Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh
Not sure where you came up with that; it is totally inaccurate. There is no such law. Case in point, the Chevrolet Volt: 40 mile battery range 300 mile gas generator range. i3 REX system is designed to get the back home when the battery is depleted.
OP, if you want a plug-in EV with gas generator range extension to get you to Tahoe, the Chevrolet Volt is the ideal car for your needs, the BMW i3 is not. If you have badge anxiety driving a Chevy, wait until the Cadillac ELR comes out in a few months. Or a Tesla (you'll have to charge it when you get to Tahoe so you can get back to SF).
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Efthreeroh, I'm sorry, but you are wrong. The law that applies to the i3 comes from CARB (California Air Resources Board, the governing body that sets the pollution rules for vehicles not just in California but also in many other states). Last year they (apparently largely at the initiative of BMW and principally to cover the i3) created a new category of vehicle, the BEVx vehicle. Which is a different category from what the Volt is( the Volt is a TZEV)
Summarizing from the lengthy 112-page regulation, 2012 Amendments to the Zero Emission Vehicle Regulations, the BEVx definition says (among other criteria):
The vehicle must have a rated all-electric range of at least 75 miles (higher than the 50 miles required of a zero-emission vehicle);
The auxiliary power unit must provide range less than, or at most equal to, that battery range;
The APU must not be capable of switching on until the battery charge has been depleted;
The vehicle must meet "super ultra low emission vehicle" (SULEV) requirements; and
The APU and all associated fuel systems must comply with zero evaporative emissions requirements