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Post by johnc on Sept 11, 2017 16:09:35 GMT
When we were at PalmerSport, they had an i3 which BMW were keen to get as many people to drive as possible. Whilst it wasn't a long drive - just down the 1 mile or thereabouts, to the entrance and back, the car did impress. It is fairly nippy (given that it had 4 men on board) and the ride was very good, even over the speed bumps. Everything felt well put together although the recycled material used on the dashboard and door cards was a bit too much eco warrior for me. There was plenty of space for all 4 of us (very good leg room) although the boot wasn't massive. However it probably isn't much smaller than a 3 series and about the same as a 1 series although the shape of the luggage area is different.
I thought it made lots of sense in many ways for a town car with a high visibility driving position and easy quick progress. However the £30K+ price tag was a bit less easy to swallow. The electric range is apparently about 80 to 90 miles on average and the two gallon petrol tank for the range extender is enough to keep the battery topped up for about the same again. If you could be bothered stopping every 80 or 90 miles for petrol, you could basically keep going all day, so whilst not perfect it does have a lot more going for it than most electric only cars.
For anyone who spends all their time in a city and has access to a charging point, these cars are basically made for the job. |
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Post by PetrolEd on Sept 12, 2017 9:02:27 GMT
Perfect second car to match with a sports machine. I saw a 3 year old Range Extender with 40,000 miles on the clock at a dealer for £17.5k which didn't strike me as good value, especially given a Zoe could be had for 5k, although they have that daft battery lease which kills used values and a Leaf for 6-7k.
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Post by johnc on Sept 12, 2017 9:18:14 GMT
I think the guy said that there was a 7 year battery guarantee but if it only managed 7 or 8 years before it needed a new battery, that's an effective annual cost of c£5,000 given that it will be near worthless if it requires a new battery. With the level of retardation when the car is set to max recharge of the battery on no throttle, it is hard to see any wear on the brakes or other consumables so running costs are likely to be low with only wipers, washer fluid and bits of trim requiring replacement. I suppose the quality of the drive train will then come in to play - is it going to be like an old scalextric car where worn bushes or dirty armature is going to cause reliability issues or are the materials good enough to last 20 years or so?
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 12, 2017 14:50:08 GMT
I think the guy said that there was a 7 year battery guarantee but if it only managed 7 or 8 years before it needed a new battery, that's an effective annual cost of c£5,000 given that it will be near worthless if it requires a new battery. With the level of retardation when the car is set to max recharge of the battery on no throttle, it is hard to see any wear on the brakes or other consumables so running costs are likely to be low with only wipers, washer fluid and bits of trim requiring replacement. I suppose the quality of the drive train will then come in to play - is it going to be like an old scalextric car where worn bushes or dirty armature is going to cause reliability issues or are the materials good enough to last 20 years or so? BMW got a lot of the technology from Toyota so if the Prius is anything to go by then the drivetrain should be very reliable. I agree about the dash material being a bit naff - nice try but a swing and and a miss from me. |
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Post by Big Blue on Sept 12, 2017 22:01:40 GMT
As my DeWalt drill has a brushless motor I'm hoping that a £35k car has something similarly friction-limiting.
I like the i3 as a concept and a car but there are too many other cars I'd have before an i3 that I fear I will not own one.
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Post by PG on Sept 13, 2017 6:19:40 GMT
I've always thought the steering wheel central boss is on upside down - it looks really weird.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2017 7:32:23 GMT
With the level of retardation when the car is set to max recharge of the battery on no throttle, it is hard to see any wear on the brakes or other consumables so running costs are likely to be low
A few letters in Autocar recently about having to replace brake components early in leccy/hybrids through corrosion caused by lack of use!
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Post by ChrisM on Sept 13, 2017 13:01:20 GMT
I like the i3 as a concept and a car but there are too many other cars I'd have before an i3 that I fear I will not own one. +1; I've said before that it would make an ideal car for my mum to own now, (and I'd like one too) but one serious issue is the price. Looking at other electric cars where you have to lease the battery pack as an "extra" for the elderly doing just a handful of miles a week, these extra costs are a joke; cheaper to use taxis |
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 13, 2017 13:29:33 GMT
I like the i3 as a concept and a car but there are too many other cars I'd have before an i3 that I fear I will not own one. +1; I've said before that it would make an ideal car for my mum to own now, (and I'd like one too) but one serious issue is the price. Looking at other electric cars where you have to lease the battery pack as an "extra" for the elderly doing just a handful of miles a week, these extra costs are a joke; cheaper to use taxis I think most of the elderly would find it cheaper to use taxis regardless of what car they own. |
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Post by Tim on Sept 18, 2017 13:11:27 GMT
CAR mag have an i3 range extender on long term test and according to the latest update it managed 39mpg this month, over 600 miles.
Their excuse is that it did a lot of miles using the range extender part rather than the plug-in bit presumably.
That's crap though - how many people will religiously plug it in every night once the initial novelty has worn off.
Their Pious ltt car got 60 mpg over a greater mileage.
(The monthly reviews of the i3 read as if they've been written by the BMW propaganda dept).
