MY BMW i3 -- Storage

In my previous car, a 2007 Toyota Prius (2nd Gen.) I had a place where I could store lots of stuff --  in the back of the car and under the floor.  The only thing I'm not satisfied with in the i3 is the lack of space for things that I like to carry with me.  The BMW i3 has no such area since the electric motor and range extender occupy all of the space beneath the floor.

The "frunk"  (aka the trunk in the front since the electric motor and range extender are in the back and under the floor) only has a small space that where you find the convenience (110-volt) charge cable and an electric air pump with a canister to seal a tire leak.  BMW also alerts an owner to the fact that the area is not water proof and that "misting" can occur in the frunk from a car wash.  The charge cable and air pump are in plastic bags because of this.  On the passenger side of the frunk is the windshield washer fluid tank, and the 12-volt battery used for the car accessories is also to the left of it; that battery is recharged when the car is charged.

 There is a small cubby-hole in both of the front doors where a few things can be stored, like umbrellas, ice scrapers, etc.

There is plenty of space in the rear for just about anything you might want to transport in the car, especially if you lower the back seats.  Lots of room for luggage, etc.  I also like the cover that hides the back of the car when the hatchback door is closed.

The glove box has a little space, but if you carry the BMW-supplied user manual and pouch there, not very much room left.

The area between the front seats has a small space for little things under the arm rest and just below it.

One could put some things in the back seats (either upright or folded down) if there was no need for people back there.  But you just know an occasion will arise when you do need to put someone in those seats.

I'm using my i3 as an in-city car, so perhaps concerns about storage would not be very important.  If only the back seats could be raised to provide some more hidey-holes for other things I've always carried in the trunk of my other cars.

My BMW i3 -- Installing a Level 2 Charging Station

As a part of my two-year lease, I was given a BMW Charging Station ---  I think this would cost about $1000.  I finally have had it installed by Mr. Electric here in Prescott at a cost of just under $700.00.  My cost may have been cheaper than normal because my power panel for the house is on the outside of the garage and on the opposite side of the wall where I wanted to put the charging station.  An empty 110-volt receptacle box was already on that wall, and it was directly in front of the conduit for electricity wires for the house from the power panel.  The installers removed that box, installed a 40-amp circuit breaker in the panel, ran 8-gauge wire from the panel through the hole and installed a 4-prong 220-volt receptacle in place of the junction box.  A cable was then connected between that receptacle and the BMW Charging Station that was mounted on the inside wall of my garage.  The whole job was completed in about three hours.  Obviously, if the cable had to be run further the cost could have been much higher.

Now I can fill up the i3 "tank" more than twice as fast as when I was using 110 volts!  With the charging cable I'm able to reach the i3 charging port in either bay of my two-car garage.

Here's a picture of the installation:

My BMW i3 -- How Good Is the Mileage?

The i3 is rated by the EPA at 117 mpge, which is their way of looking at the cost of electricity and the cost of gasoline, how far a car goes per unit of energy consumed and making a rough comparison with the actual mpg for conventional cars.  Obviously EPA has a very complicated process to calculate mpge and has to look at types of driving conditions and the costs of gasoline and electricity across the country.

Here's my simple way to calculate mpge:
 
I also have a Toyota Prius (2nd generation) that averages about 45 mpg, and at $3.50 per gallon, this would result in about 13 miles per dollar.  The BMW i3 can go about 75 miles on a charge that costs about $2.00 from APS in Arizona, and this would be about 38 miles per dollar.  So the BMW i3 is about three times better than the Prius.  If I multiply the 45 mpg by three, I would arrive at 145 mpge for the i3.  This would obviously change if the cost per kWh from an electric utility company is different and the cost per gallon of gasoline is better or worse than $3.50.  If your conventional car gets 22.5 mpg, the i3 would be six times better.

My i3 also has the range extender, a two-cylinder BMW motorcycle gasoline motor that is activated when the charge on the battery drops to 6% of its capacity and adds about 70 miles to the i3 range.  It provides 35 hp to the car, so when the battery is low, the car runs on 35 hp rather than 170 hp.  This obviously limits the performance of the i3, especially on hills.  My BMW advisor drove the car from Phoenix to Prescott, a trip of about 100 miles with an elevation rise of about 4500 feet.  He had to resort to the range extender for the last part of the journey and was limited to about 45-50 mph.  The gas tank for the range extender is 1.9 gallons of premium fuel and the EPA fuel economy for it is 39 mpg.  The small size of the tank results from California's strict rules for classifying the BMW i3 as a zero-emission vehicle.  Since I plan to use the i3 in the Prescott area, I do not intend to use the range extender unless in an emergency. 

