I Bought a Ten Year Old $3500 EV and I Increased its Range To Over 400 Miles!

UPDATE. The system works! I forgot to put this part in the video but the switch is foot activated so that I can add from the aux tank to the main tank while driving. When both tanks are full I can get about 300 miles on gas only. However At those speeds the Rex cannot maintain hold state of charge but It still cruises nicely at 75-80mph on the rex. The siphon is working great as well, when both tanks are full the main tank will pull from the aux automatically so the pump is rarely used. 700 miles covered so far 700 more to go!

Rich you should make a box truck an EV and see how many used Tesla battery packs you need in the back to make it go from New York to Los Angeles without stopping to charge

There are some important differences between the European version of the i3 Rex and the one we got here. For one thing, the Rex in Europe has 2.4 gallons available whereas ours was only 1.9 gallons. Oddly, this is done through programming when the fuel pump shuts off rather than actually having a different sized tank. Also, the programming for the Rex was different. For example, on the Euro version you can start the gas engine at any time to "top up" the battery and save the EV-only driving for later. In the US version it only comes on when the battery reaches about 5%. Luckily, both of these behaviors (and others) can be changed to the Euro specifications through a "coding" process (search YouTube).

You can take a train from Orlando to Virginia. It’s called the auto train from Amtrak. They put your car on the train and you ride in the comfort.

The i3 is actually a brilliant car that was ahead of its time. A modern 30kwh battery and a 10 gallon tank would make it amazing.

Ev Rich is back 💪🏾💪🏾

Rich Rebuilds reminds me SO MUCH of Car Talk on NPR. The way he says “Cahr” with that Boston twang brings back happy childhood memories of listening to Click and Clack on the radio in the car with my dad on a Saturday morning. Made all the better by the epic projects he takes on and completes. Loving it.

Wouldn't it be a better overall solution to have the filler-neck go to the new tank, then the new tank goes into the stock one, but breather is on the new one, so it would constantly be filling up the stock one until the new tank is empty? Virtually just creating a bigger tank and all the car sees is that the fuel level isn't going down until the new tank is empty

Its range Rich, its range.

6:47 was that Linda in the background

That AC issue could be a very expensive thing. Metallic parts can break off from the compressor blades, and get into the coolant lines requiring major repairs. The compressor, condenser, and HV battery accumulator may need to be replaced. A flush is also needed.

Rich, if the "gas station is closed" but the lights are still on the pumps, you can still fill up. It will tell you prior if it's truly "closed"

Hay uncle Rich no concerns with safety just strap a gas tank square in the front end of the car LoL

We've got a 2014 i3 (bought used, owned it for about a year and a half), it's a great around town car, we've taken it on a few "longer" trips as well. So far it's been awesome

The really slick trick would be to design a thin tank that can fit into the nooks and crannies in the front area and be rotationally molded. The frunk liner looks like it's not making use of every millimeter it could in width and front to back, so do some Cardboard Aided Design to fabricate a prototype that can be used to make a fiberglass mold inside for laying up nice fiberglass liners - designed to accommodate the new auxiliary tank. Wherever the OEM tiny tank is, I bet there are spaces it could be bulged out into so a new tank could hold more fuel.

where do you find an i3 for $3500?? They go for more even on copart with accident damage 🤷🏻‍♂️

I live in the Netherlands and i roughly drive 10 miles a day. guess its more for this market! i do still see those fairly often here.

Simply put a petrol tank trailer on a tow hitch

1) how did you tap in the fuel and vapor lines? 2) how/when is the front pump activated?

Great Idea... I thought about this a few times when I purchased my i3 Rex back in 2020. Now, I'll have to do it this hack. Btw, a few years ago, Lyon Smart offered a battery for the BMW i3 with over 400 miles of range. I reached out to them today to see if that battery is still available.