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About
the battery ....
THE "CHARGING LOCKOUT" ISSUE
Being "locked out" from charging is a specific symptom that often points to one of three things:
The Locking Pin Actuator: There is a small plastic pin that locks the cable into the car. If this motor fails or the pin gets stuck, the car will refuse to start a charge for safety reasons. This is a common mechanical failure and is much cheaper to fix than a battery (~$200–$400).
High-Voltage (HV) Isolation Fault: As mentioned before, if the car detects a "leak" in electrical insulation, it will "air-gap" the battery (disconnect it) to prevent a fire or shock. This prevents charging and driving.
12V Battery Failure: If your 12V battery is dying, the car's "brain" may not have enough steady voltage to engage the high-voltage contactors, effectively locking you out of the big battery.
ABOUT THE 355-360 VOLT LITHIUM BATTERY
BMW designed the i3 battery pack with a "modular" philosophy. While the energy density (the amount of power packed into each cell) increased significantly from 2014 to 2022, the electrical architecture—how the cells are wired together—remained consistent.
The Voltage Specs
Across all three generations (60 Ah, 94 Ah, and 120 Ah), the battery uses a 96s1p configuration. This means there are 96 individual cells wired in "series" (one after another) to build up the voltage, and 1 string in "parallel."
Model Capacity (Gross) Nominal Voltage
60 Ah (2014–2016) 22 kWh ~355V – 360V
94 Ah (2017–2018) 33 kWh ~350V – 355V
120 Ah (2019–2022) 42 kWh ~350V – 352V
Why didn't the voltage change?
Component Compatibility: By keeping the voltage in the 350V–400V range (commonly referred to as a "400V architecture"), BMW didn't have to redesign the electric motor, the power inverter, or the high-voltage heater every time they updated the battery.
Same Physical Footprint: Because the voltage and the number of cells (96) stayed the same, the external size of the battery pack remained identical. This is why some hobbyists are actually able to "retrofit" a newer 120 Ah battery into an older 2014 car—it physically bolts into the same spot and speaks the same electrical "language."
Charging Standard: Most public rapid chargers (DC) operate optimally at this voltage range. Increasing the voltage significantly (to say, 800V like a Porsche Taycan) would have required a total redesign of the car's internal charging hardware.
The Difference You Do Feel
While the voltage (which provides the "push" for the electricity) stayed the same, the Amperage (the capacity) is what changed.
Imagine a water tank: the Voltage is the pressure in the pipes, and the Ah (Amp-hours) is the size of the tank.
BMW kept the pressure the same but swapped in a much larger tank each time. This gave you more range and slightly more consistent power delivery as the battery gets low, without needing to change the "pipes" (wires and motors).
MISREPRESENTATION?
We
bought a BMW i3 not knowing the vehicle had so many faults, and the
company's system could lock up your car, and seize the transmission,
so that you are left stranded in the middle of nowhere, on the side of
the road, or in traffic, with a £15k brick. We wondered if that was
safe? Or, legal? But then found, allegedly, it was company policy, not to tell
people what the problem with their car is. And, with the dealer
approach of replace everything, also appearing not to know what is
wrong with the car, it could soon become a service problem nightmare.
Why
did they lock up the wheels? It makes no sense. If there is (or was) a
genuine safety issue, why not just immobilize the vehicle via
contactors, without
locking the transmission and braking the rear wheels. So that it could
be safely pushed off the road, or otherwise located safely?
The core argument in one sentence: "An EV that becomes unusable due to inaccessible software is not a sustainable product — it is a form of digital obsolescence that increases waste, undermines climate goals, and violates the principles of the UN
Sustainable Development
Goals."
BMW AG – Sustainability and Environmental Protection
BMW Group Sustainability
Petuelring 130
80788 München
Germany
BMW AG – Customer Relations (International)
BMW Group Customer Relations
80788 München
Germany
BMW Headquarters (Germany) — Official Address
BMW AG – Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
Petuelring 130
80788 München (Munich)
Germany
Telephone: +49 89 382‑0
Website: www.bmwgroup.com
SEAVAX
- How can a BMW i3 help the SeaVax
crew to clean plastic waste from our oceans? By reducing their fuel
bills and providing operational data when operating this
practical EV.
But
what of the Right to Repair? Did you know that BMW can lock you out of
your vehicle? We didn't, not until it happened. Is that fair or legal?
And what about consumer rights? What about their dealers charging for
what is essentially a manufactured service charge? And what about
Consumer Protections?
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