My BMW i3 -- Energy Efficiency and Environmental

According to Consumer Reports in an April 2015 article,  the BMW i3 is the "most energy-efficient yet."  (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/06/bmw-i3-electric-car-review-road-report/index.htm)

The body is made of carbon fiber, the outer panels are plastic, and the chassis is aluminum.  All of this drastically reduces the weight of the car but without sacrificing rigidity and safety.  You can view some videos of the production process by going to http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2013/09/bmw-i3-production-video-series.html .

The BMW i3 is also very aerodynamic, further improving the energy efficiency. A fully concealed underbody prevents wind turbulence under the car, while aero-flaps improve the aerodynamics of the wheel arches and side sills behind the front wheels. This reduces wind resistance and the car’s energy consumption, extending the range. The drag coefficient of the car is 0.29.  The car with the lowest drag coefficient of any production car is the Tesla at 0.24;  the BMW i3's rating makes it only 20% higher.

Environmentally, the interior is made of 25% recycled materials and any wood (optional) is from renewable natural fibers.  The textile upholstery is made of up to 100 % recycled polyester, produced using 34 % PET. A further 25 % recycled plastics are used in the exterior.

My BWM i3 -- Lease and Delivery

I decided to look into leasing a BMW i3 with range extender and found that the monthly fee was very reasonable for a 24-month lease.  There are no BMW dealers in Prescott, so I contacted Chapman BMW in Phoenix.  My upfront cost for the lease was about $7000, but this included state sales taxes, first month payment, auto license, etc.  The monthly lease fee is $291.70.  The MSRP for the car was $48,200.00.

This is a typical BMW with lots of gizmos that include parking assist to automatically park the car without assistance and to warn you if you get too close to objects at any time.  The range for the battery is somewhere around 80 miles, and the range extender kicks in when only 6% of the charge remains, giving you another 80 miles.  Of course there are also things like navigation, satellite radio, rain-sensing windshield wipers, cruise control, blue tooth and USB connectivity.

About 25% of the plastic is recycled, the body is a fiberglass/plastic composite, the chassis is aluminum.  The tires are selected to maximize mileage.

Of course, air conditioning, heat, cold and hot weather will affect the charge on the battery, and I plan to make additional posts as I find both positive and negative points when driving an electric vehicle.

I was wary of driving the 100 miles from Phoenix to Prescott, so my advisor at Chapman BMW, RC Cashatt, drove it up for me.  He had to resort to the range extender for the last part of the trip which limited his power and speed up the mountains, but he had no problems with the drive.  Based on this, a drive down the "hill" to Phoenix would not be a problem.

Included in my lease was a free level-2 charging station (BMW i Charging Station)  that can charge my battery in about 8 hours as compared to a standard AC connection that requires about 16 hours for a full charge.  The charging station will need to be installed, and I'll include details and comments on this when it's put in.

Here are some pictures of my BMW i3:

I'm really excited about this car and look forward to adding more details over the next two years!

ASUS Memo Pad HD 7

A Great and Inexpensive 7-inch Tablet

I recently purchased an ASUS Memo Pad HD 7 from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/MeMOPad-HD-7-Inch-Blue-ME173X-A1-BL/dp/B00E0EY7Z6) for $149.00, and this morning I noticed that it's now being sold for $129.00.  Be sure that "ME173" is part of the product code since there is an earlier device (ME172) that is also sold by Amazon.  This tablet was the basis for the Google Nexus 7, also manufactured by ASUS.  But the Nexus 7 is quite a bit more expensive.  The other feature on the Memo Pad that's not included on the Nexus 7 is a micro-SD card slot that allows you to add up to an additional 32GB of storage.

I also purchased an ASUS Persona Cover for the tablet (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E60PW9Y/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item).  $19.00 was very reasonable, and it fits the tablet and is very attractive.

I'm a real fan for ASUS products, having two of their laptops in addition to the tablet.  The quality of their products and the included apps are very good.  All of the products I have are also very battery efficient with high performance.

