Clarkson on the i8

homer911

Interesting review of the i8 last night on Top Gear - quite surprised to hear Clarkson so positive, until it came to the studio where he complained about the boot being too small, the windows not winding down fully and getting a mere 20MPG from the hybrid.

He did agree that they were on the right track and it was the shape of things to come..

reboot

homer911 wrote: »

Interesting review of the i8 last night on Top Gear - quite surprised to hear Clarkson so positive, until it came to the studio where he complained about the boot being too small, the windows not winding down fully and getting a mere 20MPG from the hybrid.

He did agree that they were on the right track and it was the shape of things to come..

Saw that and agree,no pleasing some people,fantastic technology as are the Leaf and Zoe.But to hammer the I8 at that speed and then complain about the mileage?
He may have had a point re the window not going fully down,its the wee things that get you,like the reflections in the Zoe windscreen from an almost white dash, and the length of charge time with the Leaf from AC.

I saw the I8 Saturday , passed me on the old Athy - Kilcullen road ! really nice looking car !

nokia69

only a fool would buy an i8

the model S is a far better car for less money

Atlantic Dawn

The car is £105k in the UK, the M3 is £59k with a motor tax fee of £205 per year. I think your average driver could easily do 10 years of motoring in the M3 cheaper than the I8 with none of the drawbacks.

nokia69

nokia69 wrote: »

only a fool would buy an i8

the model S is a far better car for less money

100% agree, Model S sport with Dual motors and 85 Kwh battery is far superior.

But the I8 is still a nice looking car.

Model S in Europe isn't cheap either especially the sport version with 85 Kwh battery and dual motors.

I don't know what the basic starts at though ?

nokia69

Three variants of the Tesla Model S are available – the entry level version has a 60kWh battery and is priced from £49,900, and a larger capacity 85kWh model costs £57,300. There's also a range-topping Performance model that uses the 85kWh battery and more powerful motor that's priced at £68,700.

Read more: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/tesla/model-s/66809/tesla-model-s-price-announced#ixzz3S29uo8LJ

The i8's running costs leave most rivals in its wake. Although it costs nearly £100,000, it should be an exceptionally cheap to run. It's exempt from the London Congestion Charge and road tax is free thanks to CO2 emissions of just 49g/km. Plus, it's eligible for the government's £5,000 electric car

yeah the i8 looks great but for 100K its a bit much

I'm not sure what the P85D costs, I think its about 77K

http://my.teslamotors.com/en_EU/models/design



89K Euro's for the top of the range 700 HP 0-60 3.4 seconds.

I don't think this includes tax, add VRT that applies to the 0 emissions bracket then add 23% VAT and subtract 5 K VRT reduction and 5 K Grant and you get 10K off.

Doesn't include delivery charges.

reboot

reboot wrote: »

and the length of charge time with the Leaf from AC.

That's why I went with the 6.6 Kw charger in the Leaf because it charges twice as fast. And already in 3 weeks of ownership it's saved me twice from having to find a fast charger.

But no doubt the Zoe charger is fantastic but in reality I would be using the fast chargers more than the the standard charge points and the Newlands cross Topaz fast charger is DC only so Zoe can't charge at that. And I do like the Leaf a lot more. But it would be great if future electrics had faster AC charging because it's very useful and a lot cheaper to install the charge points.

cros13

Deleted User wrote: »

89K Euro's for the top of the range 700 HP 0-60 3.4 seconds.

I don't think this includes tax, add VRT that applies to the 0 emissions bracket then add 23% VAT and subtract 5 K VRT reduction and 5 K Grant and you get 10K off.

Doesn't include delivery charges.

That's the left hand drive pricing. RHD is another €15,000-20,000 for the P85D.

I've driven the i8, the fact that you can't roll down the window fully pissed me off a bit. It's also a pain to get in and out of, you kind of slide yourself across and flop down into the seat. I also bumped my head on the door every time I got out.
It looks awesome but it's impractical. The front boot would struggle to fit a laptop case and the rear seats are only suitable for double amputee children. eDrive range is 30-40km at best.

I went for the i3 instead (pickled it up last wednesday), it's a doddle to park in the city, fits four 2m tall adults in comfort, really practical.
It's also faster off the line than an i8 (due to a more powerful electric motor) which in my opinion makes it more fun.
0-100 is sub 7 seconds on the REx if you put the accelerator to the floor and engage drive.

cros13

cros13 wrote: »

That's the left hand drive pricing. RHD is another €15,000-20,000 for the P85D.

I've driven the i8, the fact that you can't roll down the window fully pissed me off a bit. It's also a pain to get in and out of, you kind of slide yourself across and flop down into the seat. I also bumped my head on the door every time I got out.
It looks awesome but it's impractical. The front boot would struggle to fit a laptop case and the rear seats are only suitable for double amputee children. eDrive range is 30-40km at best.

I went for the i3 instead (pickled it up last wednesday), it's a doddle to park in the city, fits four 2m tall adults in comfort, really practical.
It's also faster off the line than an i8 (due to a more powerful electric motor) which in my opinion makes it more fun.
0-100 is sub 7 seconds on the REx if you put the accelerator to the floor and engage drive.

The I8 is a different league of car, it's not meant to be a family car. In fact it's a bit pointless if you ask me.

The Germans should know that if Tesla can make a long range EV and people buy it then it makes sense that people would buy a 3 and 5 series EV.

The Germans don't like taking risks and don't like spending money unless it makes perfect business sense. And they also don't have the level of expertise in making a battery pack like Tesla, buying the cells is one thing but packaging it all together is completely different, then you got all the electronics that monitor the battery cells, the cooling system and heating of the battery is complex.

