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2019 BMW i3 Gets 30 Percent Bigger Battery, 153-mile Range

posted by martyb on Friday September 28 2018, @04:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the EVs-are-making-a-charge-on-ICEs dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Roadshow:

The BMW i3 has been on sale since 2014, and in that time, BMW has seen fit to expand its battery size and, by proxy, its range. For the 2019 model year, it's getting yet another battery upgrade, and it's a big one.

The 2019 BMW i3 will come with a 42.2-kWh battery (120 amp-hours), which should permit for up to 153 miles of all-electric driving. This is a roughly 30 percent improvement over the previous 94-Ah battery, which allowed for 115 miles of range. The i3's first battery was just 60 Ah, offering a range of just 81 miles. Oh, how far we've come.

BMW will offer the battery in both variants of the i3. The standard i3 uses a 170-horsepower electric motor, powerful enough to get the little EV to 60 mph in just 7.2 seconds. The i3s, on the other hand, is the sportier trim, offering a 181-hp electric motor and a 6.8-second sprint to 60.

Will EVs (electric vehicles) like this succeed in replacing ICEs (internal combustion engines) as commuter cars?

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  • (Score: 2) by NewNic on Friday September 28 2018, @09:59PM (3 children)

    by NewNic (6420) on Friday September 28 2018, @09:59PM (#741566) Journal

    The best pricing I have seen on practical batteries is around $0.50/Watt-hour,

    Most car manufacturers appear to be paying $200/kWh. Tesla is pushing towards $100/kWh.

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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday September 28 2018, @10:22PM (2 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday September 28 2018, @10:22PM (#741573)

    Where can a non-manufacturer buy these sub $0.20/Watt-hour battery packs?

    The 18650s we're putting in our commercial device these days cost us ~$10 each for ~10Wh.

    Tesla's power wall is spec'ed at 13.5kWh for ~$5900 ~$0.44/Watt-hour.

    Not surprising that manufacturers have >100% markup, but that's not usually >50% profit in the end analysis.

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    • (Score: 2) by NewNic on Friday September 28 2018, @11:33PM (1 child)

      by NewNic (6420) on Friday September 28 2018, @11:33PM (#741601) Journal

      I really don't understand why your price of Lithium batteries has any relevance to the discussion of EVs built by large OEMs.

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      lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 29 2018, @01:28PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 29 2018, @01:28PM (#741784)

        Because he wants an expensive investment to last longer than 4 years before it has to be completely replaced?