Here's some information on the Memo Pad HD 7 from the ASUS website:

• Operating System
  Android^TM 4.2
• Display
  7" LED Backlight WXGA (1280x800) Screen
  IPS Panel
• CPU
  Quad-Core, 1.2 GHz
• Memory
  1GB
• Storage
  16GB *¹
  16GB One Year ASUS Webstorage Space *²
• Wireless Data Network
  WLAN802.11 b/g/n*³
  Bluetooth V4.0
• Camera
  1.2 MP Front Camera with Auto focus
  5 MP Rear Camera with Auto focuswith Auto focus
• Audio
  Stereo Speakers
• Interface
  1 x micro USB
  1 x Audio jack: Head phone/Mic
  1 x Card reader (Micro-SD up to 32G)
• Sensor
  1.G-Sensor
  2.E-compass
  3.Hall sensor
• Application
  Asus Launcher
  MyLibrary
  File Manager
  Kindle
  Zinio
  SuperNote Lite
  App Backup
  App Locker
• Battery
  10 hours; 15Wh Li-polymer Battery^*4
• Navigation
  Support
• Color
  White/Blue/Pink/Green
• Dimensions
  (WxDxH)
  7.7 x 4.7 x 0.4 inch
• Weight
  0.66 lbs
• Note
  *1: Actual available storage may vary due to device formatting and space reserved for the operating system and pre-installed apps.May vary by SKU and country.
  *2: Please visit www.asuswebstorage.com for more details.
  *3: May vary by SKU and country.
  *4: Battery life will vary according to use. Battery life measured by looping 720P video, brightness at 100nits, external microphone, WLAN/3G on and Gmail logged in for email and updates.
   
  For many people, the Kindle HDX or HD tablets are of interest, but they only include a front camera on the HDX and neither tablet has GPS, and you are really locked into the Amazon infrastructure.  The Memo Pad is a more generic Android device, and I've added the Amazon Appstore to my apps so that I can get some of their apps as well as most of my apps from Google Play.
   
  And compared to the Apple iPad mini, the Memo Pad HD 7 is so much less expensive with features not included in the mini, such as the micro-SD slot.  Unless you get the Wi-fi plus Cellular version there is no GPS for navigation.
  
  
  Take a look at the tablet if you're interested.  I'm very happy with it.
  
  
  
  

LG 840G

A Great Tracfone Device

I am a Tracfone user because I can never justify the costs associated with having a contract.  And I typically use the phone very little.  I've gone through several Tracfone devices and finally noticed the LG 840G, purchased it for around $50 and transferred my number.  At this time, Amazon sells the phone for about $28.

The phone is a semi-smart one that uses Java as the operating system and comes with a good assortment of apps.  Other apps can be added, but the selection is limited.  The ones that come with the phone are adequate for my use.

One advantage of this phone is that, in addition to accessing the Internet via the carrier (T-Mobile for me), it can also connect to  a wi-fi signal without using your minutes.  A browser is provided, and an Opera version is available as well. Gmail is also an app that can be added, and I was never able to really get the e-mail app included with the phone to work properly.  Texting is very simple compared to the phones I had been using, and the contact list allows you to call your friends or go directly to texting.

The 840G is also very small and able to be put into even small pockets.  And Tracfone gives you triple the minutes for this phone rather than the double minutes I got with my earlier phones.

Here are some of its features:

• Includes Triple Minutes for Life FREE
  
  This means that every paid Airtime Minute you add to this phone will be tripled. For example, Add a 60 minute Airtime Card and get 180 minutes. ***
• 3.2" Touchscreen Display
• Dimensions:
  • 4 x 2.4 x 0.5 inches (102 x 61 x 13 mm)
• Weight:
  • 3.8 oz (108 g)
• 3G/WiFi® Connectivity
• 2 MP Camera with Digital Zoom/Video Recorder
• Mobile Web
• Bluetooth® Wireless Technology
• 2 GB microSD Card Included
• MP3 Player (cable not included)
• SMS and MMS Picture Messaging
• Hands-Free Speaker
• Voice/Sound Recorder
• Alarm Clock
• Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC) Rating: M3/T3
• Phonebook with up to 1,000 entries
• Battery talk time up to 3.7 hours
• Standby time up to 13 days
• Includes Battery, Charger, Activation Card, 2GB microSD Card and Service Guide
• TracFone Airtime Balance Display shows you how much airtime you've used and how much is left, so you control your costs 

If you're a Tracfone customer or if you are ready to abandon your phone service contract, I think you will find this phone a great choice.