keep the videos coming!
Merry Christmas TFL and to all that watch.
And to all a goodnight
Great video Tommy !! You should code your i3. I coded my i3 a few months ago and it is AWESOME!! You have the capability to turn on the REX once your battery charge goes below 75%. Your i3 will run even more efficiently, especially on longer trips - Happy Holidays 👍🎄🏂😎😎
Came to the comments for this! Made a massive difference. Being able to turn on the REX when you want is incredible.
@@rdougan Totally agree with you Robert. I think that the REX option on the BMW i3 is one of the best idea's. Especially when you have the option of turning it on and off when ever you need to use it. Absolutely love my i3, such a great car !!
Gotta agree. Having a ‘14 myself, my favorite 2 things were coding larger fuel tank capacity and HSOC.
One bonus is to not beat up your battery by running it down to low level when you know you're going to be using Rex anyway
I did two 850 mile(went home and back) trips in my i3 REX. Definitely more than you should drive in one in a day, but it can road trip 😁. Also had my 60 pound pit bull with me.
Did u jus stop and refill the tank?or ev charge as well?
@@goldenstatew2399 I did a couple charge stops, but it was mostly refilling the tank. The charge stops were a good opportunity for me and my dog to relax and take a walk.
@@JuiceBoxScott awesome, owe fillup how many miles would u say I were able to achieve
@@goldenstatew2399 not a lot, 100 miles give or take.
@@JuiceBoxScott that is not bad at all enuff to get u to the next pump if need, how's maintenance? I'm really leaning toward a 2017 i3 rex vs a bolt
Just traveled cross country, (heavily loaded), in one of our Chevy 2017 Volts.
The battery on each car normally gets us about 50 miles for our daily all electric commutes.
We never took one Cross country until recently.
I found I could only charge at a few hotels and locations but really didn't need to. The Volt's "Range Extender" got us an honest 40 mpg, sometimes more while cruising 75 -77 mph using the engine alone on Regular Grade gas. The car is smooth, confortable, and though not muscle car fast, will hold it's own at the stoplight drags. The adaptive cruise control takes a lot of the aggravation out of traffic congested areas.
Never once did I need to apply the brakes in mountain grades and used the regenerative paddle which recovered sometimes 10+ miles of battery range coming down the mountains. Overall what a great car to see America in!
GM was so stupid to stop making the Volt ...
@@sking2173 GM is generally stupid. starting with that ding ding ding noise.
i thought car with v8 would be a great car to see America in lol gas is cheap here and voltage is low, 110v?
What a fantastic and insightful video. I recently transitioned from owning a 2012 BMW X5 35i to a 2017 BMW i3 REx and totally love my new EV! I haven't quite taken the i3 on an official road trip but have experienced very positive drives from San Francisco, CA to Bolinas, CA. Would love to see your team post more videos of the i3 being driven in "non-traditional" manners outside of the typical city-scape. So glad you guys were able to get this vehicle in your fleet!
I heard some people walking by mine the other day saying, "wow, I've never seen one of these in person before."
Unfortunately, they were shocked at how ugly it is.
This was an excellent video! Helped me get over my range fear.
Great video. Love the fishing bobber on the antennae. Everyone have a Happy and Safe New Year!
The look on his face when he wasnt sure if the range extender came on is the same face i have all the time. Its always a great idea to look at current flow to be sure it is indeed running. Also, that engine is all but quiet IMO. When youre doing 55 and its at a very charge, that little motor will get very loud very fast xD
Also to anyone with an i3, get yours coded so you can run the engine below 75% and make sure to run it for a few miles, like 5 to 10 at least every few weeks or even once a month. Remember it still is a combustion engine and getting oil up into the head and cylinderwalls helps especially if you have to use it in more colder climate.
Merry Christmas TFL!
Merry Christmas, Tommy!
You too Joseph! -Tommy
@@TFLnow yes Merry Christmas to you and Everyone at TFL!
Let me know when you want to sell this one. I'd be interested. Have you looked at converting to the larger European gas tank? Is there a hack to use heat from the REX motor yet?
I do 2000 mile road trips all the time in my i3. Almost 100.000 miles. But you have to code that thing to use it to its full ability.
