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 KZfaq).

@rich rebuilds - A dutch company managed to squeeze in a new battery design that gave 400 miles range. The Rex is great, but genuinely fragile. I have a Rex here in Ireland and I use it sparingly. Don't overfill the tank either beyond the first click of the fuel pump, or the charcoal cannister gets soaked and throws EML lights all the damn time.

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 💪🏾💪🏾

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.

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

Its range Rich, its range.

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

Can we all take a moment to appreciate that the car didn't catch fire at all in this video, well done Rich 👌

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

Rich, great video. As the owner of a 2018 BMW i3S (and from Ocala) I can say some of the things you mentioned were spot on. By the way your i3 is pretty much maxed out as far as options. 20 inch wheels, Terra world interior, electronic package, etc. The bigger tank in front is a very good solution as the frunk is basically useless anyway. Keep up the great content.

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.

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.

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"

6:47 was that Linda in the background

Funny. i just watched your Fisker Ocean review and even commented. And now you are talking about the i3. I own a 2020 i3s REX and I actually drove it round trip Phoenix to Philadelphia and back. I was clever about it. I hacked it so you can turn on the REX at 75% or lower state of charge. I would drive it till 25% battery, approx 140 miles, then run the REX for it's 70ish miles and tank up again for a second 70 miles. So 140 + 70 + 70 = 280. Then I would tank up and charge. Was not as bad as you think as I would drive about 6 hrs a day so 280 miles was 4 hrs or most of the time longer with some traffic slow downs, Then that 35-40 charging break. The gas stops to fill the 2,2 gallon tank I don't count as a pain as it's a very quick stop. Nice video here as well.

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.

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.

Rich: Does a very advanced upgrade Me: Puts a gas can in the frunk 😂

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

Hey Rich, that is a really cool idea adding and small gas tank in the frunk area of the i3. I might have to try it out sometime very inspiring. We usually drive the i3 from Santa Clarita to Reno a hand full of times a year to visit family and friends. Here’s what we do to survive the 440 mile commuter in our i3 with only a few rex fill ups and 1 charge stop. Our i3 is a 2017 (33 Kw battery) so I get around 116-125 miles per charge, a bit more than the one you guys drove. Ok, we start out leaving the house with a full charge, we drive 50 miles on battery to get the battery down to 74% (1 percent under 75%). Then switch over to the REX and drive 70 miles with the REX. Then stop for 5 mins to top off the REX drive another 70 miles. Then switch over to the battery and drive 50 miles on the battery. We usually stop in Santa Nella, Ca take a break to eat, restroom Ect... for about 35 minutes and charge the battery to 85% we use the ChargePoint charger. At this point we have driven 240 miles (roughly) which is about half way of our trip. Ok, drive another 25 miles on battery until 74% and hold state of charge and switch over and use the REX and drive for 70 miles. Stop for 5 mins at the gas station and top off REX and drive another 70 miles and then switch back to the battery and drive 35 miles to our destination and wah-la that's the way to drive an i3 on a longer trip. People don't realize you can drive the BMW i3 really far if you have the REX and code the car to “hold State of charge” at 75% of battery and use your REX to plan out on a longer trip. There’s always a gas station within 80 miles of driving, so you can top off the REX anytime you need to and calculate how you want to use the battery so you’re not stopping for long periods of time, but the 8 gallon gas tank idea is the "BOMB". I have to say we absolutely love our i3, so much we bought a second one for our family. Thanks for sharing this video, it is totally AWESOME!! 😎

I’ve been daily driving my 2012 focus electric for 6 years. 50-75 miles of range is just fine for daily errands.

I just sold my i3 yesterday. I owned it for almost 4 years. It's hands down one of the best commuters. I drove it from northern Indiana to central Florida and back, no extra fuel cell but coded. It took about 26 hours 1100 miles. Great car!

I would love to see you test out the new suspension regeneration products. I don't know who makes them but I seen a short about them the other day. Seems genius. Regeneration from potholes and taking the wasted energy from the shocks and making use of it. Making energy from something that won't take energy away.

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

For a second, I thought the Hayabusa engine was the range extender.

When he said "stop every hour for gas" ... I was like April fools yall!

Hay Rich. Instead of adding a gas tank, add more battery’s. That would get more range, remove the petrol engine and stick them in there, that would give you more range and make the car much simpler?

just been to French Alps and back from Wales , 1600 mile round trip in i3S Rex, no problem mixing some DC charging and gas, indeed some queues on the DC chargers coming home so no need to wait. Such a cool premium fit for purpose a-b car also brilliant for touring.

