BMW I3 test result

Yes, finally driven it to Galway, thanks To Luka in Joe Duffy BMW for letting me take it for the two days.

First off , I'll start with what I do not like,

You can not get the charge point locations on the map, or I'm doing something wrong........ very irritating, I had to try use the Ecars map and then open it in google maps on my phone.

The Boot, cough cough, glove box is a lot smaller than I expected. herself might fit her makeup bag in it...... buggy ?? haha no chance, it's as if BMW were making the car deliberately unappealing to a lot of people to sell less I3's ! There's no way we'd fit our buggy in it and if we did we'd have 0 room for anything else, while the Leaf boot is deep and a bit wider the I3 boot is flat and shallow. I'll take a pic basically the little suitcase you're allowed take on the Plane Cabin in the over head compartment and a rucksack is about all you'd fit. I'll take a pic tomorrow.

Room in general is decent, tight in the rear and not as much headroom or width as the Leaf.

Google maps would be much more useful.......

No Energy monitor to tell you motor consumption, climate control consumption or regen kw. I miss this a lot !

This model very surprisingly had not got adaptive cruise.

The media centre is not very good and not a patch on Apple car Play or Androids version.

Fast charging only 47 Kw max, read from the charger. Ioniq 65 Kw..... come on BMW , larger batter liquid cooled and no increase in charging speed ??????


Things I like

Power, yes it's notably more powerful than the leaf or Ioniq, but, it's not like you go Holy Sh1t, coming from a Leaf at least, perhaps from an average ICE, the power is notably more but the I3 applies this extra power more at the mid and top end where you need it more so it's not as noticeable to a leaf owner but it does accelerate faster it lasts longer.

Plenty of grip being RWD as I expected it's got a lot more traction !

I was not expecting it to be so limited on take off, not as bad as a Leaf but still notable. Was expecting better from 0 Kph.

The BMW Idrive is a lot better than touch screen but the menus are plenty and it takes some time to get familiar with it.

Interior quality, well, it's just a very nice place to sit indeed and a big step up from the Leaf.

Now, onto range

About the last 20 Kms I had to reduce my speed to 100 ish Kph, from Joe duffy I drove 80-100 to Blanch and 110 Kph all the way to Galway DC charger, 175 Kms , I could have take a little bit shorter route but didn't take the turn off I planned anyway about 170 Kms the Rex kicked in and I hardly heard it.

If I were to take this route with the BEV only I3, 33 Kwh I would have charged in Ballinasloe fpr 10-15 mins would get you to Galway city no bother at all.

At 100 Kph you could probably do it all the way.

There was a pretty strong wind for the majority of the route too but that's to be expected in Ireland , it is a windy Island.

One CCS in Galway, that's pretty poor. I charged to about 60-64% and headed into the city to try out the 11 Kw 3 Phase AC charger.....

It took me a while to find two AC chargers, I found one, a 3 Kw charge point pile of useless dirt which would not charge the I3 with the 11 Kw 3 Phase charger it complained of too little power......

Drove to another AC point and a leaf was charging and taxi was in the other spot, didn't bother looking for another AC point because of the time taken to find the other two so had to find accommodation and Galway traffic was mental, it's a very busy time of year her.

Luckily, the owners of the BnB allowed me to charge and the Husband was decent enough to find an extension lead and it's now happily charging with the supplied Granny Lead.

I can see the usefulness of the Rex, it certainly allows you to continue without worry. I could have charged in Ballinasloe but wasn't bothered stopping because I had the Rex to fall back on and wanted to see the max range.

I was a bit disappointed to see I could not make 200 Kms as I was hoping but anyone buying this with the Rex i's not really an issue because having 170 odd kms is a lot on battery, well, coming from a 24 Kwh leaf it is.

Would I buy one ? hard to say, I like it, it's nice to drive, the suspension was a lot softer than I was excepting , if I dare say it the SVE Leaf is better to drive, more fun and feels more stable on the Motorway and feels a lot more planted to the road than the I3 or Ioniq. The Leaf is a lot of fun and it would be a lot better with more power, on the other hand I love the I3's traction at Junctions, far less wheel spin. The Suspension is pretty comfortable no complaints yet, on the roads further towards the coast could be a different story.

The real issue for me is boot space, I got to have room for the buggy, we couldn't even take the buggy and a suitcase, maybe the Buggy my Mother uses but it's really disappointing and would probably be the main reason for not buying one.

So is the Rex really worth it ?

I would say having VRT on it at all is quiet unfair because the majority of people, myself included would hardly use it, so it should not have VRT at all..

Even though I would not use it much it would be very, very convenient to have so I would say if your budget can stretch to the Rex then do get it because it eliminates a lot of range anxiety , having said that, I could have easily got to Galway from Dublin with 10 min charge but when I drive closer to the coast tomorrow it might be a different story and I could really appreciate the Rex and the 3 phase charger. Finding AC points outside of Galway won't be as difficult.