Kyle from out of spec on youtube drove it from rocky mount nc to Colorado . He had the range extender coded to get the max mikes and filled up a lot. He did charge it 2 times on the trip because he drives too fast for the range extender
@@markfitzpatrick6692 I drive to fast for the rex but time my eating and sleeping around dc fast charging so I do charge 3-4 times omw from ca to co. I'm also going 80-85, and filling up is the worst part but I have dogs that like to get out and walk anyways. 100,000 problem free miles.
That's interesting. Will there be any potential costly repair if getting a used one? I can only see some pure ev ones 15 model around. Heard the coolant pump may go out some time.
@@RuijieZhou I did end up having to spend around $4700 on repair for the rear motor mounts as they were the older ABS design not the new or metal design. That was the costliest repair I had but otherwise I did not have many repairs just little things like backup camera and he did see that were covered under warranty. I also drove the car roughly 3 miles A-day on dirt roads so it handled it's serious work schedule pretty well.
@@kristianmurin3696 thanks for the info. These are reason I m not fully into it now. Looks so interesting but the repair,,
IIRC you can tell when the range extender is on when the gasoline fuel meter is slightly brighter. You can barely see the difference, but basically it's 'dimmed' gray when on electric only, and then it 'lights up' when the REx kicks in. Yeah, I could not see the difference in broad daylight, much better to look at the energy flow by using the quick keys.
BTW the electronic limitation of the REx functionality (and gasoline tank use) in the USA is ridiculous, limiting the i3's performance significantly. It's understandable why so many US owners do the hack to enable normal REx functionality.
In the Euro model I could just use a programmable quick key to turn on the REx whenever I wanted to.
Merry Christmas guys!
Merry Christmas to you too!
I did a 236 mile trip to Michigan, then came back another 236 home in one day. Exhausted, but my 3014 i3 Rex is a trooper!
Auto Auction Rebuilds took his from Ok City to Los Angeles. He used Eco Pro (or max?) setting a couple of times. It only allows 50 MPH, but sips electricity, giving a few extra miles of range. A couple of long stretches with no charging stations.
Loved the video. I’ve found that keeping highway speeds at 62 mph can really stretch the battery in my 2017 i3 on long trips. Winter driving with just heated seats is also a good way to stretch the battery, but the windows have a tendency to fog up so I usually run the heater fan on the lowest setting. Looking forward to more great videos from you guys in the New Year.
🤣🤣🤣
Some energy hints: Use the nav even if you know the way - it has the best range prediction. Set your leave timer and pre-heat the car while charging. Don't use AC in winter. Use the seat heater only when your seat feels cold.
I wondered why the farm had no 3 phase 400V AC (CEE16 red) for its machines...
Nice to see you guys on this shoot at horsetooth!
Happy holidays everyone 🎄
Merry Christmas to all of TFL. :).
Merry Chrysler and happy Honda days!
Good morning... Merry Christmas 🎄 Tommy!!!🙂
Thanks Ron! Merry christmas to you too!
If you're struggling with the traction control cutting power in snowy/ icy conditions there is a dyno mode you can put the car in that completely turns all those systems off.
Merry Christmas, Tommy. Good job.
Good morning and merry Christmas Tommy !
Merry Christmas guys! 🎅🎄
I have opel ampera (chevrolet volt) and it works also as ev (30 - 40 mile range) and has 1.4 l gasoline engine as generator 95% of my daily driving is done with electric driving and I do some longer driving at weekends I have owned it ~ 6 months and done 7000 miles and average fuel consumption is 130 mpg
Thank your for the emphasis on “brilliant” within the first minute. You made me very happy.
I am getting it! Let’s see how it does in Dallas! Wish me luck!🍀🤞
I would love to know more about the coding options for us i3 owners to unlock the full euro capabilities! Thanks guys love the video!
Davids suburban is so awesome
You can reprogram the car to set the motor to go on earlier and use more of the gas in the tank.
