[ChiTownM]

Is there a hack or software to check true battery capacity. I am an early adopter and bought mine in December 2014 and would like to do a battery assessment after 3 years. I have been driving the same roads and doing the same trips and to me it seems that I get less electric range but it could also be my imagination only.....one of the reasons for buying into the i8 concept was the pure electric range and was hoping for more range to begin with....based on the marketing and launch materials.

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by ChiTownM

Is there a hack or software to check true battery capacity. I am an early adopter and bought mine in December 2014 and would like to do a battery assessment after 3 years. I have been driving the same roads and doing the same trips and to me it seems that I get less electric range but it could also be my imagination only.....one of the reasons for buying into the i8 concept was the pure electric range and was hoping for more range to begin with....based on the marketing and launch materials.

If you bought an i8 for "pure electric range" you bought the wrong car. Even the wrong BMW...

You should expect pure electric range to go down in colder weather and then back up in moderate weather and potentially back down in very hot weather. Some of this is due to bettery performance and some of this is due to parasitic loading (heat and A/C)... So be sure you are seasonably adjusting your observations...

[ChiTownM]

Originally Posted by evanevery

If you bought an i8 for "pure electric range" you bought the wrong car. Even the wrong BMW...

You should expect pure electric range to go down in colder weather and then back up in moderate weather and potentially back down in very hot weather. Some of this is due to bettery performance and some of this is due to parasitic loading (heat and A/C)... So be sure you are seasonably adjusting your observations...

Had the car for 3 years and the reason for buying was also the electric range allowing me to use it for a particular daily commute that fits within the parameters they presented during the reveal. That was one of many different reasons. Another one was the hope for owning a modern platform that will provide fun while also somewhat retain its value better than other M Bmws or AMG etc .... which as we all know is not the case because BMW is just inept since they are focusing only on volume sales.

Bottom line, I understand the battery capacity differences based on weather etc. after 3 years. Now I am interested in assessing the battery capacity after 3 years, which could be interesting to some of the other members. My gut is that probably not easy to do without the dealer ..... looking for others to chime in!

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by ChiTownM

Had the car for 3 years and the reason for buying was also the electric range allowing me to use it for a particular daily commute that fits within the parameters they presented during the reveal. That was one of many different reasons. Another one was the hope for owning a modern platform that will provide fun while also somewhat retain its value better than other M Bmws or AMG etc .... which as we all know is not the case because BMW is just inept since they are focusing only on volume sales.

Bottom line, I understand the battery capacity differences based on weather etc. after 3 years. Now I am interested in assessing the battery capacity after 3 years, which could be interesting to some of the other members. My gut is that probably not easy to do without the dealer ..... looking for others to chime in!

Well, has your "seasonally adjusted" range decreased? That seems a pretty straightforward question...

[Aye-eight]

Originally Posted by ChiTownM

Is there a hack or software to check true battery capacity. I am an early adopter and bought mine in December 2014 and would like to do a battery assessment after 3 years. I have been driving the same roads and doing the same trips and to me it seems that I get less electric range but it could also be my imagination only.....one of the reasons for buying into the i8 concept was the pure electric range and was hoping for more range to begin with....based on the marketing and launch materials.

It’s actually not that complicated. Fully charge the car. Make sure that your trip computer is reset. Start driving on electric until the battery is empty. Doesn’t matter how, or what season it is. The computer will track consumption as-is. When the battery is drained, do the math on the computer data vs. actual distance driven. How that works exactly depends a little bit on your units. In any case, you will end up with kWh per unit of distance (or miles per kWh) and distance driven. That will give you actual kWh in the battery. Even after three years of ownership and a lot of battery discharging and recharging, I still bet pretty close to 5.2 kW that way, which is what is stated as the useful charge in the manual.

[kircos]

BMW is one of the few EV manufacturers that offer a clear battery capacity loss warranty, and has guaranteed at least 70% capacity for 8 years or 100,000 miles. Since the stated usable capacity for the i8 in the manual is 5.2 kWh then, the battery would need to degrade to about 3.5 kWh to trigger a warranty claim.