i3rex or Volt?

altfuelcarguy

altfuelcarguy

Member
Lease on our Chevy Spark EV is ending. Decided to get a PHEV next. Volt seems obvious choice given our normal 40 miles /day driving and level 2 charging at home. Should we consider the i3rex instead? Cost is a major consideration.

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volt_vs_bmw_vs_prime_020.jpg

  • distance is a log scale
Bob Wilson
 
The Volt. With my volt 13,500 out of 15,000 miles in the first year and a third were electric. All of my 38 mile daily commute is covered by the battery even on the coldest winter days. Each year I jump in my Volt and drive 400+ miles each way for a vacation with no worries. You cant do that in a I3 and you will use much more gas in the Prime unless you can charge at work. If you can charge at work then you can frive you Volt with electric for free.
 
PowerWall said:
The Volt. With my volt 13,500 out of 15,000 miles in the first year and a third were electric. All of my 38 mile daily commute is covered by the battery even on the coldest winter days. Each year I jump in my Volt and drive 400+ miles each way for a vacation with no worries. You cant do that in a I3 and you will use much more gas in the Prime unless you can charge at work. If you can charge at work then you can frive you Volt with electric for free.
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It comes down to a question of requirements. My office was 10 miles away with free chargers between at restaurants and grocery stores. Or I would eat lunch where there are free chargers. These work requirements were easily handled by either the Prime or BMW i3-REx. Today I'm retired so I drive as far and when I want with either car and choose to shop and eat where there are free chargers.

Cross country on gas, the BMW i3-REx is like a motorcycle, 70 mph in 70 mile legs at 40 MPG. We used it to visit relatives 700 miles away and see the eclipse, a 130 miles away. In contrast, the Prime goes +600 miles which allows driving through expensive gas areas. The 1,200 mile delivery trip had one fuel stop midway following trucks getting 56 MPG. Yet with the Prime I still take pee and wake-up breaks roughly every 150 miles, about 2-3 BMW fuel stops.

Both cars have dynamic cruise control which is standard on the Prime. Dynamic cruise control means using trucks, SUVs, or other vehicles as pacing cars and significantly reduces the fatigue of cross country driving. Curiously, dynamic cruise control was all but standard on the BMW i3-REx because so many of them were initially leased. In contrast, I found dynamic cruise control was an extra cost option limited to the top trims of the Volt and Ioniq when I looked in 2017.

Rather than "cant", "different" would be more accurate. All three cars, BMW i3-REx, Volt, and Prime, can support commuting to and from work. All three cars can go great distances on gas. All three cars can come with dynamic cruise control. Pick the one that best matches your requirements and enjoy.

Bob Wilson
 
Work did not have an EV charger but within half a mile, there were two, L2 chargers, #1 and #2. So at lunch, I would get an hour charge:
  • 3.6 kWh - Prius Prime
  • 7.2 kWh - BMW i3-REx
Work was the center of the blue, dashed circle:
work_010.jpg

Both cars got ~4 mi/kWh:
  • -2.5 kWh - 10 miles to work
  • -0.25 kWh - 1 mile to lunch
  • -2.75 kWh - to work and lunch
  • +3.6 kWh - charge during lunch
So the morning commute was 'free' other than having to eat lunch each day. Now charger #3 is the BMW dealer that is 2 miles away, -0.5 kWh. On the way home, #4 is about the same distance as from work to home but the L2 charger tops it off. Downtown, #5 is a fast DC charger, the BMW i3-REx, but no supermarkets, just restaurants and bars. Airport Road, #6 is close to more fast food and restaurants but no supermarkets.

The point is lacking a charger at work, check for a nearby charger close to a place to eat. If the distance is <10% of the commute distance, it is functionally the same as having a charger at work.

Bob Wilson
 
For a 2 car household, I would get a pure BEV and a PHEV. No real advantage to owning two PHEV.

For example:
Wife commute is less than 5 miles.
Good candidates are Pacifica, Outlander PHEV, Clarity PHEV, Ioniq PHEV, and Niro PHEV. Noticed, I left off the Volt, i3 and Prime because her car will serve as a road trip car, making these cars too small in passenger and trunk space.

Me, 80 mile commute
Any pure BEV with DCFC is all I need. It's strictly a commuter car.
 
JyChevyVolt said:
For a 2 car household, I would get a pure BEV and a PHEV. No real advantage to owning two PHEV.

For example:
Wife commute is less than 5 miles.
Good candidates are Pacifica, Outlander PHEV, Clarity PHEV, Ioniq PHEV, and Niro PHEV. Noticed, I left off the Volt, i3 and Prime because her car will serve as a road trip car, making these cars too small in passenger and trunk space.

Me, 80 mile commute
Any pure BEV with DCFC is all I need. It's strictly a commuter car.
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I would scratch off the Hyundai and Kia products. The lack of a PTC electric heater makes this car just a plain hybrid for most of the USA for six to eight months out of the year. Does any other manufacture not use a PTC or heat pump in their PHEV versions?

Plus, if you try to use the car in EV mode too much the air conditioner will start to stink since it doesn't dry out well enough.
 
I have two PHEVs, but must admit 1 BEV would have also worked. Always rental car companies if something breaks.

The reason I wanted the i3 Rex and Clarity PHEV is convenience, either car can make long trips.

I would price both, see what you can get a deal on, etc. I bought my i3 Rex used but only 5k miles.
 
I will suggest you BMW i3-REx because it gives you more mileage of car and it has many advantages over that. It give 7.2 kWh - BMW i3-REx mileage. for more information, you visit Skype Customer Service which helps me a lot.
 
altfuelcarguy said:
Decided to get a PHEV next. Volt seems obvious choice given our normal 40 miles /day driving and level 2 charging at home. Should we consider the i3rex instead? Cost is a major consideration.
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I can't imagine recommending the i3 over the Volt if cost is a major consideration. Considering what you get, the i3 is rather overpriced. With the EV range of a late-model Volt, that 40 mile commute should be mostly accomplished with little or any gas burned.

But do give the Volt a test drive before making a final decision. Some people find even the front seats cramped, and the back seat... well, hopefully you'll rarely if ever have to put an adult back there.
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I recommend looking at end-of-lease BMW i3-REx and Volt. Very carefully look at the options packages as the BMW is more likely to have dynamic cruise control and automatic collision braking.

Good luck!
Bob Wilson
 
Sorry for reviving an old thread.
Seems an I3 coming off lease has lost a lot of value. What is with that much depreciation?
What is the difference between getting 2014 rather than a 15 or 16. i Have not been able to see anything that would justify getting the newer car other than battery life. Are there still sales of new I3s at $50k+?
 
JOHN PHILLIPS said:
Sorry for reviving an old thread.
Seems an I3 coming off lease has lost a lot of value. What is with that much depreciation?
What is the difference between getting 2014 rather than a 15 or 16. i Have not been able to see anything that would justify getting the newer car other than battery life. Are there still sales of new I3s at $50k+?
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I would recommend joining a BMW specific group: https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/

Apparently many of the BMW i3 and i3-REx are leased. When the lease runs out, they go for sale at quite affordable prices about half the MSRP. The key is the manufacturer warranty still applies:
  • 2014 - first model year had a lot of early problems such as a weak, motor mount bolt. Fixed in subsequent years, mine was fixed under warranty.
  • 2016 - was the last year with the lighter, initial, smaller battery
Some are sold new.

Bob Wilson
 
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