Love the video, very nice! My i3 Rex it says 70mil es range but it does only 50miles!! Is time for a Battery replacement I think
nice core i3 u got there 😉
you guys should talk to the guy from out of spec motoring he has one of them cars and there's this thing you can do to it to make the range extender just come on and keep the battery topped or something so you get more range out of it and then you can leave the range extender on while you're parked and it will keep the battery charged up if you get out of the driver's seat and keep the buckle locked in
Yeah, but I am sure Tommy knows all about coding the i3 to European specs to get the SOC Hold mode on the i3.. The challenge in this video was to drive until the battery was near empty and allow the REx to turn its self on.. Also, the challenge included hill climbing, which is suppose to allegedly render the i3 REx useless,
of course Tommy just proved quite the opposite. It is very possible to do a long freeway/hwy road trip in a 22kwh battery i3 REx (imagine the possibilities if this i3 had the CCS charging option).
sure you can if you either stop for a charge or have a range extender either way it can be done
Tommy kyle Connor from out of spec on youtube is living ft Collins now. He drove his i3 from North Carolina to Colorado in oct31st. Lots of fill ups and a few charges
Would love to see a challenge between that and the Chevy volt second generation
Now that you have enable “Euro” mode, this would be much less dramatic. Good work, Tommy.
The un coded Rex turns the car into a hybrid by the gas engine continually keeping the battery around 75% charged. Thinking at getting one soon.
I like that car! Nice demonstration of its ability too. Was that the out of spec car?
Different i3.. Out of Spec has DC Fast Charging in their i3 and their car is coded to European specs, this is how he was able to drive from North Carolina to Colorado right beside the Tesla Model 3.
@@mamadouaziza2536 cool. Thanks!
I know Kyle drove on gas before going to electric so that threw me off some. It needs to be changeable from little motor to battery at the turn of a switch in my opinion.
My favorite car to drive ever!!!!
Merry Christmas boys
when you run the battery all the way down and then invoke the gas engine is the performance compromised at all? Or can the gas motor provide enough energy in any given moment to cater for normal 'electric' driving? Cheers
It's losing power with the REX on unless you're almost home you want to drive conservatively.
I want one....definitely a used i3. It would be nice if you did a video on what to look for when considering a i3 other than appearance; for example, mileage, brakes, ice generator condition, steering, suspension, etc. Still, great video like always.
At least do a price comparo between dealer with warranty, I warranty came in handy, the DC fast charger plug got loose and a dashboard panel needed replacing.
Just want to know if the coolant pump or compressor is easy to leak? Heard it costs a lot to replace.
Just picked one up to play with. Great prices for old cars now. You said basically that the battery in these is only able to charge to roughly 80%. Where did you find that stat? It makes sense because my Tesla will let you charge to 100% if you wish. But obviously on the daily you should only charge it to 75 or 80%. I was wondering how the BMW handled that. Also, I am ready to code for /hack my i3 as well. Did you ever do that?
Couple of those things running around here north Scottsdale. Also recall one on a roll-back headed towards dealer too. I'll have a different outlook on them now. Merry XMAS boys!
Tommy to the rescue!!! Can I have a pizza delivered
I live in Canada. So how is the i3 in heavy Snow?
Whats all the white stuff on the side of the road and in the fields.
Great car but $900 to replace a malfunctioning seatbelt, advisable to get a warranty. I think you had to buy an upgraded subscription to preheat from the app, not sure the app supported at all anymore, at least early models (2015). It does use a lot of power for heat, but ignore the range estimator it only shows instantaneous info, it's more of a panic generator. Use heat very sparingly, use heaters as primary heating, if you need the range.
Great video! What portable charger did you use during photo shoot at David’s Farm?? Thanks!
Very underrated. sad to see it get chopped from the bmw lineup
In Europe we do 90-110 mph on the highways, except in Germany where its go as fast as your car can go
In USA, government imposed speed regulations ensure police departments have revenue for high-tech harassment equipment
That's not true
In the USA lot of people normally drive 90 to 100mph while on the freeway not highway. A highway has intersections and traffic stops and lights, a freeway is a continuous multi lane road without traffic lights and the speed of traffic is usually 75mph legally.
I'm from France and no one in around Paris is driving 100mph on the freeway.
@@mamadouaziza2536 Maybe he meant 90-110 KPH? When I was living in Montana, freeway (Or interstate highways) were 80 MPH speed limits And while yeah I'd cruise at 90-100 mph because there's typically maybe a handful of cars driving around at any given time it's relatively safe. But back in the 90's, Montana didn't have posted speed limits on the Interstate, and they had less accidents and more courteous drivers because people didn't play the left lane hog game because they knew someone could be doing 100+ coming up behind them. But here in Colorado going down I-25 some days you're doing 90, some days you're doing 45. Just depends how many people are out lol. But I don't think I've ever seen traffic anywhere across the US flow at 100 MPH. Sure, I've done 100 MPH through cities like St. Louis or Chicago with 3-4 other random cars trailing around the same speed weaving through traffic, but that's also pretty dangerous and it does typically end up in people getting pulled over lol.
