BMW i3 60Ah REX v 94Ah v 120Ah maximum range test. Driven until they die convoy comparison... 

60Ah: 75 miles + 3% battery remaining (est total possible 80) 8:00 60Ah + rex: 168 miles crawling speed 17:30 94Ah: 131 miles + 7 miles indicated remaining (est total possible 140) 10:20 120Ah: 172 miles fully dead 18:48 Final wrap up 19:43

I drive a 2019 i3S REX. ( build week 53 of 2018, last week of production of the REX , this is the reason I purchased my car), your review is very accurate and precise. Nice to see a good review on RU-vid. previously I owned a 2015 Mr Porter Edition 60Ah which was a great car, 35,000 trouble free miles. Two BMW dealers have told me that the only problem I ever see is damaged Batteries being driven down to zero onBEV vehicles and warranty to replace damaged cells. I understand you needed to deplete the cars batteries for this test, and it was a good full review, but I would add caution to BEV (battery electric vehicle) drivers from going lower than 6-10% as damage could occur to the cells. The REX batteries should show Huge Longevity as the battery cannot be depleated past 6-7% as the generator starts up. On a caution note to REX. never over fill the fuel pipe as the pressure will damage the inner pressure release (BMW advise) and use the REX at least every 2-3 weeks. The REX if not used will go-into-a-maintenance cycle and self run after 4-5 weeks when not used (maintenance cycle). The 2019 REX i3S I own has achieved 240-250 mile range at a speed of 65 MPH with low heaters set at 20 degrees / no AC / set in Comfort Mode.. (Speeds above 70 will reduce range considerably). Reading REX problems: if the power train warning comes on the dash, it's properly DRY-LEAVES Suck in the near-side-rear-fan unit, preventing the cooling fan from turning at normal speeds. (Check and Clean Fan Housing when required). My YOUCHANEL has a film about the i3 GEAR BOX. / RSymons RSEV- Good Review. thanks

I have an Audi etron, a BMW i3S and a 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S - 80% of the times i use my i3S, is such an amazing car...

I still find it a pity this little great car never got a real facelift and, lately op not a battery update to 150Ah. I love the car, the handling and, yes, the design.

This test review was awesome, thank you for the upload. These cars are great for city driving and for the occasional motorway drive. Nice to know that the older 2015 model was able to do 75.8 miles in COMFORT MODE with the heater on before the REx kicked in. This info is important for those thinking of buying a used older i3. The 94Ah battery version with the REx seems to be the sweet spot, getting 131 miles on pure electric before the REx engaged. In North America the 120Ah battery version comes with the optional REx for an additional $4k.

Great video, we have a 94Ah and it regularly shows a range of 130-150 miles in summer. They are great cars.

Very interesting to put all the different models into one Testdrive. We own the i3 120amph Battery for about 5 month and we love it. We found out that the range will increase dramaticly when temperatures rise over 15 degrees celcius and the battery is warmed up. We mostly drive on country roads with a daily commute of about 40 miles. When temperatures are up to 17 to 20 degrees you can easily reach 200 + miles in eco pro mode. Driving in comfort will drop to around 190 miles.

Worth mentioning that it's much more efficient to use the rex as soon as you can on a journey longer than the electric range..Then finally switch off when your electric range will get you there. Otherwise the rex runs very inefficiently. I've had 53mpg from the Rex before.

These type of "drive 'em til they die" tests are just SO useful - thank you for this. Looking at the 'real world' miles per kWh figures for each (based on your estimations of usable battery figures)... The 2015 REX did 4.2 m/kWh The 2020 BEV did an even more impressive 4.6 m/kWh But, the star of the show was the 2018 REX at a fantastic 4.8 m/kWh...! Which, if I'm honest, seems all the more incredible considering it's also lugging around a heavy petrol engine, compared to the BEV version...! I was a gnat's whisker away from buying an i3 REX when I converted to EV driving last year - sadly, from the width measurements I found, it simply wouldn't go through my (unusually small...) garage door opening... BOO... :-(

A really good comparison of the types, matching my own (94ahr REX) ranges as part of the test. Mine is a 2nd hand 66 plate, and I'm still learning how to use it to the best effect. So far I've had 120 miles EV only (with 10 left indicated) mixed motorway and local, mostly in ECO mode. The REX levels indicated I still had upwards of 80 miles possible as well, giving me confidence that I could reasonably easily get 200+ miles from this car. As temperatures start rising I'm sure this will get even better. Really informative test, keep it up.

