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Showing posts with the label Tahoe

SF Bay to Tahoe in an i3 REx: What was learned?

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Donner Summit is the highest point along Interstate 80 in California at 7,228 feet elevation. Last week we heard from i3 REx owner John Higham in a post he wrote which detailed his thoughts on the i3's range extender restrictions for the North American market. John certainly didn't mince words and offered his reasoning why he believes the range extender on the i3 should have its artificial restrictions (which are in place to satisfy CARB), relaxed a bit. John also promised to do a road trip which would take him from the San Francisco Bay area up to the 7,228ft Donner Summit in Lake Tahoe and report on the range extender's performance under these strenuous conditions. Below are his findings. SF Bay to Tahoe by the Numbers, Part 2 Nailed it.  Well, nearly. In Part 1 of this post about all things REx, I declared that a US spec BMW i3 REx could not make the popular weekend getaway of Lake Tahoe from the San Francisco Bay area without being speed limited within 15 miles of Sacr...

The i3 REx: One Owner's Thoughts on the BEVx Restrictions

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John spending some time with the i3's carbon fiber big brother, the BMW i8 Below is a guest post from a fellow BMW ActiveE Electronaut who went on to get an i3 REx, just as I did. John and I have had quite a few discussions about the i3's range extender implementation for the North American market. In fact, he almost didn't get the car because of it. As you will read below, he's given a lot of thought to how BMW has implemented the REx to achieve the California Air Resource Board's BEVx designation and why he believes CARB should reconsider the strict requirements they have imposed. This will be the first part of his contribution here. Next week I'll publish the second part which will summarize his "SF Bay Area to Tahoe" road trip to see how the range extender fared on this strenuous, 7,000+ ft climb up to Donner Summit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   My name is John Higham and I was Born El...