Great video . Can I use the super charger with an adapter for this 2014 model? and how many miles did you get running on gas?
Have you guys ever done a video going up Pike's Peak? I was there a few weeks ago. Would be curious to see how much battery a Tesla/other EV uses on the way up, and how much it regains on the way down. Can EV brakes get too hot?
Here you go: ua-cam.com/video/WE9Ins5xVNU/v-deo.html
They did that test already. I just tested an older i3 from 500 ft above sea level to 3000 feet above sea level all high hill climbing.
Yes, the climbing will tax the range.
I LOVE my i3
I love my 2015 I3/Rex. I've driven it from Minneapolis to Louisville and to Kansas a few times.
Merry Christmas Tommy! Brisk 30°F compared to 5°F in Minneapolis. So does "accessories" affect the mileage? Lights, wipers, heater/AC, heated seat, or extremely cold weather (-0). 650cc range extender should get a Japanese KEI car/truck/vans with 660cc some in 4WD. Thanks for the review.
I would love to have one of these and if I had money I would buy one.
You can get them as cheap as $10k but it will have over 60k miles and it may not have the REx and or many options on it.
@@mamadouaziza2536 it has to have the Rex because there aren't many charging stations around where I live and I would hate to confine it to just driving within say 30 miles. One thing I would also have to get is some kind of extended warranty as we know all BMWs are very trouble-prone and very expensive to fix especially when they get up in mileage. Thanks for your comment!
@@hoozthair6076
Some of these i3's have a range of 150 miles on just electricity and if it has a REx, you can squeeze another 100 miles out of the battery. 250 mile range.
When driving an EV with a range under 200 miles, always have a friend in a gasoline-powered vehicle follow you, with that other vehicle towing a flat-bed trailer so they can bring you back home when you run out of juice.
Hahaha you ar very hapy to plug in
And a Rwd in snow? Can it handle?
It's bum when doing a test in a EV you start turning off stuff like the heat. That is not normal even in a REX.
If you don't mind thinking about heat, AC, headlights, radio, and anything else that uses power.
Personally I'll just fill my tank, blast the AC and radio and cruise on!
Turn by turn talking navigation takes a bigger hit on EV range than the A/C does. I went from 80 miles of range to 55 miles of range just by turn on the nav, I quickly turned it off and just used my mobile phone's Goggle nav. Radio and headlight do not drain the battery as much because some of the power comes from the battery in the front trunk.
I had a Fiat 500e back in early 2010's and little sub-100 mile EVs (i3, Mini, etc) are fun, affordable city cars, but with +200 mile range becoming the norm for reasonably priced EVs (Bolt, Leaf, iD 4, etc) I don't know why you'd want to deal with the range anxiety. It works if it's your daily driver and you have an ICE for weekends/longer trips, but most people probably can't afford 2 cars.
But you buy according to your needs/lifestyle and budget.
The i3 is an engineering marvel and if your daily commute is less than 50 miles roundtrip, I see no reason why you shouldn't consider an earlier model i3 especially if you can get a used one at $14k.
The REx can be coded to manually turn on once the battery reaches 75% and you can drive for miles as long as you have gas in the REx.
Yes, used Chevy Bolts with 230 miles of range are now going for $16k. However, the build quality in a Bolt is horrible compared to an i3. Hell, the earlier Model 3s build quality is less than an i3..
I have a short range i3 REX and a Fiat 500e. They're great for most of our needs, car budget was a big consideration. It's occasionally inconvenient but BMW gives us a free loaner for the rare long trips.
Was this before or after you guys unlocked the full tank?
Fun and informative. :)
Really enjoyed this video, very interesting to see some real world experience with the i3. The range is a little low for me, but the later models had a bigger battery. Interested in the options and features like remotely turning on climate to pre-warm it, and of it will sustain 70mph on the range extender for example. Also, how much will it charge when going down a huge hill?