I have the 94ah with the Rex. I’ve done 74k miles in the car. I can’t tell you how fantastic this car is. It’s a no brainer to have the Rex version, the number one reason for the Rex? You don’t have range anxiety and to me that’s worth every penny for the Rex. BMW made a huge mistake taking the Rex out of the lineup. I once ran out of electric sat on the M5 after being stuck there after a closure (accident), but having an extra fuel can in the boot I had no issues.

Great video. I'm in south america in a large city. I'm now sold on this 2021 i3 I found. My longest travels are about 130km. It's nice to know I could potentially do round trip on one charge. Great video thanks for sharing.

I drive the BMW i3s 120 Ah and love this car! I drive about 150 km everyday and never had any problems. If you have the possibility to charge at home then it will so much fun. Greeting from Switzerland 😗

I’m really really liking your whole market approach towards EVs. Tesla may lead the field in many areas, but the appetite for EVs at various price points must be huge! Hats off to ya all!

14:00 The fuel tank is still 9 liters, but the US programming makes the tank sensors read empty with some fuel left in the tank due to regulations in California that prevent a generator allowing more range than the battery alone with EV’s. It can be coded out to read the full 9 liters.

You’ve inspired me to code my US 2015 i3 Rex to increase the tank to 9 liters and engage the ReX when the battery gets down to 75% instead of limiting it to only charge the battery at 7%. Thank you for another insightful real world video. Cheers

This is a great video for anyone considering the i3 new or used. Well done guys 👍

Such a great video! Having owned the i3 120Ah I have always wondered how the Rex version with the 94Ah would stack up against this latest version. All answered in this great review! Awesome work and now a subscriber to the channel. One final request, perhaps you have already done so, I realise most electric cars are driven around town most of their time and their natural habitat, however when faced at the prospect of wanting to buy an EV as the primary family car, one can never escape the feeling of will it work for those long weekends away or holiday journeys? Please could you do review based on a real world test where the car is loaded with 2 Adults, 2 kids and a boot full of luggage rearing to do a 400 to 500km long journey, mostly at motorway speed of 120 to 130km/h. I am sure this will help many prospective families looking at the EV world feel more comfortable or perhaps not .... Think it would make a great review. Many thanks for some great content! Greetings from Austria!

Brilliant test! Helps a lot on potential i3 owners like me! Keep it up!

As always. Great review. Thoroughly enjoyed it and the way you relay the information

Seems that the 94AH is the most efficient of the 3. Fantastic car I miss mine. Definitely going to get another.

I have a 2016 Rex with 73000 miles on the clock. I am regularly getting a range of about 170 miles out of the battery alone. With my 60 mile a day motorway commute and the aircon on I rarely use the rex at all. It costs me less than £2 a day for my commute in electric charging at home but the charging stations cost per kw is ridiculous!! I do use it in eco mode and regen where possible, I used to hyper-mile in my Honda Insight Gen1 so had a lot of training on eco effecient driving. I absolutely love my i3 and if anything happened to it I would get another without hesitation. In the UK we can set the rex to kick in from 75% battery so can save our battery power if needed.

Just stumbled upon this video and loved it. I have a 2015 i3 rex and still love driving it today. I wish the central states had better infrastructure or this car had a much larger battery.

Great drive review! Very thought out. Favors well with my normal driving conditions. I purchased a 2017 Rex Tera World i3 and will receive it in 3 days! Test drive left me impressed gotta have it, my 1st ecar. Looks like I will be appreciating this well engineered work every time I drive or look at it. Thanks for your video.

Good video. It goes to show that the original i3 with the Rex is still a good buy compared to the latest version.

