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BMW i3 continued from page 77
Chevrolet Volt and the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid. This classification made the i3 REx eligible for California’s green sticker that identifies the vehicles allowed to be operated by a single occupant in California’s High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, also known as carpool or diamond lanes, but not for the white sticker reserved for All- Electric Vehicles, such as the BMW
i3 without REx. In addition, CARB certification of the i3 REx as BEVx allowsthei3withrangeextenderto
be eligible for a $2,500 Clean Vehicle Rebate, the same amount eligible All-Electric Vehicles are entitled to. Other Plug-In Hybrids are eligible
for only a $1,500 purchase rebate.
Fuel Economy And Range under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) the official range is eighty to one- hundred miles, and up to one-hundred twenty miles in the most efficient driving mode. Under the NEDC cycle, the energy consumption is 0.21 kWh/ per mile. The model with the range extender option has an official NEDC total range of one-hundred-sixty to one-hundred-eighty-six miles.
Under its five-cycle testing, the United States Environmental Protection Agency rated the 2014 through 2016 model year All-Electric BMW i3 energy consumption at 27 kWh/100 miles
with a combined fuel economy at 124 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGe) with an All-Electric range
of 81 miles. With these ratings the All-Electric BMW i3 was the most
fuel efficient EPA-certified vehicle
sold in the United States of all years regardless of fuel type until late 2016, when it was surpassed by the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, rated at 136 MPGe (25 kWh/100 mi). The range-extended model has lower ratings than the All- Electric i3 due to the extra weight of the twin-cylinder gasoline engine used in the i3 REx. Never-the-less, the i3 REx in 2014 replaced the Chevrolet Volt as the most efficient EPA-certified current year vehicle with a gasoline engine.
The BMW i3 with the 94 A·h battery has a range of 114 miles, an increase of 33 miles over the 60 A·h variant. The i3 94 A·h combined fuel economy rating was 118 MPGe, down from 124 MPGe for the model with the 60 A·h battery. The BMW i3 REx with the larger 94 A·h battery has an EPA-rated range of 97 miles, and combined fuel economy rating is 111 MPGe.
Honda Clarity
MSRP $33,400
1.5L, 17kWhLI, 212HPc, MPGe 44/40, 47e, Wt 4,052
This Plug-In Hybrid is the most ordinary of the three avail- able Clarity models, since it’s the only one with an internal- combustionengineaboard. Thewayitdrives,ithasmuch in common with the battery-powered Clarity EV and Clarity fuel cell, as its main form of propulsion is an electric motor. Backing up the electric motor is a 1.5-liter inline-four rated at 103 horsepower. Once the Clarity’s modest battery pack is drained, the naturally aspirated four-cylinder kicks in and heads for a constant speed to feed current to the batteries. Most of the time the front-wheel-drive Clarity runs solely on
its181-hpACmotor. Fedbya17.0-kWhLithiumIonbattery. Ithasaneasygoingmotorthatpullsquietlythroughadirect driveanda3.42:1final-drivedifferential. There’snoway181horsepowerisgoingtopropelmorethantwotonswithmuch urgency. Withafullychargedbattery,theClarityTouringwillreach60mphin7.7seconds. There’snotmuchplayfulness in this package, but the ride is smooth. The All-Electric model retails only in California and Oregon; hydrogen-powered ver- sions are exclusive to the Golden State. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included, as is a suite of active safety tech.
Honda Insight MSRP $24,100
1.5L, 1.1kWh, 152HPc, MPGe 55/49, 2.5e, Wt 2,987
The all-new 2020 Honda Insight is a hybrid that gets breath- taking fuel economy and offers solid performance and a nice interior. Still, the Insight finishes in the bottom half of compact car rankings because it doesn’t offer much that youcan’tgetinseveralhigher-ratedclassrivals. Afour- cylinder engine and an electric motor power the Insight, and theycombinetoproduce151horsepower. Whilethatmay not sound like a lot of juice, the Insight accelerates at a de- cent clip and never feels short of power whether you’re driv- ingaroundtownorontheopenroad. ThisHondahybrid’s
gas mileage is dazzling. It earns 55 mpg in the city and 49 mpg on the highway, blowing away the ratings of nearly every other compact car and many other hybrids.
Honda aims to make electrified vehicles two-thirds of its global sales by 2030. The United States will play a large role, Honda says, and hybrids will be a big piece of that pie. Although such ambitions may have seemed like a stretch in the past, the Insight shows us how Honda just might achieve its target—by hooking shoppers with the car, not just the numbers.
HyundaiIoniq(PlugIn) MSRP$26,270
1.6L, 8.9kWh, 139HPc, MPGe 57/59, 29e, Wt 3,318
The 2020 Hyundai Ioniq comes in hybrid, Plug-In Hybrid or pure electric form, offering value and style combined in a compact hybrid car. The Plug-In Hybrid is essentially the same as the standard Ioniq hybrid, but it uses a larger bat- tery, allowing up to 29 miles of electric-only operation in ad- dition to its standard range.
The Plug-In Hybrid pairs a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine with a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, electric motor, and 8.9 kilowatt-hour battery for a combined 139 horsepow- er. It’s good for 29 All-Electric miles at 129 mpg equivalent
and630milesofcombineddrivingrange. Onastandard110-voltcharger,thebatterychargesfromzerotofullinunder9hrs and2hrs-18minsona220-volt. Whenoperatingasahybrid,itstillachieves52combinedmpg. Hyundaitakesablended approach to managing the use of the gasoline engine and electric motor.
There’s also a Sport mode that configures the display and tunes the car for more responsiveness. An HEV mode relies on the gasoline engine to keep the battery state charged..
HyundaiSonata(PlugIn) MSRP$33,400
2.0L, 10.0kWhLp, 202HPc, MPGe 57/59, 28e, Wt 3,781
Hyundai takes on the Plug-In competition with a powerful motor, six-speed automatic transmission, and a 9.8kWh bat- tery pack. It’s packaged in the attractive and comfortable Sonatamid-sizesedan. TheSonatacanbeahybridorPlug- InHybrid. WhensteppinguptoaPlug-InHybrid,exception- al fuel economy and All-Electric range become the priorities. It has 28 miles of All-Electric range before switching to gas. Once you’re relying on the Sonata’s gas engine, you’ll typi- cally be getting around 39 mpg, according to the EPA. When picking a hybrid Sonata, you first have to decide
whetheryouwantthestandardhybridorthePlug-InHybrid. Onceyou’vemadethatchoice,you’llhavetwotrimoptions. The base trim comes with several driver assistance features and some nice infotainment technology. TheSonataPlug-InHybridusesa3.3-kWcharger. That’sfastenoughtofillupanemptybatteryfroma240-voltsourcein abouttwoandahalfhours. However,buyerscangetawaywithoutinstallinga240-volthomechargingstationandsimply use the provided cord set for a standard 120-volt outlet which will fully charge in about 5 hours.
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