Seeing the news about future PHEV, reminded me of this old news, it would be great if it applied to PHEVs. Source: California and PHEV 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. Having bought a used 2017 BMW i3-REx last year, I would keep the original but there is one part I would change: The APU must not be capable of switching on until the battery charge has been depleted; The APU may be manually switched on, after start, when the battery discharges to 75% SOC. Each time, the car is started, it automatically starts in EV mode. The driver can manually put it into APU mode which gives it cross country capability. It should also allow charging while driving. Of course, some may choose to drive around with a discharged battery. This also keeps the battery at original capacity so the used car will have value. Bob Wilson
Yes but after adding the 75% European coding, I found both my 2014 and 2017 BMW i3-REx to be superior to my Prius and the Prime. In one respect, the BMWs were 'training wheels' for my Tesla BEV. Bob Wilson
2012 Toyota Prius (not a plug-in or Prime or lithium battery) on 1 tank of gas (11.9 gallons). TripB distance: 924 miles. TripB gas mileage: 77.7 mpg.
That is interesting: a total capacity of 154 amp-hours and 54 kilowatt-hours I measured my 2017 BMW i3-REx battery capacity at 28.4 kWh just the other day which gives me a 106 mi EV range. This larger battery would help except for on flaw, a flat, peak charge rate of 50 kW. My Tesla Model 3 has a triangular shaped charge curve that starts at 178 kW. This puts a lot of range in at the beginning that the BMW can't match. Now if they just had something like this in a Tesla Model 3 pack . . . hummmm. Bob Wilson
Many others still have their web pages up: https://insideevs.com/news/756933/bmw-i3-catl-battery-pack-upgrade/ Ask Mr Google and you'll get a bunch of pages. I suspect someone posted the true cost not the price with profit. As such, it would inline with what my replacement Model 3, 55 kWh battery cost. Bob Wilson
It's better not to look at the world around you through rose-colored glasses. If these batteries are made in the USA, using American workers, and components from American mines, that's good. When everything is mined and manufactured on another planet, consider the margin for delivery. This is not politics at all, it's life experience.