I have just bought a 2019 i3 42Kwh and have just performed a long range test at 10-17C. I started with 100% battery and a predicted range of 158miles on the GOM. I have driven hybrids now for 12 years and I am aware what a light pedal foot has on economy. So off we set on the 84 mile trip with a mix of motorway (60%) A road (40%) . Outbound heading for the coast there's more negative gradients but it will all level up on the return. As this is a max range test I put the car in Eco PRO and turn off the heating/cooling. I get between 10 - 22Kwh/100Km and a light foot also mean that I see quite a bit of regen. When I arrived at my destination I had a GOM range left of ! 130 Miles (84 + 130) = 214 miles. I charge to 100% again and then on the return when I arrived home the GOM said 100 miles so a return range of 184 miles. I expect these ranges to drop by switching to Comfort and adding some heating however even if these settings suck 20 miles of range that's still 194 and 168 miles so taking the worst case 168miles that's very close to what BMW expect this car to achieve and by switching to ECO PRO 180 is also possible for most of the year and for most journeys. Remember my home journey was full of positive gradients to reach the destination at 333m. So with this I have confidence this car can easily achieve its 160 mile range as quoted under these temps which in the UK is pretty standard. I am well impressed with this car it drives likes its on rails and accelerates like a rocket. :-)

Interesting test and comparison 👍🏻 Most interesting thing for me was that the oldest car almost equalled the newest But also it looked the freshest and more modern design with those round driving / fog lights I think I’d get one of those with the petrol generator for now as it offers the best real world option if you’re away from home or a charging point , you can put some petrol in and carry on, so more flexibility for now Thanx for helping me decide 🚙

Nice video! I’m on my 5th i3 now - brilliant cars. 2020 i3s 120Ah the best so far - they’re much better without the noisy old ReX!

Brilliant video. It's nice to see some second hand EV's comparison range test. Really enjoyed watching this video. Huge subscribe and looking forward to see more videos ☺️

Picked up an i3s Rex a few months ago. I can’t believe more people haven’t figured out what steals these things are used.

that makes the 2018 94ah rex an excellent value car.

Great effort, would ha r taken time, planning and resources so appreciate you going to all this trouble. Keep up the good work.

I can absolutely confirm that BMW i3s is the best city EV in the world today. Last night I raced a brand new AMG c63 at traffic light and left it in the dust.

Thanks for this. That was very eye opening indeed.

Great video and unusual to see older cars being tested too :)

Thanks for providing figures also in metric unit!

I drive a 2018 REX & I'm averaging 4.5 m/kWh. Good to see what it could do!

At least in the US, until chargers are everywhere the Rex idea is brilliant and should continue to be developed, made lighter and more efficient.

Going to pick up a 2019 i3 120ah one later today. Thanks for this great comparison. It reaffirmed that I don't need a REX.

Great informative video I’ve just ordered one hopefully here end November 21 looking forward to joining the electric revolution!

Brilliant! Just what I needed to see, thank you 👍

Excellent video as always. It's interesting to note that the i3 is the opposite of say a Toyota hybrid. In a Toyota, the battery is tiny and range limited, whereas the i3 has a decent range on battery but the REX will extend that range further. I wonder why manufacturers don't go the BMW way rather than the normal hybrid route?

What a great vid! Good ranges from all of them in normal conditions. Love my i3 fab cars

I saw one online at a local dealership on sale. Was shopping for an EV. Thought the 2019 i3s REX looked weird but drove it and fell in love. Same color as in vid. I tell people it looks like a dung beetle. The design looks like Its heavily Italian inspired. It is a workhorse w all the room inside. Took it on a 600 mile RT drive at average speed of 70 mph. That was an adventure trying to find EV DC charging stations in Oregon, USA before the charge and REX depleted. Mountainous terrain, using AC and the radio diminishes range quite a bit. That outbound leg took 7 hours w some worry about getting stranded. The return leg I used my phone to navigate to the EV stations every 70 or so miles. Did not use the onboard nav nor the radio or AC to save electricity. Cut an hour off the return trip w no worries. Charging costs were about $35 US dollars in total RT and took usually 30 minutes each on a DC fast charger. Longest was 40 minutes. I get scads of looks and questions about the car almost every time I drive it. Yes, its a boost to my ego as well. At home I had an AC 240 V 40 A outlet installed in my carport. Only need to charge it every 2 weeks or so as I drive it in town mostly. Charge it when at 50% which takes about 5 hrs. AC 110 V 20 A takes 24 hours if charging when its 20%. From ads in US, I bought it at the right time cause the value has gone up $10K. Tires are expensive and back ones need replacing depending on driver’s acceleration style at about 9000K miles. Front ones last longer. Back ones cost about $1000 US to replace including installation and truing. Mine has different sized tires for front than back. Do not drive on gravel roads or ones graveled for winter ice and snow. Gravel gets in wheels and the car screams its displeasure. Yes, screams until the gravel falls out or gets pulverized. Cannot use chains but is okay in snow if you’re careful. Got fabric based tire snow socks to try out this winter. Still love this EV despite its quirks.

