BMW i3 extended range.

I have been looking at the Various hybrid cars and electric cars from the Tesla, Chevy, Toyota to the BMW awesome i8 and recently the i3. At first the extended range i3 I thought just had a bigger battery. like the Tesla.

It doesn't. It has an all electric option or the extended range option that adds a tiny 34bhp generator that isn't connected to the drivetrain but is just used to recharge the batteries, like the Topgear mobile or Fisker. It has a tiny gas tank, 1.9US gallons / 7 litres. Which can nearly double its range and be refueled for pocket change.

Unlike other plug in hybrids it can drive all around town and only on electrics or can pull in and refuel at any service station so you are never stranded or stuck for hours recharging your car. Although with such a tiny fuel tank driving across country would require frequent stops.

The more I read about one, the more I want one. Well something to go try out.

https://cnet3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/20 ... -i3-88.jpg

Lord Skimper wrote:I have been looking at the Various hybrid cars and electric cars from the Tesla, Chevy, Toyota to the BMW awesome i8 and recently the i3. At first the extended range i3 I thought just had a bigger battery. like the Tesla.

It doesn't. It has an all electric option or the extended range option that adds a tiny 34bhp generator that isn't connected to the drivetrain but is just used to recharge the batteries, like the Topgear mobile or Fisker. It has a tiny gas tank, 1.9US gallons / 7 litres. Which can nearly double its range and be refueled for pocket change.

Unlike other plug in hybrids it can drive all around town and only on electrics or can pull in and refuel at any service station so you are never stranded or stuck for hours recharging your car. Although with such a tiny fuel tank driving across country would require frequent stops.

The more I read about one, the more I want one. Well something to go try out.

https://cnet3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/20 ... -i3-88.jpg

It might not be too hard to add a larger fuel tank, provided there is some place to squeeze it in. For that matter, a top rack and some gas cans . . ..

If Elio Motors can bring it off, their autocycle will be nice. The enclosure of a car (important in our climate, expecially in the winter!) but the small size, low cost, and MPG of a good motorcycle

Lord Skimper wrote:I have been looking at the Various hybrid cars and electric cars from the Tesla, Chevy, Toyota to the BMW awesome i8 and recently the i3. At first the extended range i3 I thought just had a bigger battery. like the Tesla.

It doesn't. It has an all electric option or the extended range option that adds a tiny 34bhp generator that isn't connected to the drivetrain but is just used to recharge the batteries, like the Topgear mobile or Fisker. It has a tiny gas tank, 1.9US gallons / 7 litres. Which can nearly double its range and be refueled for pocket change.

Unlike other plug in hybrids it can drive all around town and only on electrics or can pull in and refuel at any service station so you are never stranded or stuck for hours recharging your car. Although with such a tiny fuel tank driving across country would require frequent stops.

The more I read about one, the more I want one. Well something to go try out.

https://cnet3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/20 ... -i3-88.jpg

James May bought one, if that helps. For comparison, Clarkson drives a Lamborghini and Hammond drives a tractor.

Wow, sounds very cool. We will continue to set the timing, points and carb adjustment on our 1978 GMC pickup.

Wait ... also due for at least a ring and valve job. Also a new clutch. The brakes need adjusting. What else?

Ohh ... new plugs, wires, condenser, the aforementioned breaker points, belts and hoses and a new battery.

Humm .... maybe your new cool electric car makes sense? Of course our old stuff has no elecronical stuff at all.

My base model Mazda ute (pickup) with a 2.2 litre turbo diesel shows 850 kms range after a fill up. Good enough for me for now. A 1.6 litre turbo diesel Ford Focus I hired in the UK got over 1000 miles on a tank.
We still need a breakthrough in battery technology to get electric cars nto the mainstream.

Daryl wrote:My base model Mazda ute (pickup) with a 2.2 litre turbo diesel shows 850 kms range after a fill up. Good enough for me for now. A 1.6 litre turbo diesel Ford Focus I hired in the UK got over 1000 miles on a tank.
We still need a breakthrough in battery technology to get electric cars nto the mainstream.

I had a 1973 Chevrolet 3/4 ton truck that had a 700 mile range on a full tank -- of course that was 40 US Gallons. Range-per-tank is meaningless without knowing the fuel capacity.

If people would get over the fixation on extended range, electric cars would already be in the mainstream.

I don't recall the exact number, but something like 90% of people travel less than 30 miles a day. That is well within the range of a typical electric vehicle.

For the few occasions most people need to travel further than a normal charge can take them, hook one of these to a trailer hitch and drive as far as you want:



Of course a more streamlined towable generator could be designed and added to Hertz or Avis' inventory so it wouldn't be necessary to own one. Or for that matter Hertz or Avis would happily rent you a car with whatever range you desired for the occasional out-of-town trip.

