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      11-17-2013, 03:13 AM   #16
EnI
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Drives: The Ultimate Joy Machine
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Planet BMW

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Charging ... Why do you guys imply that the batteries HAVE TO BE recharged from empty to 100% every time? Because those are times for exactly that: recharging completely drained battery to 100% charged level. How many times will you do that?

The point is that you charge the car every time you have a chance & for the time you have available. Eg. you can charge the car for 5 minutes @ Level 3 charger (eg refilling the batteries from 70% to 85%). And you go eg. the supermarket for a 20 minutes, and you recharged the car in the meantime from eg. 40% to 100%.

It's not like you'll ALWAYS recharge the car from empty to 100%, and will have to wait the whole charging time for the full recharge (8 hours / 3 hours / 30 minutes). The charging times can be & will be shorter.

Algorithm of recharging the EV is different from the algorithm of refueling the ICE car. It's not like you go to the charging station when the "empty fuel tank indicator" lits up - just like you usually do with the ICE car. You just charge the EV every time when possible, and for the much time as possible. Being that for an hour, refilling the batteries for just 10% (eg. from 50% to 60%), so be it.

Also the on-board navigation / trip computer has got a very exact algorithm so you can actually plan your trips / drives & charging very precisely. Eg. if your trip (from A to B & back) requires 70% of the battery power in the worst scenario - and you have only 60% of power available, the software will suggest eg to charge the car @ certain level charger on the route for a certain time to reach / exceed the required battery power for the trip.

That irrational range-angst (and charging-time-angst) is actually becoming more of a pandemic phobia already - mostly due to ignorance & lack of knowledge / experience with EV. Eg. the EV testers (MINI E & 1er ActiveE drivers) have overcome this angst very quickly & have mastered the charging & trip planning (even without sophisticated apps & navi software as available in i3) in a few weeks.

But I understand the confusion - since the paradigm is completely different in the ICEV vs EV.

Anyway ... for those who still want to have a plan B - get a i3 with REx. The ICE starts charging the battery automatically when the power reserve drops to 3.5%, but you can force start the ICE anytime when battery power drops to 75% or lower - maintaining the power at that level & save the full-electric range for later part of the trip (eg. when driving across the city center). But it's still recommendable to recharge the batteries as soon as possible - and using the REx for the emergency & limited situations only. Since the REx is more of a Plan B solution, not a Plan A feature.
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