I have a Chevy Volt. I love it. I get about 50 miles on a charge, and it has like a 12 gallon gas tank. My normal daily commute is about 40 miles and is done on electric and then I have the gas engine if I want to go farther. Of the 62K miles I have on it so far, 95% is on electric.

Simply put a petrol tank trailer on a tow hitch

I had a 2015 i3 in Orange too. It was such a great little car and began my journey into EV ownership. While the battery and motor technology have advanced massively, it took the Lucid Air to challenge how future forward the i3 and i8 truly were. This mod is just amazing!

Rich, try the pumps at "closed" gas stations. Some stations leave their pumps operable if you use credit or debit cards. Those stations usually leave the lights on at the pumps, even when the "store" part is closed.

14:25 I heard those cows down there can be a little menacing, they run in herds taking over small shopping centers and villages leaving their crap behind…!😂😂😂🤦🏻‍♂️ Definitely buying your book! I can use the pages to clean up all of the cow manure when they make it up north😂😂❤

I have an I3s. It’s my anti-car in terms of something easy vs my project cars. I have owned prolly 75 cars, and it may be the best overall commuter I have ever owned.

It would be better to increase the battery size. We have one of the last ones made in UK with a 42Kwh battery.We can get 200mls out of it if you drive carefully. Highspeed charging 50Kwh + takes about 40 mins, just time for a coffee. The recharge netwrk is increasing rapidly. Maybe charging infrastructure isn't there in US.

i like how Sam keeps breaking stuff, oblivious to his destructive power. gas cover dont open? PRY IT OPEN BY HAND!

You just need to adjust the throttle settings in the Fardriver app. You always seem to get a little lost when it comes to the electric stuff. I would be happy to help you with this. I work from home and I'm in the same time zone. Hopefully you have the Bluetooth adapter for your controller. I can tell you what to change, why you're changing it , and best practices so you don't kill your motor and controller. Forst thing I always do with a Fardriver is pop the top off and cover that stupid piezo beeper. The boards in those controllers are completely potted, so basically waterproof. If course in the top cover of the controller is a hole that they have simply put a sticker over. Absolutely hysterical. You gotta learn Chinglish to master these controllers. Oh man.

The chevy volt has more electric range and has 13.5 gallons of gas !

Only a scary part is now you have a bomb strapped to the front of the car lol

I also think this fills an interesting niche of luxury compact car. When every other manufacturer focuses on huge expensive luxury crossover SUVs and pickup trucks, this is the one luxury car that fits into a tiny footprint. And I think that's a great idea! Especially if you live in the city, you want something small, maneuverable, and easy to park. When people with money flock to cities, why must their luxury cars be colossal and difficult to drive in traffic? A little range-extended EV is perfect for that use case. Enough electric range for city driving, and with the range extender you can go a bit farther when venturing outside the city. I honestly thing hybrids are the best of both worlds when it comes to the EV vs ICE debate. Perhaps not this one specifically (the concept is great though the execution is flawed), but the packaging challenges have long been solved by now and hybrids use different battery chemistries that last longer and are less flammable so they're better long term, so you get a practical fuel efficient vehicle with the range of a gas car (unless it's an i3) and the efficiency/regenerative braking benefits of an EV.

Always put gas tanks in the crumple zone. Oh.. Never put…

The i3 is a nice project base - well-documented, modular, lightweight. Nice one for April 1st as it is so odd... I own one and have a lot of good reasons... One hint: Avoid the REX.

cant you use the gas pumps even when the gas station is closed? maybe my state or city has different laws, but you can still get gas at the pumps even when they are closed

Woah, this gas tank mod is wild! I gotta hand it to you, that level of creativity is awesome. Totally wasn't expecting that, but hey, if it gets you 400 miles on a single tank, more power to you. Now I'm super curious to see the results of that test drive! By the way, that plaid Model S peeking in at the end... that's just sharp. Can't wait to see more!

You could make it so it can go a thousand miles without refueling. Fit a tow hitch and add a trailer with an even bigger tank on it. It'll be like having your own fuel station behind the car. 🤔👍

Important to get the AC working. The battery pack's thermal management is also done using the AC compressor.

