BMW recently announced that the 2017 BMW i3 will offer a 33-kWh battery, which will increase the vehicle’s autonomy from 81 miles to 114 miles per charge, however, a recent lawsuit states that the German should’ve improved something else.
According to Automotive News, a U.S. BMW i3 owner has filed a lawsuit claiming that the electric vehicle can experience sudden loss of power when the range extender feature is deployed.
The Range Extender addresses “range anxiety”, as it allows the i3 to double its autonomy by employing a 650cc, 2-cylinder petrol internal combustion engine (used in the BMW C650 GT maxi-scooter), which operates only when the battery level drops to a pre-specified point. The engine acts as a generator to produce electricity and extend the total travel distance to 150 miles (241 km) per charge – in the U.S. model.
The lawsuit states the i3’s speed can plunge without warning when the range extender kicks in, when the vehicle is under a significant load (filled with passengers or going uphill). Edo Tosar, the man responsible for the complaint, also stated that this has happened to him multiple times and that now he tries not to driver more than 80 miles, as his lawyer, Jonathan Michaels, said in a statement: “These cars are dangerous and should not be driven.”
The suit seeks damages for i3 drivers nationwide or to force BMW to buy the vehicles back, although the German car manufacturer has yet to comment the situation.
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