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Post by johnc on Sept 18, 2017 14:06:06 GMT
CAR mag have an i3 range extender on long term test and according to the latest update it managed 39mpg this month, over 600 miles. Their excuse is that it did a lot of miles using the range extender part rather than the plug-in bit presumably. That's crap though - how many people will religiously plug it in every night once the initial novelty has worn off. Their Pious ltt car got 60 mpg over a greater mileage. (The monthly reviews of the i3 read as if they've been written by the BMW propaganda dept). That's probably about right if you never plug it in - the range extender has a 2 gallon tank which is good for 80 to 90 miles - that would suggest that the journos never plugged it in and booted it everywhere.
The i3 is basically a city car that you can go a bit further in if you need. I would expect most owners would plug it in every couple of nights which should be plenty for their 10 to 20 mile commute plus a detour via the supermarket on the way home. If they can't/can't be bothered charging it up or they do 100 miles a day, then this is the wrong car for them.
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Post by PG on Sept 19, 2017 9:00:14 GMT
CAR mag have an i3 range extender...... That's probably about right if you never plug it in - the range extender has a 2 gallon tank which is good for 80 to 90 miles - that would suggest that the journos never plugged it in and booted it everywhere.
The i3 is basically a city car that you can go a bit further in if you need. I would expect most owners would plug it in every couple of nights which should be plenty for their 10 to 20 mile commute plus a detour via the supermarket on the way home. If they can't/can't be bothered charging it up or they do 100 miles a day, then this is the wrong car for them.
This is one aspect of the electric car changes that never really gets discussed. I just can't imagine a lot of people coming home (perhaps from work in smart clothes or a night out) and then either remembering or being happy at having to get possibly wet, maybe dirty cables out of the boot and plug it all in. Or going in and getting changes to come out and do all that. And do the whole thing in reverse the next morning as they leave for work - well dressed maybe again. Perhaps when charging becomes fast, we'll go back to service stations where men in overalls and gloves charge your car while you have a coffee. Full circle from before self service petrol stations! |
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Post by johnc on Sept 19, 2017 10:52:19 GMT
Perhaps when charging becomes fast, we'll go back to service stations where men in overalls and gloves charge your car while you have a coffee. Full circle from before self service petrol stations! You should have a look at the BMW website regarding the iPerformance cars. They can have a charging pad on the ground (don't know if it can be left outside) which you just park on top of and it charges the battery in the same way as they now charge some mobile phones. |
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Post by michael on Sept 19, 2017 11:22:39 GMT
Perhaps when charging becomes fast, we'll go back to service stations where men in overalls and gloves charge your car while you have a coffee. Full circle from before self service petrol stations! You should have a look at the BMW website regarding the iPerformance cars. They can have a charging pad on the ground (don't know if it can be left outside) which you just park on top of and it charges the battery in the same way as they now charge some mobile phones. This is one of the encouraging signs, the wireless charging technology is in its infancy but when it's had time to develop properly this sort of thing will make life a lot easier. |
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Post by Big Blue on Sept 19, 2017 11:32:53 GMT
You should have a look at the BMW website regarding the iPerformance cars. They can have a charging pad on the ground (don't know if it can be left outside) which you just park on top of and it charges the battery in the same way as they now charge some mobile phones. This is one of the encouraging signs, the wireless charging technology is in its infancy but when it's had time to develop properly this sort of thing will make life a lot easier. It'll make those dogs jump up when they walk over the charging station! |
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 19, 2017 11:34:48 GMT
You should have a look at the BMW website regarding the iPerformance cars. They can have a charging pad on the ground (don't know if it can be left outside) which you just park on top of and it charges the battery in the same way as they now charge some mobile phones. This is one of the encouraging signs, the wireless charging technology is in its infancy but when it's had time to develop properly this sort of thing will make life a lot easier. The good thing about that is you will be able to park on neighbours' drives when they are out and get a free re-charge. |
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Post by Roadrunner on Sept 19, 2017 11:41:52 GMT
As and when we replace Herself's MINI we have an i3 Range Extender pencilled in as a possibility. With a four days per week commute and school run of approximately 10 miles each way and the occaisonal 80 mile round trip it could work well. I also like the idea of parking it in the garage next to the 1932 Standard.
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Post by PG on Sept 20, 2017 12:58:26 GMT
You should have a look at the BMW website regarding the iPerformance cars. They can have a charging pad on the ground (don't know if it can be left outside) which you just park on top of and it charges the battery in the same way as they now charge some mobile phones. This is one of the encouraging signs, the wireless charging technology is in its infancy but when it's had time to develop properly this sort of thing will make life a lot easier. Very good point. I'd forgotten about that. Although if we worry about mobile phone signals next to our head and wifi networks, then mass wireless charging will send the tinfoil hatters into overdrive.... |
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Post by Tim on Sept 20, 2017 13:19:12 GMT
There's a story on the BBC news website about a Taiwanese company that's making electric scooters that have what they're calling battery-swapping technology.
It's got scooter sharing schemes set up in Paris and Berlin.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2017 11:53:53 GMT
Is this the range extender version?  |
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Post by johnc on Sept 21, 2017 13:24:42 GMT
They must have dropped the engine out to keep it cool in the heat! With so much irony in view that picture deserves a place in history.
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Post by LandieMark on Sept 21, 2017 17:32:46 GMT
That’s hilarious!
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Post by PG on Sept 22, 2017 16:49:06 GMT
Surely, we're missing the point. It's the ultimate range extender electric vehicle. When you're only doing local trips and don't need that heavy back-up engine, just take it out of the boot. And put it back for those longer journeys. Simples.  |
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