Yes, with the earlier models you can program the cars to turn on the climate controls via your smart phone. The car does not need to be plugged in, but it helps to preserve the battery if the car is plugged in when climate control is activated.
Yes, the REx will and can sustain 70mph on the freeway and hold the battery at whatever percent its currently at. However, the battery will slowly drain as you continue to climb hills and fastly maneuver on the freeway. The battery drain will be a lot slower with the REx on versus with it off. The key is to place the car in either Eco Pro or Eco Pro+ Mode and drive 56 to 66mph on the freeway and use as little A/C as possible, its better to just turn on the fan. If you need the power to overtake a car, you just press harder on the accelerator paddle and the i3 will temporarily move into a more powerful mode as you overtake a vehicle.
It depends on how steep the down hill is, yes it will recharge the battery going down hill, there is a gauge that registers all this.
Very little charge on a downhill, maybe 2%, more likely you'll just use zero battery.
Would it be possible to get the MPG only on range extender?
I tend to get around 38mpg,
My understanding of i3 is that you don't have unlimited range with full power, once battery is depleted and you are running on just range extender engine, especially on hilly terrain. Meaning, you can't keep putting gas into tank and running with just with range extender, without penalty. i3's computer will cut maximum speed and place you in a mandated slow lane, until you recharge battery. Can you verify this? It seemed like you were trying to add plug-in battery juice during this trip and not use the heater to avoid this reality? Maybe "Ike Gauntlet" this vehicle and see if just the range extender can take it uphill for extended trip at reasonable speed? Great Channel!!! Happy Holidays!
Yes we will. And no it won’t go up i70 at a reasonable speed. I learned that the hard way hahaha! but on everyday highways it does well
Yep.
If you live in Colorada and go over 10,000ft passes at 70mph daily, it might disappoint.
We live in hilly Seattle area, and 300 mile day trips over the Cascade Mountain passes (4000 ft) are no sweat.
This car is not meant to climb steep 5000ft above sea level mountains. Any EV that has its battery at 6% charge will slow down and crawl going up a hill and may even stall on the hill (any EV including Tesla). The trick is to slow down and turn off the heater when going up steep hills if you only have 6% of battery left...
I mean who the hell drives 75mph up a steep hill in an EV with only 6% of battery with all the creature comforts on, who? On a level road or a leveled freeway, the i3 retains FULL POWER while the REx is on and while the battery is at 6%.
But keep in mind that the faster you drive the battery will start to drain quickly and the REx will not be able to generate enough electricity for the battery and your i3 will alert you to pull over and charge. Its best to always keep a steady speed of 60mph and put the car in one of the Economy Modes to preserve battery integrity even while the REx is engaged. You have to play around with the i3 to get the best out of it for your needs.
@@TFLnow
Did you check your motor mounts and mount bolts yet? These early i3s are notorious for having plastic motor mounts that crack and break which allows the motor to drop.. Better to have the aluminum or steel mounts in place.
"It got 18 miles of range" famous last words
You know the best snow tires
Just want to point out a little glitch here. For the price of a "fill-up", it should not be calculated in this way since the charging is not 100% efficient. To charge 18kWh into the battery you are looking at consuming about 20-30kWh of electricity, which would be about 3-4 dollars. That's still much cheaper than gas though.
Merry Christmas! Thank you for the video. It was not clear from the video, do you have a 220 volt portable EVSE and you just didn't bring it? If your farm friend could have given you access to a 220 volt AC and you had the portable 220 EVSE you could have easily done it all on electricity.
I didn't realize the i3 used wagon wheels 😂
I need a ev that can go from dtc to central city, and then back because there are no chargers (public) in Blackhawk or central city
What happened with the CPO warranty transfer? Did BMW honor the fuel tank vent repair?
i want this car !
Why haven't you jailbreaked it so it works at 75%? You can't use it on the highway when it is that low.
Question for you, do you still have your i3 and with what you know now would you buy a higher range i3? I'm asking because I'm looking to get a 2015 or 2016 i3, I live in the city (chicago) and i dont plan on doing any long distance driving. The i3 used market, has some pretty good deals.
I m looking too, price is much higher now. Can't find any 13k i3. What's the mileage for this one?
needs the @outofspec mod
Not really. The challenge is to see how far one can go in a 22kwh battery i3 REx and let the REx automatically turn on at 6%.