I used to race a BMW 325i and we dropped a round 8 gallon fuel cell into the spare tire well and plumbed it into the fuel filler neck just like you did here for when we ran endurance races. In 2005 we won the SCCA 13 hour race at VIR using that setup. Same deal, switch on the dash which was used when the regular tank got below 1/4 full.

I'm gonna buy your book. You're brilliant and fun and insightful. Thanks for providing a fresh perspective on the automotive world.

The banter between you and Sam always cracks me up.

I am shocked he just didn’t just upgrade the pack. You can do an upgrade to the later 94Ah pretty straight forward retrofit. You can do a 120Ah battery but not as straight forward but can be done as I successfully done one for someone. It technically is not hybrid the engine for only charging the HV battery and that it. Don’t bother swapping the individual modules, it be a losing battle as those as all those cells will be on their way out and be a waste of time. The 650cc 2 cylinder engine only for charging the battery, so extending the tank won’t do much as those 60Ah battery do degrade quickly due to the way they were cycle. It going to get to the point of no range left regardless after a while and car won’t move without battery power as engine is only a generator. Those are not hybrids they are 100% electric and only use the engine REX model for charging the battery and that it. The 94Ah battery would be the easiest and cheapest way to go and those don’t degrade as fast. Yes the aircon compressor love to fail on those as they grenade itself and metal gets into whole system. They are expensive to replace. The compressor by itself is $800 to 1k for a used one which likely could be also bad, or in its way out and $1500 for a new one and that not including everything else that needs to be replaced. You need the AC working as it also used to help cool the battery pack. It cost around $3500 to fix the AC after all said and done. It is absolutely necessary as cools the battery pack, otherwise part the car out.

4:20 "The soft looking stuff, that's actually PUBIC HAIR from an ELEPHANT" 😂😂😂

I drove a 2017 I3 for three years and it was the best car I ever owned ...so much fun to drive!

you did nor show how you made fuel out /filler neck connection....

29:00 You could use a swivel elbow fitting so you can leave the hose connected while removing the gas cap.

Hope you don't need to use a BP station if you have to open the hood to fill up. Evidently they won't let you pump with any panels open.

" 2014-16 i3 REx vehicles in the U.S. are limited to a fuel capacity of 7.2 L (1.6 imp gal; 1.9 US gal) electronically, in accordance with the car's classification as a range-extended battery-electric vehicle; with the full capacity, the gasoline-extended range would exceed the all-electric range"

You, too, need to come up with some kind of comedy routine and do a nationwide tour. That's pure gold Jerry, pure gold.

Did you run the nylon straps around the AC lines? After watching Rich Rebuilds for at least a year, I bought an i3 Rex and hoped he would eventually do a video about one. Now that I’ve already replaced the AC compressor and condenser myself in my garage…, I have little need for instructions on how to do that job with a kitchen knife. But I do look forward to watching him do the projects that I’m procrastinating… And helping other i3 owners learn to work on theirs.

I just want to say that to see a black man who works works with electric vehicles In such a passionate way really inspires me. I am an African American autistic mechanical engineering student who is working really hard to find a foothold in the electric vehicle industry. I've been afforded and internship opportunity with BMW this summer to work with their electric cars. This is an industry that I'm very passionate about and look forward to contributing to soon. You serve as a great inspiration to me and many others who want to follow your path

6:42 is that a peach bottom left?

Stevon has been posting on his own channel box eclectic

I had a 64Ah i3 REX. Drove it 83.5k miles i 3.5 years including a 400 trip to Le Mans in 2016 carrying communal camping gear. What an adventure! Considering there were only about 8 CCS units at the time and 3 of the were bit of order. REX saved the day! Plus a 10 litre jerry can in the frunk. Best part was that uear they introduced a ban on glass bottles on the canpsite. And we'd just bought 18 bottles of wine from SuperU. Said to Marshalls... no worry my mates parking offsite. Ill dump them in his car. Drove round the corner, stuffed them in the frunk with a load of t-shirts to stip them rattling. Cleared security. :) i3 saved the day.

I hope you can change the wheel and tires would help everyone with an I3 to find cheaper tires

Rich's new old i3, or Robot Cantina's new old Jetta diesel? I really sort of love the ritual of the extender. Get a tough racing fuel cell, Rich. Stick it in the very back, someplace.

So why did you put the transfer tubes in at the tops of the tanks? A 3/4 in tube running from the bottom of one tank to the bottom of the other would fill and empty the tanks at almost the same rate without affecting the onboard sensors of the BMW. No electronics or monitoring necessary.

