Photo: bmw
The law is the law and everyone has to obey it, no matter the consequences. Apparently, that’s why the range-extended i3 models are still being held at port by the authorities, prolonging the agony the customers have to endure until they get the keys to their new cars.
One such customer is Tom Moloughney, a long-time BMW driver that wanted to know exactly what is holding up the delivery of his REx i3. After doing some research, he found out that there’s a problem with a sticker.
Don’t start laughing, just yet, as this is serious. He calls the issue the “Monroney Hold” because it’s due to the Monroney Label every car has to wear before leaving the dealership parking lot.
“The EPA certification has not been completed so BMW doesn't have a Monroney label (window sticker) to post in the window before the car leaves the port, which is required by law. The range extender option changes (shortens) the car's electric range, and also requires an official MPG rating so BMW couldn't use the same Monroney label as they did for the all electric i3."
All these problems come from the unusual design of the range-extended i3. It’s the second car in the world (after the Fisker Karma) that is actually a pure hybrid, using an internal combustion engine to charge the batteries and not power the wheels directly.
This system gave the EPA a big headache when trying to figure out the real-world fuel consumption and range numbers. What’s surprising is that the same procedure had to be used on other vehicles before it (like the Fisker Karma and Chevy Volt) so, what’s the hold up?
According to Tom, someone over at BMW might’ve delivered the required information a bit too late and hence, the testing was also delayed.
However, other sources claim that the testing is over and that the EPA as the official numbers for the cars since May 13th, the organization denying having anything to do with the delays after the aforementioned date.
"EPA tested the i3 REx and provided the results of that testing to BMW on May 13th. EPA is not aware of anything that would prevent BMW from importing the vehicles since May 13th,” said Linc Wehrly, Director of the Light-Duty Vehicle Center Compliance Division for Autoblog.
In turn, BMW defended itself, claiming that even though the EPA did deliver the results back on May 13th, there’s still more work to be done until the stickers can finally be affixed to any i3. Even so, “barring any unforeseen delays, we expect that to happen by the end of this week,” said BMW Spokesman Dave Buchko.
Either way, if it’s BMW’s fault or the EPA’s, it doesn’t really matter to the customers by now. They are all pretty disappointed of how things happened and most of them are really impatient to get their cars. Hopefully, this will be the last week they’ll have to spend away from their brand new cars.
Don’t start laughing, just yet, as this is serious. He calls the issue the “Monroney Hold” because it’s due to the Monroney Label every car has to wear before leaving the dealership parking lot.
“The EPA certification has not been completed so BMW doesn't have a Monroney label (window sticker) to post in the window before the car leaves the port, which is required by law. The range extender option changes (shortens) the car's electric range, and also requires an official MPG rating so BMW couldn't use the same Monroney label as they did for the all electric i3."
All these problems come from the unusual design of the range-extended i3. It’s the second car in the world (after the Fisker Karma) that is actually a pure hybrid, using an internal combustion engine to charge the batteries and not power the wheels directly.
This system gave the EPA a big headache when trying to figure out the real-world fuel consumption and range numbers. What’s surprising is that the same procedure had to be used on other vehicles before it (like the Fisker Karma and Chevy Volt) so, what’s the hold up?
According to Tom, someone over at BMW might’ve delivered the required information a bit too late and hence, the testing was also delayed.
However, other sources claim that the testing is over and that the EPA as the official numbers for the cars since May 13th, the organization denying having anything to do with the delays after the aforementioned date.
"EPA tested the i3 REx and provided the results of that testing to BMW on May 13th. EPA is not aware of anything that would prevent BMW from importing the vehicles since May 13th,” said Linc Wehrly, Director of the Light-Duty Vehicle Center Compliance Division for Autoblog.
In turn, BMW defended itself, claiming that even though the EPA did deliver the results back on May 13th, there’s still more work to be done until the stickers can finally be affixed to any i3. Even so, “barring any unforeseen delays, we expect that to happen by the end of this week,” said BMW Spokesman Dave Buchko.
Either way, if it’s BMW’s fault or the EPA’s, it doesn’t really matter to the customers by now. They are all pretty disappointed of how things happened and most of them are really impatient to get their cars. Hopefully, this will be the last week they’ll have to spend away from their brand new cars.
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