- A Chinese language firm is promoting upgraded battery modules for the getting older BMW i3.
- The corporate claims its energy-dense pack can double its authentic driving vary.
The BMW i3 is a good little electrical automobile, albeit quick on vary by fashionable requirements. It went on sale means again in 2013, when it was out there with a relatively small 18.2-kilowatt-hour battery pack.
That mannequin, labeled because the “60” due to the 60 amp-hours capability, had an EPA-rated vary of simply 81 miles. It was later upgraded with a 94 Ah battery that bumped the estimated vary to 114 miles. It in the end obtained a 120 Ah battery that gave the quirky EV an EPA vary of 153 miles.
That’s a major improve, however homeowners of the unique i3 have been left with a relatively subpar energy supply. That, coupled with the inescapable incontrovertible fact that batteries degrade over time, means the older i3s with the 60 Ah pack might now wrestle to crack 70 miles on a full cost. That’s nice round city, however taking even a small drive elsewhere is an journey to say the least.
However there’s an answer. A Chinese language firm known as Martigi Manufacturing (MTG) claims to have developed a battery pack for the BMW i3 that may double the driving vary of the 60 Ah model. That stated, it’s suitable with all i3 variations, and it’s even an improve over the most important pack out there from the manufacturing facility.
MTG’s answer is to supply higher-density Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) cells made by China’s CATL that slot in the identical battery cradle as the unique Samsung-made cells. The pack configuration and the rated voltage are the identical, however the power capability is increased.
There’s a complete of 96 cells organized in eight modules that may maintain a complete of 154 Ah or 54 kWh. That’s a 156% enhance in capability in comparison with the smallest 60 Ah pack. It’s additionally 28% bigger than the most important authentic pack that was fitted to the i3.
MTG (the one authorized vendor for the battery) will get assist from Echi Tech within the type of a reflashed battery administration system, new electrical connectors and all the mandatory {hardware} to vary the cells at house. Nevertheless, the reseller recommends {that a} competent service supplier carry out the improve.
The CATL pack can allegedly ship a driving vary of 248 miles on a full cost. That stated, in a video revealed by MTG, an i3 fitted with its upgraded pack went 186 miles straight on the freeway, sustaining 62 miles per hour. In relation to charging, the brand new pack will behave the identical because the outdated one, that means it could settle for as much as 50 kW from a DC quick charger.
MTG’s BMW i3 battery specs
Photograph by: InsideEVs
On Alibaba, the 154 Ah pack is priced at $5,800 with out delivery. There’s additionally a $4,800 120 Ah model that may be a direct alternative for the unique 120 Ah pack. MTG says the brand new modules include a three-year guarantee and are rated for two,000 cost and discharge cycles. Whether or not or not that guarantee might be honored in the USA is one other subject.
That stated, an authentic, BMW-sourced pack prices round $15,000 with out labor. Even when the delivery prices for the Chinese language pack are the identical because the pack itself, the ultimate examine ought to nonetheless be decrease than the unique.