To add the Aux fuel tank all you need is to tap into fuel line. No need to fill aux tank from normal fuel fill just open hood and use aux tank filler. One concern would be being able to read fuel level of aux tank.

The elephant pubic hair door panels have always been my favorite feature from the i3. It has yet to be topped.

Maybe in the book we’ll finally find out what happened to Steven?

Hey Rich, no need for a fuel pump - fuel tank test system creates a vacuum to test the primary tank and actually draws the fuel into the primary tank from the auxiliary tank that you have on installed - so it works as long as the system is sealed properly - Jeremy PS i worked with a guy over 5 years ago did this same upgrade

You're right about this dynamic HEV due from BMW; i3 & i8. This is a timeless design! 🎯👌🏽

@6:35 made me miss Leenda

Rich said he was to old to slide around a car. Can anybody change his mind?

My Hybrid Malibu used to get 600 miles to the take. 7 years later I still get 38mpg. 210k miles and same OEM brakes make it all worth it.

Love the 5 year old explanation....it was there, then it was not there, and it's not my fault.

10 gallon fuel cell.

I would connect the ventilation pipe from the main tank to the fuel line from the auxiliary tank, no fuel pump. Then the ventilation pipe from the auxiliary to the ventilation pipe from the original fuel cap. This way you constantly are filling the main tank from the auxiliary without the need of an extra fuel pump. You do have to fill up both the tanks when filling up though

I kept thinking about buying a used i3, but I tried looking at tire stores for replacement tires. I tried (a while back) Tire Rack, and multiple tire chain stores and even Walmart. None had tires. So, when BMW quits hoarding tires, then what? Is there a wheel swap for easily available tires?

Ultimate REx range extension hack? Take a tip from the off-roaders... Roof rack plus Jerry cans!

On my British spec i3, I quickly learned to only let the battery go to ~50% when doing an extended journey, as the REX can't keep up when pressing along, but gives a really good balance of range vs consumption. Mine has the DC prep so a fast charge from near empty is 30-40mins. It still means stopping every 2-2.5hrs but that is more palletable.

So, you swapped a K20 economy model and a 10 gallon tank into it?

Rich you make me want to get another one. I had the exact color setup on my i3 Rex that had the Tera package. the only thing that was the weak link was the EV range. it's a fun car to drive and the comfort was awesome. Yes, it got lots of attention and I love the hidden 4dr design. I also coded mine with all the best possible codes including increasing the main tank size to 2.0 gallons

I think the battery cooling uses that same ac, so I hope it hasent been broken for too long.

Easiest way to extend it's range to 400 miles is to load it in the bed of a pickup that has a 300 mile range.

Whoever is watching this video, I hope this day will be a great day.

Wikipedia says the base model with 60KWh battery does 100 miles in EV. But range extender adds just 50 miles. If that’s true what is the point? I must have a lawn mower fuel tank. The 120KWh is better but REx is still lack-lustre.

I did notice you got the model without DC fast charging available. That makes a big difference in charging times without the need of a drastic modification and would make that more highway worthy.

K24 Turbo swap! 😅😅😅😅

Rich fun fact, most closed gas stations still leave the pumps on and you can use a card.

Nice jackstands…I didn’t know Napa stands came in invisible colors!😂

The i3 is not "running on gas" like a hybrid. It has a gas generator that charges the battery as you drive. Not a good idea to let the charge go way down and wait for the REX to come on. Better to code it for hold state of charge. Then you can strategically generate power for the battery without the fear of getting in a situation where the REX cannot hold the state of charge, but instead is falling behind. Anything above about 60-65 mph on the REX will slowly eat into your battery percentage. You do not want to be in that position at 6%-7% battery. The car is crippled without HSOC "coding".

gonna blast the box eclectic channel for stevon since this channel wont.

As an i3 owner, thanks for showing these things off and hopefully clawing back some of my rapid depreciation!

Gas stations can be closed? :O I don't think i've seen one closed before, unless construction/accident something. Shop is closed at night in some, but fuel stuff works 24/7 here.

In order to make it EV with range extender and not a hybrid, the needed for the tank range to be smaller than battery range. So they would shut down the fuel pump until it detects it is being filled.

to hell with a button, run a trigger to the pump from the gauge and code it to kick on *with AC or Cruise control* so it auto fills upto "preferred state"

Always love a Sam & Rich collab. The banter is always a classic!