While the Tesla can go on fire, no one has been killed in a battery related incident. The Germans probably feel that they won't make an EV who's battery can catch fire And I don;t think there's an automotive specific battery cell yet that can be made in the 18650 format cell Tesla use with the same energy density.

Mercedes decided to use a Tesla battery and electrics for the B Class EV there is no reason the Volkswagen Group or BMW can't either. In fact this to me makes perfect sense, to use a battery pack form someone who can actually make it, let Tesla invest in tooling and factories and other car makers can buy the battery.

reboot

Deleted User wrote: »

The I8 is a different league of car, it's not meant to be a family car. In fact it's a bit pointless if you ask me.

The Germans should know that if Tesla can make a long range EV and people buy it then it makes sense that people would buy a 3 and 5 series EV.

The Germans don't like taking risks and don't like spending money unless it makes perfect business sense. And they also don't have the level of expertise in making a battery pack like Tesla, buying the cells is one thing but packaging it all together is completely different, then you got all the electronics that monitor the battery cells, the cooling system and heating of the battery is complex.

While the Tesla can go on fire, no one has been killed in a battery related incident. The Germans probably feel that they won't make an EV who's battery can catch fire And I don;t think there's an automotive specific battery cell yet that can be made in the 18650 format cell Tesla use with the same energy density.

Mercedes decided to use a Tesla battery and electrics for the B Class EV there is no reason the Volkswagen Group or BMW can't either. In fact this to me makes perfect sense, to use a battery pack form someone who can actually make it, let Tesla invest in tooling and factories and other car makers can buy the battery.

Be interesting to see what the Apple EV will look like.

homer911

reboot wrote: »

Be interesting to see what the Apple EV will look like.

Well if the Leaf is the equivalent to an Android device, the Apple EV will be

• Overpriced
• Non-customisable
• Come in black or white only
• Have a battery you cant replace
• Will have a unique charging connection that wont be compatible with anything else
• Will have to be sent to a dedicated Apple garage whenever it develops a problem
• Will come with two doors - extra doors will cost an extra 50%

What am I missing?

hightide

homer911 wrote: »

Well if the Leaf is the equivalent to an Android device, the Apple EV will be

• Overpriced
• Non-customisable
• Come in black or white only
• Have a battery you cant replace
• Will have a unique charging connection that wont be compatible with anything else
• Will have to be sent to a dedicated Apple garage whenever it develops a problem
• Will come with two doors - extra doors will cost an extra 50%

What am I missing?

Are you J. Clarkson ?

homer911

hightide wrote: »

Are you J. Clarkson ?

LOL, must be watching too much TG

Dont worry, a 3rd party company will develop an extra battery you can mount in the boot to double your range..

HandsomeDan

homer911 wrote: »

LOL, must be watching too much TG

Dont worry, a 3rd party company will develop an extra battery you can mount in the boot to double your range..

No you're bang on the money. Apple are like a womans hairdresser. Charging what the market can bear and amazed at what they can get away with...

reboot

On the facebook page ecarni.com,but first make the cut?,whatever that means? Hope the Hotel in Newcastle allows him to use the CP if he's not resident.

HandsomeDan

Don't forget the I8 is 600kg lighter than the tesla and beats it by every measure bar acceleration where it just matches it.

Two completely different cars. One's a concept you can buy with cutting edge everything, the others a saloon with a huge battery and not a lot else of note.

cros13

HandsomeDan wrote: »

One's a concept you can buy with cutting edge everything

I dispute that. The i8's Mini-derived engine is unremarkable, the QNX based infotainment system is 10 year old technology, the battery pack is so small it can't output enough power to run anything larger than a 90kW motor. The CFRP chassis and construction methods are remarkable but they were developed more for the i3 than the i8.

I'm an i3 owner and I've driven both the i8 and the Model S. The Model S is more fun to drive and more practical. The i8 is nice to look at and vs traditional cars is more fun to drive, but it's not as much fun as the Model S.

HandsomeDan

cros13 wrote: »

I dispute that. The i8's Mini-derived engine is unremarkable, the QNX based infotainment system is 10 year old technology, the battery pack is so small it can't output enough power to run anything larger than a 90kW motor. The CFRP chassis and construction methods are remarkable but they were developed more for the i3 than the i8.

I'm an i3 owner and I've driven both the i8 and the Model S. The Model S is more fun to drive and more practical. The i8 is nice to look at and vs traditional cars is more fun to drive, but it's not as much fun as the Model S.

Infotainment dates back to 2012. ICE motor is part of bigger and unique system - so what that it's lifted from another car.

Looks tell you everything you need to know about an i8 - not designed to be practical; designed to stand out.

cros13

HandsomeDan wrote: »

Infotainment dates back to 2012.

NBT was RELEASED in 2012. I still consider it to be 10 year old tech. Tiny rotational disk, no over the air updates etc. etc.
I've cloned the disk, a lot of the software is literally 10 years behind the current release, not even critical security updates on the versions they use.
Car companies suck at user facing electronics.

reboot

cros13 wrote: »

I dispute that. The i8's Mini-derived engine is unremarkable, the QNX based infotainment system is 10 year old technology, the battery pack is so small it can't output enough power to run anything larger than a 90kW motor. The CFRP chassis and construction methods are remarkable but they were developed more for the i3 than the i8.

I'm an i3 owner and I've driven both the i8 and the Model S. The Model S is more fun to drive and more practical. The i8 is nice to look at and vs traditional cars is more fun to drive, but it's not as much fun as the Model S.

Won't argue with that.

Now imagine the Model S P85 Sport !!!