I have had an i3s for 6 months (bought new so 120Ah). I have averaged 3.2m per kw over 6000 miles. Mainly motorway driving in winter. Range fine as my commute is 65 miles and I can charge at home. Love the car, only ever take our ICE car if I need the range or larger size.

This was the vid I was waiting for so long........ .. Ever since the i3 was launched

Very nice comparison video, thanks!

Loved the review. I got what I wanted. Thanks!

Thanks guys, great test

After leaving London in our E.V. for a journey across the UK, we so wished we had taken the range extender, the amount of out of order chargers? Or queues to use one, at least with the range extender, there is the option to simply put petrol in the tank and carry on driving.

real life range of an i3s (94Ah with REX) using both sources of energy to nil is 163 miles (Lentran, near inverness to Hermiston Gait in Edinburgh, heading south, all at least 60mph) at temp of 5 degrees. The prevailing wind makes a difference as well so the northbound journey has better range. The beauty of the REX is flexibility to have similar journey times to ICE (fast) or use electricity for slow and cheap. Oh and it costs half that of a Tesla to buy on the second hand market. The 60Ah REX has roughly 50:50 split of electric versus petrol range, the 94 has around 70:30 electric to petrol range ratio. Great wee cars.

I love these drive em till they drop videos.

Lion Smart offer a 100kWh battery upgrage with 700km range. Other options include 168kw for over 1100 km range, but that uses up boot space. They can also use CCS 50kWh fast charging or the normal 7.2kwh bmw double socket.

So informative! thank for doing this

Nice video. I bought recently a 2017 94 ah I3 non REX with 42000 km (26000 miles). I did a journey here in Portugal, good weather, so no AC needed. I arrived at home with 12% of battery after 253.2 kms (157. 3 miles).

To be able to get more fuel on any gas station or simply carry 5L canister (or two) for that once-in-a-year long vacation journey is tempting over the time spent looking for chargers and sitting waiting for a charge.

Great video! 172 miles is not bad at all. So you get about 7 extra miles in the 120ah from the point in which the car says you have 0 miles left.

Fantastic video and review, thanks very much 👍

I have a 94ah Rex. I skipped the 120ah planning to upgrade to the 150ah they were going to come out with, but then it got canceled. Hopefully a 150ah upgrade comes out for existing cars one day.

Love my BMW i3S 120Ah 2019. My first EV and it's perfect until Model Y is available!

Great Video, Thanks!

Auto Auction Rebuilds here in the States drove his i3 (with REX) from Oklahoma City to Los Angels and back. Interesting to see what happens on the trip......

Nice review. With the REX could you say just keep filling it up with gas for more and more range?

I will keep my 60 AH rex, after all I can add 85 miles range in 2 mins What other EV can do that. 99% of my driving is EV, but on lond drives the REX is a godsend and makes the car so versatile.

I remember when these came out, I visited the local BMW stealership. They had a dedicated i3 salesroom and team. Nobody knew anything about the cars, nobody there cared because nobody wanted them and salesmen couldn’t make commissions. Such a great car let down by franchised stealerships and targets.

I have the i3 60Ah REX and the i8, but most of the time I use the i3 because of its easy handling in the city and in parking spaces. Also my dog prefers the i3 since she has a comfy bed in the back 😄. Thought a while about switching to the 120Ah, but my driving profile simply doesn‘t require it (REX is never in use). But very interesting comparison!

If you toggle the button on the end of the indicator stalk, it will show you different vehicle info on the top left of the driver's gauge, including the actual battery percentage, average kW/mile, instant kW/mile, etc.

The 60ah with Rex is a great value.

For me a car has to be ‘nippy’. I have driven +300 hp cars for over a decade, M135i, M140i, and f80 M3. Now i drive a fully jet black I3s and they can keep the fossil crap, not because the ecological aspect or/and being a treehugger but because of the overal charging and driving costs and still being very nippy 👍🏻

Great video as always from yourself. I am looking into getting an i3 120ah.

Amazing -- great comparison! :-)

Love the i3. In South Africa i3 is the 2nd lowest priced EV (Still R700k though). But we have a few models to choose from, including the Mini, iPace and Taycan.

211 km on 94 ah version without REx? Wow! I used to kill the battery in 100 km with highway driving.

