BMW Created the Most Efficient Electric Car In the US

cartechboy (2660665) writes "You think of efficient electric car and you probably think of the Tesla Model S, right? Well, you'd be wrong as the Model S is only rated at 89 MPGe. As of today, BMW now has the most efficient electric car sold in the U.S., the 2014 i3. The ratings were just posted to the Internet via a window sticker, and at 124 MPGe combined (138 MPGe city, 111 MPGe highway), the i3 is currently king of the efficiency race. The nearest competitor? The 2013 Scion iQ-EV with a 38 mile range and 121 MPGe rating, but it's not even available to the general public. Other competitors are mostly compliance cars such as the Chevrolet Spark EV and Fiat 500e. So where does that leave us? Well, BMW just won the race, for now. But how long until a competitor takes away that top spot?"

Comments

Thank you summary guy

[avandesande]

for mentioning the range of the scion and none of the other vehicles

Re:Thank you summary guy

[Anonymous Coward]

That's why you just buy the one that looks the coolest and use the numbers to rationalize your choice.

Re:Thank you summary guy

[mrchaotica]

For example, new diesel vehicles are touted as great for mileage. However, if one factors in the repair costs, and the need to use DEF as a second fuel, the gap can close between a TDI vehicle versus a hybrid or even a plain old gasser.

Quit spreading lies and FUD. First of all, most diesels, including many new "clean diesels" (e.g. the VW Golf/Jetta/Beetle) do not use diesel exhaust fluid (DEF)*. Second, there's nothing inherent to diesels that make them have higher repair costs than "plain old gassers" other than the turbo (and lots of new gassers these days -- like the Ford Ecoboost -- have turbos too).

The real reason why diesels have an undeserved reputation for being expensive to repair is that most of them in the US have been made by VW or Mercedes, but they're expensive to repair because they're German, not because they're diesel!

(*Even some of the "bluetec" engines do not, in fact, use DEF even though they're named after it.)

Re:Thank you summary guy

[aztracker1]

That's why I drive a V8 Challenger R/T ... If I didn't do it, how could the Prius drivers feel good about saving the world?

Range is the issue

[stewsters]

Most of the power is going to hauling a battery around.

Tesla s has 265 mile range
i3 has 81 mile range
Scion iQ-EV has 38 mile range

I would be curious to see how the numbers hold up if they all were designed for the same range.

Re:Range is the issue

[timeOday]

The Tesla is a much larger car all around, not just the battery.

A better comparison to the BMW i3 might be the Fiat 500e (sold only in California). It's even a bit smaller than the BMW, and gets "only" 122/108 MPGe vs the 138/111 for the BMW. So, I do find the BMW impressive. However the Fiat starts at $32K which almost $10K less than the BMW. Making a car light without other sacrifices does require more expensive materials, so I would expect more from the BMW than the Fiat, and evidently it delivers.

Re:Range is the issue

[mattack2]

My smart electric is an expensive toy? About $26500 out the door, but I got $10K back in federal tax rebate (not deduction) and state rebate (not actually a tax rebate, a separate project that simply sent me a check).

Even without those, it's great not having to go to gas stations, or do oil changes, etc. Plus, I happen to get free charging at work, but I'd buy it even without that.

Re:Range is the issue

[hey!]

Sure, but why does every vehicle have to work for *everybody*?

I've always liked small cars, but when I had kid tiny cars didn't work for me any more. It doesn't mean that small cars are *stupid*, they're not right for me at this particular phase of my life.

Tesla still wins

[blueturffan]

This BMW is ugly as sin and only has half the range.

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame

Full-size, heavy car

[Scowler]

We shouldn't really expect a full-size luxury car, with a huge range (ie heavy batteries) to hold this title in the first place.

Won what race?

[FF-Loucks]

The leaf is $6k less and 115 MPGe. 124 MPGe isn't going to save you $6k over the life of the car.

Re:Efficiency doesn't matter...

[fnj]

Efficiency doesn't matter for an electric car that can be powered for FREE by the sun

Completely naive fail. Apparatus to convert that sunlight to electric power costs money and has to be depreciated. Not only is photovoltaic power not free; its cost ($130 / MWh) is higher than natural gas ($64 to $128 / MWh), coal ($96 / MWh) or advanced nuclear ($96 / MWh). Those estimates for systems coming on line in 2019, so they are not based on obsolete data. Solar thermal is even worse ($243 / nMWh).

Re:What is MPGe supposed to mean?

[Noah Haders]

The exact opposite of true. It's just a measure of energy. 33.7 kWh is about 120mj, which is the same as a gallon if gas.

Re:Whatevs, yo

[unrtst]

And this is relevant to people who drive cars how? Don't get me wrong, I love bikes, they're just not a realistic option for everyone and all situations.

Seems pretty relevant since so many comments are about what MPGe means, and we're (mostly) all geeks.
It's also relevant since the range of these things (38 miles for the Scion; 81 for the BMW) are less than my overweight ass can do on a bike in a day... especially on that low end, it's very relevant. If you can go no further than 38 miles without a recharge, then you're probably not trying to push that envelope and, in many cases, you'd be doing a round trip (go somewhere, do something, get home, probably shooting for less than 30 miles). That's well within the biking sweet spot.

You can't carry as much luggage (though the scion really doesn't hold much either), and you can't easily have a passenger, and rain and other inclement situations suck a lot more, and it can be slightly more scary to ride one on the highway than the scion, but bikes have a much better MPG*, similar range, and significantly lower sticker price and TCO.

I'm glad garote posted that... I've always been a bit curious about that figure. My hunch, when I was riding a LOT, was that I wasn't really saving any money because my calories cost way more than a gallon of gas, and my intake went up significantly. This approaches an answer to that question... not exactly the same question, but interesting.

More importantly...

[timeOday]

The BMW didn't win by chance, but because it is based on a totally different construction method to makes it lighter:

What makes the i3 different from every other car on the market is under the skin - it's almost entirely made out of plastic. This is no ordinary plastic, mind you - it's carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. It's basically the same stuff used to make Formula One cars and stealth bombers. What's remarkable about the i3 is that it's the first mass-market car made out of carbon fiber. There's no metal in the car's body - all the bumpers, doors and skins are plastic as well. The only major metal parts are the drive unit and suspension components. The result is a four-seat, four-door city car that weighs only about 2,700 pounds - or nearly 500 pounds less than a BMW 1 Series.

This actually quite a bold and innovative new product. It's a shame they made it so ugly. I'm really curious to see crash test results.