Galway County Co, do not paint that charging bays and have 0 signs a real shame....... at least the 2 I saw.

So do I like it ?

Absolutely, it's a cracking car, not perfect but very enjoyable. It would certainly make my commute more fun with the extra shove particularly at higher speeds.

But the boot , FFS BMW !!!

jerryg

"No Energy monitor to tell you motor consumption, climate control consumption or regen kw. I miss this a lot !"??????

There is a constant read out of energy use, locate the stalk on the left on the steering column (indicator stalk) and now press the button on the end of the stalk and you will now see total kms, temp, km use on this journey and current use.et cetera.
Like you say this is a test over 2 days and I would disagree with you on many points e.g. I find the i3 fast from take off but tails off about 110 km /hr when turbo diesels are coming into real power.But I wont swap back any time soon. Enjoy the rest of your test.

goz83

jerryg wrote: »

"No Energy monitor to tell you motor consumption, climate control consumption or regen kw. I miss this a lot !"??????

There is a constant read out of energy use, locate the stalk on the left on the steering column and now press the button on the end of the stalk and you will now see total kms, temp, km use on this journey and current use.et cetera.
Like you say this is a test over 2 days and I would disagree with you on many points e.g. I find the i3 fast from take off but tails off about 110 km /hr when turbo diesels are coming into real power.But I wont swap back any time soon. Enjoy the rest of your test.

That info will be handy alright. I don't believe he was saying it wasn't fast at take off....just that it wasn't as fast as expected....as he was coming from a Leaf, which is also fast off the mark. What do you think about the boot size?

stesaurus

The i3 is limited off the line. They did that in a software update after release as it was too powerful for the motor mounts. They adjusted the power available once rolling to keep the overall 0-60 time the same.
I wish you could adjust it manually.

goz83

stesaurus wrote: »

The i3 is limited off the line. They did that in a software update after release as it was too powerful for the motor mounts. They adjusted the power available once rolling to keep the overall 0-60 time the same.
I wish you could adjust it manually.

They did this with the Leaf too....moreso with the 1.5 Gen. its noticeable.

jerryg

"
That info will be handy alright. I don't believe he was saying it wasn't fast at take off....just that it wasn't as fast as expected....as he was coming from a Leaf, which is also fast off the mark. What do you think about the boot size? "

Boot size is poor but most of my driving is done with one person in the car.
You can let down the back seats to carry even my bike usually with the front Wheel removed.
Mad Lad
To get local charging stations do the following:
Press menu
Scroll down to navigation
press knob down
go to points of interest
then Vehicle charging stations
Press knob down
Select charging station
press knob down
accept destination
start guidance
enjoy

jerryg

jerryg wrote: »

"
That info will be handy alright. I don't believe he was saying it wasn't fast at take off....just that it wasn't as fast as expected....as he was coming from a Leaf, which is also fast off the mark. What do you think about the boot size? "

Boot size is poor but most of my driving is done with one person in the car.
You can let down the back seats to carry even my bike usually with the front Wheel removed.
Mad Lad
To get local charging stations do the following:
Press menu
Scroll down to navigation
press knob down
go to points of interest
then Vehicle charging stations
Press knob down
Select charging station
press knob down
accept destination
start guidance
enjoy

Tried the above laughably only shows petrol stations . I'll take pics of the boot later

TBi

That's strange. Mine shows all charge points. The biggest issue is that it doesn't remove charge points that are gone (bloody Blarney and Mallow...). Will take a snapshot later.

jerryg

TBi wrote: »

That's strange. Mine shows all charge points. The biggest issue is that it doesn't remove charge points that are gone (bloody Blarney and Mallow...). Will take a snapshot later.[/QUOT


Same with me it shows the same as TBi.

Did you find the button at the end of the indicator stalk yet?

Calahonda52

Well if it has the Rex, are petrol station not what is needed as does the rex not charge the battery so......

Drove 408 Kms today, that's my longest trip in any car in one day in a long long time never mind an ev and not a trip I'd attempt in the 24 Kwh Leaf.

Heading back from the Topaz Charger in Galway we stopped in Kilbeggan to go to the toilet, coffee and stretch the legs. Charged for 8 mins and a man pulled up in a Leaf so because I have the Rex I let him charge up, I'm not a mean git. I would have got 90-95 % of the way to Carlow on battery alone without charging but wanted to do it all on battery.

Took 45 mins to get from 14-98 %.

Have to say I really love the I3, really, I had good fun driving home, it's fantastic for over taking, it's where the Leaf starts to run out of puff where the I3 keeps going and it has plenty of poke for over taking in a much shorter time and on the Motorway is a big difference. So they utilise the extra 60 HP towards the mid and top end. So think of it like this, it's not as "OMG" because I've experienced the Leaf torque on take off but it's the acceleration that keeps going in the I3 that's most impressive.

The bad roads of Connemara made the I3 feel like a bouncy castle but that was ok because the ride was quiet comfortable but I never felt like it was going to misbehave in the bends, as I said , the leaf handles a lot better there's a lot less bouncing, the downside is that roads are felt more but the Leaf suspension is pretty well balanced.

