Long-Term Test: 2015 BMW i3 – Part 3
Story and photo by John LeBlanc
We are now three-quarters through our 60-day test drive with our 2015 BMW i3 Range Extender electric car – a good time, we thought, to have a frank discussion about one of the biggest reasons why we all aren’t driving these eco-friendly vehicles: range anxiety.
First, we discussed how BMW’s carbon fibre/aluminum chassis, plastic-bodied, rear-wheel-drive, battery-powered hatchback is quite different compared to its more conventional, gas-powered rivals. And, in our second article, we evaluated the i3 Range Extender (REX) purely as a driver’s car.
So what has it been like to drive a vehicle that requires its owner to find a charging (not gas) station after only a few hundred kilometres of driving?
Unlike a lot of basic human fears, techniques such as meditation, yoga, drugs, therapy or a hug from your mom cannot cure range anxiety. But in the case of our $60,195 BMW i3 REX long-term tester, its maker has gone to great lengths to lessen the scare.
For starters, the i3 REX offers one of the longer electric driving ranges of any EV without a Tesla badge.
During the first six weeks of our tenure with the BMW electric vehicle (EV), we could drive it upwards of 230 kilometres on a full charge: 120 kilometres on electric power alone and another 110 kilometres using the gas range extender. Because I work from home, that meant I could complete three or four 40-kilometre round trips per day, running errands and doing fatherly duties, without having to plug in.
Of course, one of the appeals of owning an EV is that you can have a “filling station” at home. We already have a regular, 120-volt (or Level I) external wall outlet in our laneway. If all I did was plug in the BMW overnight, it would take about six to eight hours to recharge. But the majority of i3 owners take advantage of BMW’s i Charging Station, a 240-volt (or Level II) wall-mounted unit that costs around $1,000 and cuts the charging time in half; also, it can be programmed to work during off-peak hydro rates (in our case, between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., the rate drops to 8.0 cents/kWh, less than half the peak rate).
BMW makes getting an i Charging Station easy: order it from a BMW i Retailer, who will help determine whether the installation is possible – which costs around $1,000 and should only be attempted by a certified electrician.
Centrally located in Ottawa, a relatively compact city compared to Montreal or Toronto, my typical driving distances didn’t require me to find public charge stations. But BMW has made plenty of effort to make that search relatively hassle-free.
The i3 comes standard with a GPS-based navigation system, and with BMW i ConnectedDrive, it is also a fully networked vehicle. Combine the two technologies, and the BMW EV can tell you where to find the nearest public Level II or Level III DC quick-charging stations (that can charge the i3 to 80 percent battery capacity in just 20 minutes), indicate whether they are available and, if necessary, build it into your nav route. As well, BMW has a relationship with ChargeNow, an association of mobile charging station providers that allows you to set up a pre-paid, cashless account to charge your i3 via an access card.
Finally, if you’re planning a longer trip where a charge station is not available, you can make arrangements at your BMW dealer to rent a gas-powered vehicle through the automaker’s Add-on Mobility program (BMW gives the example of a BMW X3 crossover for a “ski trip”).
Now, as much as the i3 REX offers a generous amount of electrical range, and BMW has tapped into its latest technologies for owners to find a place to charge, we in Canada are still in the early days of EV integration into our personal transportation culture. So which of the three major EV stakeholders – automakers, owners, and the organization that started this whole revolution with mandated fuel economy requirements, our government – will make range anxiety a fear of the past?
“That’s really a ‘chicken and egg’ question,” said Don Grant, the Executive Director of the Ottawa Centre EcoDistrict (OCED), the first EcoDistrict in Canada.
Part of the OCED’s efforts go toward promoting the use of alternative energy vehicles via its annual EV Day in downtown Ottawa, where the public can learn about and drive various electric cars, like the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the BMW i3, which are 100 percent electric cars, and plug-in hybrids, like the Ford C-Max Energi and Chevrolet Volt.
From Grant’s perspective, EV owners still face many challenges. Outside of larger Canadian cities like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, finding a place to plug in can be a challenge in smaller urban centres, like Ottawa. He would like to see the City of Ottawa install more public downtown charging stations, with an opportunity to allocate a few spots to EVs in city-owned parking lots.
“There are a few charge stations in private parking spots, but there could be more. If you drove in from out of town, they are not that visible, and are hard to find,” Grant explains.
He also feels EVs will need longer ranges between charges to gain in popularity.
“In regards to the vehicles, a 150- to 200-kilometre range seems to be the magic number that would make a lot more sense for new car buyers.”
Plug’n Drive, a Toronto-based non-profit that promotes the adoption of electric cars, partners with the OCED for its EV Day. The group’s Manager of Education and Outreach, Ron Groves, believes to make EVs more relevant there have to be more Level III quick-charge stations available.
According to Plug’n Drive, there are currently a little more than 1,600 EV charge locations across Canada, compared to almost 12,000 gas stations (according to MJ Ervin & Associates). Most of those stations, though, are Level II units, which Groves says are good for travelling locally, like visiting a mall or hotel, but not for driving your EV longer distances. He also cited there are no public Level III chargers in Ottawa and only a handful throughout the Greater Toronto area.
To demonstrate the challenges EV drivers face, for the OCED EV Day event, Groves drove the over-440 kilometres to Ottawa from Markham, Ontario, in a BMW i3 REX, stopping twice to fill the vehicle’s small gas tank. But for EV buyers who do not want to use any fossil fuel at all, he sees no reason why there can’t be more Level III quick-charge stations on our highways.
“It’s a shame there aren’t any quick-charge units at the Ontario government-owned EnRoute sites,” says Groves, where a vehicle like the i3 could recharge while the driver takes a 20-minute rest or gets a coffee.
“I stopped twice on the drive from Markham to fill up with gas, which cost me about $6,” Groves mentions, adding that he would have no problem paying $5 to $10 to charge his EV instead of having to buy gas.
No doubt, in regards to the adoption of EVs, the automakers and owners are ahead of the curve. But EV advocates like OCED’s Grant and Plug’n Drive’s Groves are still optimistic that electrified automobiles are the future, in a time when EV range anxiety no longer exists.
As Groves speculated, “Once the DC quick-charge infrastructure spreads out, I can see a day where if you have two cars in the driveway, one could be a pure electric for shorter city trips, and your second vehicle a plug-in hybrid to replace your gas car."