As you can clearly see in the video the i3 handled hill climbing with ease while the REx was on..
The dude from Out of Spec drove his i3 REx from North Carolina to Colorado because he coded the car to Euro specs and he added TJA self driving and his i3 has the CCS Fast Charging option. He made it easier on himself pertaining to long freeway driving.
Tommy kept his i3 car unmodified and stayed true to NA specs.
So, knowing an unmodified non CCS i3 REx can climb hills and not render itself motionless is great because one of the complaints was that while the i3 is in REx mode at 6% battery the car would lose power on the freeway and it certainly couldn't climb hills.
Is this with the “hack” or not yet?
I would've expected that heat from the batteries could be used for climate control if it's heating that you need. Might be worth it to look into how the EV does it's climate control to decide under what conditions you need to cut it for more range.
Can it take heat from the generator to heat the cabin ?
It can but in the US you would need to code the car to enable 'hold state of charge'. When the battery is at 75% or below you enable hold mode and it uses the generator's heat for the cabin and it holds the battery's charge level.
No it cannot. The engine's heat is not used for any other car system in the i3.
@@youtubekill7868
True. The heat generated by the REx is not enough to heat a hot dog. If you must have heat, just use the heated seats or while the car is plugged in, just preheat the car while its charging. Also, these i3s are not meant for long distance driving and hill climbing to 4000+ feet above sea level, its nice that these i3s when pushed can achieve the feat.
Did you install winter tires on that car? So skinny tires! Not so many snow rated tires are available for this car...
He says in the video there are snow tires on the car.
How many different tire models do you need?
Is at least 5 different models from 4 different brands somehow not enough?
@@youtubekill7868 Obviously not! Out of spec channel shows there are only 2 winter truly snow rated tire types from Continental and Nokian Hakkapeliitta. Tommy mentioned winter tires but never said which. In the video he was skidding driving uphill before regaining traction. Nokian brand never does skid.
@@nevco8774 You are wrong. There are at least 5 different winter tire types from 4 different brands available for the i3.
There is also no such thing as a tire that never skids.
The Volt is a much much better car. The Volt cost a lot more used. It is worth it. A late model Volt can easily go 50 miles on a charge then you have over 240 miles of gas range. Unlike the BMW the Volt is very reliable.
this car not a quick charger?
With it plugged in you should have heated up the car using the electric from the charger to like 80 that way it would help the range
Range extender👍
shouldve bought a emergency gas bottle lol
What Car?
Is that a Mercedes Maybach behind the i3?! 😂
Killer deal, i3 rex with 20k on it for 12k - wow - where?
The i3 would be an excellent used car. They really are very inexpensive to by used.
The I3 lacks reliability and is very expensive to repair and maintain. In fact the i3 is the LEASET reliable car BMW makes in a car company that is not known for reliability.
Cool toy maybe to run around with the factory warranty in tacked. No way I would by one out of warranty at any price.
A little harsh, but mostly true
I just bought one which arrives in two weeks but I was under the impression that the range extender literally charges the entire battery so you could do a road trip with it.
Mines arrives next week. I’m a college student flying down to my hometown to pick up this bad boy. I will be driving back w/ it. Traveling approximately 300 miles.. I’m nervous!!
I would not plan on driving off the Rex engine, it's time to look for charging when that kicks on or before that.
Only maintains the charge at which you turn it on or at which it comes on... There's a lot of miss information about this car... In this video some incorrect statements.... 1st of all you do not turn the heat on to warm the car up on only 110 as you will lose state of charge... Of course like everyone knows you can code the car so that you can turn the range extender on anytime below 75%... It's also a myth that you shouldn't use the range extender for any extended periods of time... Unfortunately one of the executives made an off hand comment and it's stuck But there's no truth to it and in fact it makes no logical sense... With the heat on at about 21 to 22ﾟ you will lose about 20 to 25% range... If you will also lose range on the range extender as well as it has to work harder... Always know when the range extender comes on as The display will go bright and the Battery display will go dim... Also as soon as the range extender comes on after about a minute it will do a warm up. In which it's revealed at 2500 rpm and you will hear that... After this it will settle down. Also you can't entirely disengage the traction control Unless you get into The Secret menu...