Good video as always 👍

My 2015 Rex goes 36-40 miles on the battery which is actually fine for me since I charge up at work and am 9 miles from home. I could charge every other day and be fine. Even as degraded as the battery is it still beats out some brand new PHEV's being introduced, and that's pretty sad for them.

Good bit of work that and an interesting comparison. The REX can run indefinitely on petrol (not many know that).

Thinking of buying an i3. Surely range when driving around town is less important since charging opportunities exist. For me at least, what matters is the less flattering range figure on motorways (autoroutes etc) when driving to maximise range - say 60-65mph. In any event, the i3 looks like an ideal fit for a 2nd car or town car, especially if REX or 120ah.

Lo primero agradecerte que el video este traducido al español. Muchas gracias

Fascinating and informative test. What total mileage has each of the 22kwh and 32kwh i3 covered? I'm interested in battery degradation. It seems very low, indicating that BMW use good quality batteries, unlike at least one competitor. Also, in your experience, is the i3 reliable including the REX?

The U.S. models have the same gas tank, but they're limited by the computer - you can't use the last half gallon.

Great video!! I am thinking of buying one, Just one question, how can you tell if the battery is degrading on the REX version?

The latest i3 with Range Extender is my choice. You know, it might be seen as obsolete by some but I always thought the i3 was perfect as a City car!

Great review one of the best ive seen so far on the i3.. Only thing im missing is that you actualy ran the 94AH Rex flat, so it wasent an "EST" but an actual figure.. Ohh well..

A few years ago I decided to do a "real world" freeway range test with my 94Ah i3 Rex. It has every option so it is probably the heaviest i3 Rex made. It was a steady 65 mph freeway route out and back a few times and not doing anything special to extend the range. Half of the distance was on a slighty hilly section of the freeway. I got 120 miles before the Rex was going to start. My normal driving is usually in EcoPro around town and roads with a limit of 45 mph and routinely get about 150 miles before it is getting to the level that the Rex would start. My all time max battery range was 165 miles in town driving only. The link to my RU-vid video using an iPhone (so no fancy video) of the freeway drive is ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B0b9Hv-YuVk.html Still loving my i3 but lust after the 120 Ah battery. :)

How is the range in rush hour. Here in Los Angeles rush hour is horrific. I live35 miles from down town LA.takes me 1:15 travel time. No traffic 20 to 30 min.

It would be pretty awesome for a company to purchase a fleet of i3 vehicles and develop a battery change machine similar to other companies for city driving on a rental system

I think the i3 will become a future classic car; not everyone likes the styling, but the materials choices are amazing, CFRP tub with plastic panels means no rust and a lightweight body sat on an aluminium frame. Two main issues as an owner, the suspension is unrefined and too hard, by now we should have a 55kWh battery pack.

Everyone talks in kW but suddenly you start with Ah. Even for its latest models BMW now also uses kW iso Ah. Please stop the malarkey! Keep up the good work...

If you're not familiar with EV's, just remember the range indicator works the same as in a gas car. It's estimating the range at that moment in time. If you turn on the a/c, or go faster or accelerate hard, the range will drop because it's re-evaluating energy usage. Go down hills, or accelerate lightly, or turn the heat or a/c off, the range will increase.

I had a i3 Rex when they first came out. It was a nightmare. I was driving 260 miles a day so you can understand why iwasnt a big fan. Ecotricity charges added to my nightmare, I was stranded many a time trying to get the charging station working. If I lived in London I would not think twice about getting an i3 for city driving

2018 range extender all the way, no brainer.

Great test , cool glasses! Now available under £10k is the Rex the ideal cheap ev

Interestingly no one wrote the results. 60ah = 79mi 94ah = 140mi 120ah = 173mi

Basically the 2018 94ah is the one with most total ranger over 220 with range extender thats oretty good

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 thank you

Upcycled first i3 BEV from 60 to 94ah pack in UK. 50% more range in winter

Brilliant video, did you notice if the steering was any lighter in the newer model compared to the older two?

One more great video! It looks ok for city driving. Do you think the 120Ah version is also capable for trips of 400km?

Still a 9 litre tank, but software restricted to 7 litres, to comply with state regulations in ordered to be classed as an EV or alternative fuel vehicle

When it shifts to gas whats the top speed can it still do 70mph on the freeway..until next charge.?