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Experiencing the Engine Range Extender - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
edited August 2015 in BMW
imageExperiencing the Engine Range Extender - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com conducts a long-term test of the 2014 BMW i3 and finds a surprise when fueling it.

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Comments

  • allthingshondaallthingshonda Member Posts: 878
    edited August 2015
    It's not a pretty sound. At idle, it sounds, well, not unlike a portable generator in a closet.

    This is still a BMW, a premium car brand, and it should never sound like a portable generator. Not acceptable. Am I the only one who thinks the Chevy Volt is far more advanced than this car?
  • dm7279dm7279 Member Posts: 63
    allthingshonda said:

    It's not a pretty sound. At idle, it sounds, well, not unlike a portable generator in a closet.

    This is still a BMW, a premium car brand, and it should never sound like a portable generator. Not acceptable. Am I the only one who thinks the Chevy Volt is far more advanced than this car?

    Particularly the 2016 Volt, which has almost as much electric range.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Apparently, the gas tank is not, in fact, 2.4 gallons, but rather a computer regulates it to accept only that amount (this is so BMW can be granted BEV status in California). So....hackers, man your keyboards!

    Actually, doing that would no doubt void your warranty.
  • stillageekstillageek Member Posts: 114
    Coding your car doesn't void the warranty outright. If I coded my car and it broke based on my coding yes. Your statement is akin to putting in an aftermarket stereo would void your warranty.

    I've coded my car for the full 2.4 gallons....only because I could. I don't drive much, but once a month I drive about 15 miles outside max range. In the last 10,000 miles and 1 year I've purchased 9 gallons of fuel.
  • iamthestigiamthestig Member Posts: 85
    I'm surprised to hear that the fuel tank is only limited to 1.9 gallons by its own software. The i3 actually has a 2.4 gallon tank, but for i3s in the US, software limits how much fuel the i3's range-extending engine can use to 1.9 gallons so that it can take advantage of an EPA classification that only applies when a vehicle's gas-powered range does not exceed its electric-powered range. This is an example of how consumers often lose out to regulations like this.

    I'd love to see the Edmunds team blog about this, and maybe even "hack" their car to use the full 2.4 gallons.
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