BMW ActiveE "Extreme" Battery Test Begins!

Yes, you're reading that correctly. I'm getting anywhere from 150 to 200 miles per charge now!

In electric vehicles like the BMW ActiveE, range means everything. Like Ponce De Leon searched for the elusive "fountain of youth," electric vehicle manufacturers search for the battery that offers the best energy density which will give their cars the best possible range.

Back for re-programming

In 2010, BMW announced that they were forming a partnership with SB-LiMotive and would be using their batteries for BMW's upcoming electric vehicles starting with the ActiveE. The ActiveE would be using SB-LiMotive's new nickel-manganese-cobalt cells for sure, but there was no official confirmation on whether or not they would be used for the subsequent BMW electric vehicles, like the i3 and i8. That's because behind the scenes BMW and SB-LiMotive have been working on a new battery, one that has roughly double the energy density as the current ActiveE battery cells.

Some of you may remember the news articles about DBM's Kolibri battery. It powered a converted Audi A2  a record setting 282 miles on a single charge. Yes, the battery was almost double the size of the ActiveE's  (63kWh compared to 32kWh), but it basically tripled the ActiveE's 90-100 mile range. Well you know BMW isn't going to be one-upped by Audi! BMW and SB-LiMotive have been quietly developing their own "extreme" battery made with the same type of Alpha Polymer that the Kolibri is composed of.

Hours of reprogramming was necessary

BMW is considering using this new battery in the i3 when it launches in the fall of 2013. They have been conducting tests with these batteries in mule i3s for about 6 months now and have even provided the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing with dozens of full size large format modules, like what is used in EVs for extensive testing. Testing was completed and the batteries passed all the tests performed. The next step was then to outfit a few cars for use in everyday real life driving. BMW chose to install the batteries in one ActiveE for use in Munich, and two for use in the US; one being on the East Coast and the other on the West Coast. If all went well, after a few months they'd outfit a couple more ActiveEs with the new batteries and continue testing for about a year.

Many of you already know I have a very good relationship with BMW. As one of the more vocal MINI-E Pioneers and advocate for all plug in cars, I developed a close relationship with the EV program managers.  BMW even choose me to be the very first ActiveE customer. So it wasn't surprising when they told me about this new battery test (many months ago) and said when the time came they wanted my car to have the battery transplant if I would agree to it. I would have to agree to have the car remotely monitored 24/7 and bring it in to BMW headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, NJ once a week for visual inspections. In return for my participation and cooperation, my monthly lease payment would be waived from now on. How could I say no?

Battery tunnel w/o batteries

So on March 19th, I dropped EF-OPEC off at BMW HQ and drove off in a loaner ActiveE. I asked Dave Mustac, the East Coast ActiveE technical coordinator and the project manager for this experiment, if I could come back the next day while they were doing the swap to take some pictures for this blog. He agreed, but when I showed up the next day I was told I could take any picture I wanted to, just not of the new batteries, which were next to the car under a blanket and my old batteries were already removed. I could see the steel reinforcement cage that protects the batteries, especially in the old transmission tunnel. This is where the Chevy Volt had problems with side impact crash testing. After seeing how well BMW has the batteries protected with the steel cage, I doubt they would have the same issue even if the side impact was severe. There were two other ActiveEs there, not for battery transplants, just being serviced. If a dealership cannot fix whatever problem arises with an ActiveE, Dave Mustac's team has it towed here to be diagnosed and repaired. It took them three days to complete the swap and I got the call to come and pick it up along with a long list of things I am now required to monitor and record. I even had to sign an NDA and anything I write about it (like this post) has to first be cleared by Hugo VanGeem or Marian Hawryluk, BMW electric vehicle program managers.

I got 160 miles this charge

I recently learned who the lucky chosen West Coast Electonaut is, but I'm not going to out him.  It's up to him to announce it if he chooses to do so. I actually found out accidentally. Idine Ghoreishian is the West Coast ActiveE technical coordinator (like Dave Mustac is here on the East) and he called me to ask what battery temperature I've been observing after extended periods of high speed driving to compare it with their test cars results. During our conversation he let the name slip. I don't think it was really top secret, but clearly they weren't giving each of us the other's name for some unknown reason. If things continue to progress as planned, as many as 10 more Electronauts will be offered the "extreme" battery upgrade. I might just be able to put in a good word for someone, so if anyone would like to send me a bottle of wine or a nice present, perhaps I could make a recommendation ;)

Fully charged, the needle now goes way passed 100%

My range has been exceptional so far. I have had to bring it back to BMW a couple of times to try to recalculate the consumption rate and the state of charge meter. They are both way off now because they were calculated for the ActiveE's battery and while BMW had worked to adjust them, they aren't perfect yet. Even my SOC analog gauge is no longer properly  calibrated. When I'm fully charged, the needle goes way passed 100%! By the time it goes down to 100%, I've already driven about 50 miles! The best range I've seen so far was 203 estimated miles as seen in the photo at the top of the post. Although I'm typically seeing about 170 miles per charge if I drive normally. 

147 miles and finished with 26% SOC

Another interesting thing is that this battery charges quicker than the stock ActiveE's.  I don't know the actual size in kWhs of this new pack, and even if I did, I probably couldn't say, but I can say the car now fully charges in about three hours from my level 2 EVSEs which is much quicker than it did with the original batteries.

I'll continue to report here on my new "Extreme-ActiveE"(should I rename this blog?) so keep an eye out for the latest updates! 

After 71 miles the state of charge was still at 50%. Depending on temperature and how efficiently I'm driving, I can get up to 200 miles per charge with my new Alpha Polymer batteries. I can't imagine why BMW wouldn't use these in the i3.

   UPDATE- 4/2/12: This post isn't real! It was an April fools post. I hope everyone had some fun with it, sorry to disappoint those that believed it was real. Unfortunately we'll have to wait a bit longer for battery performance of this magnitude, but rest assured it's coming. I've been doing April Fools posts for the past three years now dating back to my time with the MINI-E. If you'd like to see the past April Fools posts you can read them HERE.