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Range Extended BMW i3 Will Get New Features and Retrofit Upgrades in 2015

 To cater to the so-called ‘range anxious’ customers, BMW decided to launch two versions of its first ever EV, the i3 and the range-extended i3 or Rex for short. As it turns out, the latter has some problems the Germans didn’t anticipate.
bmw i3 1 photo
Photo: bmw
 
According to Consumer Reports, during their prolonged time with one such model, they noticed a couple of things that weren’t just annoying but downright unacceptable. 
 
The difference between the i3 and the REx model is that the latter uses a small 650cc scooter engine (made by Kymco) to recharge the car’s batteries when needed. It’s positioned in the back, right above the rear axle and works in complete silence.
 
However, as good as it sounds, it does bring some setbacks. For starters, it adds weight to an electric car, damaging its dynamic capabilities. It’s also only going to extend your range by 100 miles or so, therefore still keeping the i3 in the category of cars that doesn’t allow you to go for longer drives.
 
What’s more, the sprint time is cut down to 7.9 seconds as opposed to 7.2 on the pure-electric model. To top it all off, some states won’t give you all the benefits for driving an zero-emissions car because you actually have an internal combustion engine on board, polluting as it runs.

Sounds disappointing, what’s the advantage, then?
 
As we pointed out, it will ease some of that range anxiety most EV drivers experience behind the wheel. However, according to Consumer Reports, there are even bigger problems at hand, especially compared to the all-electric i3.
 
During their tests they found that “after a prolonged use of the throttle with little or no speed varying and no gentle braking to regenerate energy to the battery, acceleration ability falls off dramatically”. To put things in perspective, they claim that the car accelerates from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 27 seconds, at best, times getting down in the 40 seconds territory.
 
Sure, since the car is built for inner-city usage, such situations are unlikely to occur but they can happen and the problem should be sorted by BMW.
 
The Germans responded sharply
 
Consumer Reports, naturally contacted a BMW official and the response was prompt. Matthew Russell, a BMW spokesman said that a software update coming in 2015 will solve such problems and bring new functionality to the cars as well.
 
The new models will include an indicator of the battery’s charge at all times and an alert prior to experiencing a sudden loss of power. Furthermore, the cars will have a feature that will boost the battery level prior to engaging steep hill climbs, using info from the navigation system. The best news is that all of this will also be installed in i3s that were purchased in 2014.
 
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