Of course, the other 10% who travel more than 30 miles a day are going to need better range than the majority, and some people need more horsepower than current electrics supply. Those people are however a minority -- even here in the US where there are signs like "cattle on road next 90 miles."

As far as that goes, people who actually need personal transport are a minority.

The BMW i8 has all the power that anyone needs. It is a hybrid, averages about 30 mpg Road and Track / Car and driver testing. Has a tiny 1.5 litre Engine 3 cylinder with the 20 mile electric range, doubling for 2017 with new battery tech, 40 miles. 0-60 in 3.6 seconds. Tops out around 160+ mph. The Tesla S tops out at 122 mph. Then again how many of us have topped 122 mph? I did 140 in England on the Oxford Ring road in my Cobra Mustang but that was College days.

But for speed it is amazing how things work now.

I still remember the old city buses that were electric trolley buses running off the overhead wires in the 60's and 70's. Still wondering why they are not more popular now. Highways, motorways, freeways should have the outermost lane with the overhead electric wires for RV's and trucks to use with hybrid electric engines. Alas not going to happen.

New i3 doubles its battery range for 2017, they upped the fuel tank to 2.4 US gallons and 38 bhp which keeps it running at full speed when the charger kicks on. Generator kicks on when batteries fall to 5% and stays on until the batteries get recharged. It also uses aggressive regenerative braking. so much so most people can one pedal it driving around only braking when it comes to a full halt. However it doesn't just coast.

I was thinking the i3 would make a great police car, and the LAPD just got 150. performance is equal to my old Marauder in stock trim.

While BMW doesn't offer a pickup truck, they do offer a Hybrid SUV as well as a 3 Series and a 7 series. Tiny gas engined with Electric torque monster that can tow whatever is needed. The best thing about the plug in hybrid is that the electrical system has tons of instant torque and solves the whole problem of little engines. No torque. Ford has gone to light weight materials and turbo charged engines but still needs high pressure high rpm to get going. A couple days ago I was riding one of our new hybrid city buses. Quieter than the old diesels, smoother ride more economical and the buses are now articulated making them twice as big. I'm waiting for the RV industry to modernize. Yet still RV's are stuck in the design of the 80's. 5-8 mpg. 8 mpg Diesel, 5 Gasoline. When they release a 20-30 mpg RV they will take off, and when they get a 21st century make over. GM designed one but it didn't take off. I would be living in one if they did, and driving to Florida for winter too. But alas just another design concept that was killed by their bankruptcy and bailout.
The GMC Pad: http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/gmc-man.jpg

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-the ... mc-pad.htm

Of course the PAD idea is ten years old but in no way new: http://glamgrid.com/gm-futurliner-is-th ... al-motors/

DDHv wrote:

Lord Skimper wrote:I have been looking at the Various hybrid cars and electric cars from the Tesla, Chevy, Toyota to the BMW awesome i8 and recently the i3. At first the extended range i3 I thought just had a bigger battery. like the Tesla.

It doesn't. It has an all electric option or the extended range option that adds a tiny 34bhp generator that isn't connected to the drivetrain but is just used to recharge the batteries, like the Topgear mobile or Fisker. It has a tiny gas tank, 1.9US gallons / 7 litres. Which can nearly double its range and be refueled for pocket change.

Unlike other plug in hybrids it can drive all around town and only on electrics or can pull in and refuel at any service station so you are never stranded or stuck for hours recharging your car. Although with such a tiny fuel tank driving across country would require frequent stops.

The more I read about one, the more I want one. Well something to go try out.

https://cnet3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/20 ... -i3-88.jpg

It might not be too hard to add a larger fuel tank, provided there is some place to squeeze it in. For that matter, a top rack and some gas cans . . ..

If Elio Motors can bring it off, their autocycle will be nice. The enclosure of a car (important in our climate, expecially in the winter!) but the small size, low cost, and MPG of a good motorcycle

Of course putting a larger fuel tank in kind of defeats its purpose. The new half gallon larger 1.8 litre larger tank is about as much as you want to use. I suggested to BMW to switch over to the MDI Compressed air engine / generator. Can recharge at a 'gas pump' as fast as a gasoline pump. And with a 'compressed air gas tank' at 4600 bar, carbon fibre made to split not explode. MDI engines / generators are great in that they don't use combustion just compression. MDI engines don't mine their fuel it is just collected at the pump. It comes out of the exhaust both colder and cleaner than the air going in, so much so, it is fed into the AC system as it gives free AC as a by product.

Early recharge pumps used a natural gas flame to recharge the pumps / tanks. However an electrical option is also used. This could easily be a solar panel or Wind turbine. Hydro, etc...