213.1 Miles in My 94Ah BMW i3 Range Extender - Full Range Tested

Want to see how far a 94Ah BMW i3 can travel when pushed to the limit... Well with a full charge and a full tank of petrol I managed to achieve 213.1 miles, which is almost 10% more than BMW's claimed 200 mile range. Here's my video log of the day's driving. I hope you like it, and please subscribe to my channel for more BMW i3 videos. Footage taken with GoPro Hero 5 Black edition and edited in FCPx.

[mmetti]

I think when discussing the BMW i3 it should be mentioned what the car was built for. It is not a vehicle for long distance driving, although with careful planning it can be done. This is an urban car by design and intent. It has one of the best turning radius of all vehicles, it parks itself, it's running cost is extremely low, and finally the quality is fantastic. The car was designed from the ground up, not an alteration to any existing combustion vehicle and the use of carbon fiber works well for safety and providing light weight. What sold me the most was how fun it is to drive! It has so many features that most sales people don't know about, like holding the lock button down will retract the side mirrors and roll up the windows (all of them). The software is really helpful in saving destinations, giving directions and updating when the next maintenance is needed. (although it would be rare to need any mechanical maintenance) You can download the i3 app and allows you to start the car's heating or air conditioning before you enter. On the con side, the tires wear quickly (about 20K miles) and cost about $700 to replace, and the back passenger doors take some getting use to. Although this car is more of a two person vehicle.

[LysanderLH]

At last!! Someone finally answered the 'what's the total range?' question.

[sergeyyevtukh]

Thanks for a great experimental video of your new 94Ah Rex I3 BMW.
I were looking all over YouTube and rest off Internet for review on this new 94Ah powered i3, and you got one with Rex and in my favorite blue color it's a huge double bonus !! Thanks man, appreciate you shearing it with me and community off other electric cars enthusiasts.
Subscribed.
Keep those videos coming it's the best way for people get to know more about EV and what choices they have when it comes to more fan and sustainable personal transport .

[alisonholloway]

This series of videos is the most informative and interesting I have found on this car and far better than the "professional" channels. I had a brief test drive myself earlier this week in a Rex and was most impressed with it. If you have time an update would be most appreciated on how it has coped with the British winter and how you have used/enjoyed it after the honeymoon period. In the meantime many thanks for making the effort to share your experiences

[livska]

Some awesome ... you pushed it to the limit and we really appreciate you seeing what this car can do. Nothing less than super impressive- Cheers !!👍🎉

[TheSmallRabbit]

I have just bought a 2019 i3 42Kwh and have just performed a long range test at 10-17C. I started with 100% battery and a predicted range of 158miles on the GOM. I have driven hybrids now for 12 years and I am aware what a light pedal foot has on economy. So off we set on the 84 mile trip with a mix of motorway (60%) A road (40%) . Outbound heading for the coast there's more negative gradients but it will all level up on the return. As this is a max range test I put the car in Eco PRO and turn off the heating/cooling. I get between 10 - 22Kwh/100Km and a light foot also mean that I see quite a bit of regen. When I arrived at my destination I had a GOM range left of ! 130 Miles (84 + 130) = 214 miles.
I charge to 100% again and then on the return when I arrived home the GOM said 100 miles so a return range of 184 miles. I expect these ranges to drop by switching to Comfort and adding some heating however even if these settings suck 20 miles of range that's still 194 and 168 miles so taking the worst case 168miles that's very close to what BMW expect this car to achieve and by switching to ECO PRO 180 is also possible for most of the year and for most journeys. Remember my home journey was full of positive gradients to reach the destination at 333m.
So with this I have confidence this car can easily achieve its 160 mile range as quoted under these temps which in the UK is pretty standard. I am well impressed with this car it drives likes its on rails and accelerates like a rocket. :-)

[BevBrown]

Roadracer if you programme HSOC to button 8 on the dash you can activate REX at the touch of a button, without going through the menu.

[NickTruelsen]

Very informative, I now realise I can do the journeys I need with ease using the range extender version, thank you.

[Stoffendous]

Very nice to see more videos from you on the i3. Was hoping for more! Thank u for making this :)

[stubones]

That was pretty cool. I never expected an i3, even with R/ex to get that range on the motorway. It’s definitely great for short to medium journeys.

[fredericborloo]

Just a tip : I short cutted the range extender function to radiobutton nr. 1. That way, it's very easy to activate it when you need it.

[robertsao]

yes, I like your video, and cant wait to test drive one. it makes a lot of sense with a new larger battery and range extender.

[exwhyz]

great demo. You should repeat the exercise during winter to see how is the charge/mileage affected by the cold.

[klackon]

Top video: it's the type of journey I make so of great value to me. Thanks a lot.

[CraigStephenson]

Great vid, only just down the road in WGC from you. Just taken the Leaf 24kw into central London, disappointed at the new Source London charging structure, only found out when I couldn't charge on a new post. Rex sounds like a great idea!

[oldwortex]

Well you were able to use the Pro + which turns the a/c off. Most people can't use that (high humidity and heat). BUT I was able to get 139 electric miles out of the i3 with 94A battery and 84 Rex miles. So the total would have been 227 but my trip ended with 7% battery left. It was done with Eco Pro not the Eco Pro+ mode and in moderate heat - 88-89F max. but at all times the a/c was working. Some highway at 65mph and the rest is on back roads, city streets and in town. I had done some careful acceleration, not smashing the pedal and used the coast on downhill method. Overall speed was 51mph and I kept it at 70mph on the highway. It was about 20 % highway and 40% back roads and 40% in town. 2 person in a car.

[glennmartin]

An option to be able a jerry can on the rear hatch would be a winner.

[ckgrier]

You forgot to say if you were in Eco Pro on the way up - it appeared that way. It was apparent you were in Eco Pro Plus on the way back.

REx eliminated range anxiety because you can fall back to gasoline at any time. But as a general rule, you don't want to run on the REx with a low-low battery level - since the REx only puts out 26kW of power.

[mowcowbell]

These vehicles are a bargain on the used car market in the US. A new i3 REX retails over $55K USD, but can be picked up used with less than 20K miles for $16K.

[gallitron]

Are you still driving these great cars. Perhaps you’ve updated them both. What are your thoughts now that you’ve had them for a while. Great videos. Love the pull aways at the lights. We’re ordering three of them shortly.