Have to say the I3 made me smile a lot, plant that foot coming out of the bend up a hill and it bloody moves. Overtaking was a lot of fun. So with all of that fun it cost me some energy, total consumption was 14.8 Kwh/100 kms for all of the 408 Kms.

Lowest I saw was about 13 Kwh/100 kms until I wanted some fun.

I got a nice surprise when I got to my Mothers house..... See the Pic, Guess what fits in ?

35 mins 14-86% of ( 25 Kwh replaced )

47 mins to 98%. We had food there at the Centra so weren't specifically hanging around for 98%.

Here she is, I like the colour.

unkel

Thanks for posting your review!

Charging speed not great. Is the car the weakest link? Even on the old efacec with the slow firmware I got 12%-94% in 30 mins in Ioniq. Would have been just 20 mins in the older firmware (like midway efacec)

Yes, BMW never increased the charging current allowed to the battery, perhaps in the facelift later this year. Rumoured to have more range and more power, now that I'd love to see. Imagine GM never allow more than 50 Kw to the LG Chem liquid cooled 60 Kwh battery in the Bolt !!! The excuse, the infrastructure isn't there.

A few things that shocked me in the I3.

No keyless entry and halogen headlights as standard? WTF BMW !!! This rex had Auxiliary heating which I believe is the heat pump, I didn't think the Rex could have the heat pump ?

Oh and the omission of Adaptive cruise is a bit shocking also.

I should also add that all the 408 Kms today was done on battery only and no Rex.

With the Rex you could forgive the lack of more than 47 Kw charging, I wonder does the BEV version allow faster charging ?

I am happy I could fit my Mothers buggy because when I'm off shift and want to go anywhere I know I can take her buggy and take the lads off. The 3 year old walks a lot but sometimes gets tired so you can actually stuff him in along with the 1.5 year old.

If I were in the market right now for an EV and the budget could stretch then the I3 would definitely be the car, it really was so much fun , my head would tell me the Ioniq but the Ioniq didn't put near a smile on my face, while Ioniq owners are driving gently to get more Kwh/100 kms I was looking for every opportunity to over take !!!

I ask myself if I could live without some kit to have such fun driving ? f-u-c-k yes, oh yes !!!

Oh yes, AC, the AC point in Clifden would not charge the car, I presume it was broken , the left side was not available and the right side charge port was open, it appeared to work but the car kept moaning about not enough power, so whether that meant it's broken or can't provide the power I do not know. I presume it meant it's dead.

I tried a similar AC point in Athy at the train station and it worked perfectly, it put back in about 0.5% in about 30 seconds. you'd get 22 Kw in about 2 hrs, not too shabby at all. If the I3 has 33 Kwh available then it would take about 3 hrs for a full charge.

It was disappointing to see no EV signs or painted bays in Galway at the AC points and seeing a Taxi parked in one of the bays made me mad but he's perfectly entitled to do so.

It's also sad to see some 3 Kw points remain the same as I spotted in Arklow.

thierry14

Enjoyable read mad lad

Coming from a Fabia vrs something like this i3 sounds perfect for me, Leaf and Ioniq as you say are a bit too leisurely and boring

Great thing is in a short while the specs of the i3 ( 170bhp, 0-60 7secs, 200km range) will be the standard

Model 3 with its 300bhp will make this look like it's in reverse

Exciting times

Thanks, yes coming from the Leaf and after driving the Ioniq, that about sums them up, leisurely , I wouldn't go as far as to say boring.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the 0-60 time, yes it's fast but the key difference here is the sheer grip from the RWD and overtaking power, I had perfect confidence at 80 Kph on the roads in Connemara that I could over take safely in a lot shorter space than I could in the Leaf/Ioniq and especially the Zoe.

Driving back with the I3 on the Motorway I gave it some boot and the extra power is very noticeable at higher speeds compared to Leaf/Ioniq.

Pulling out at roundabouts and junctions where you really need to put the foot down showed no sign of wheel spin compared to the leaf which can be a pain the ass especially on damp and wet roads, an issue in most FWD electrics.

So unfortunately the I3 is gone, and a big thanks to Luca in Joe Duffy Motors for allowing me to take the I3 for 2 days and 600 odd Kms and for making sure the Leaf was charged up before I got back.

When I got back into the Leaf I immediately noticed the steering felt very loose and odd and made me realise how good it felt in the I3, it's a lot more direct and accurate it felt as the Leaf had tonnes of under stear.

stesaurus

The i3 and Leaf are a totally different class of car and it shows. I'm planning on changing my i3 in the next 6 months and it's a pain that BMW haven't got anything else other than a bigger battery i3 or a heap of PHEVs. They can build some great cars when they're bothered.

liamog

stesaurus wrote: »

The i3 and Leaf are a totally different class of car and it shows. I'm planning on changing my i3 in the next 6 months and it's a pain that BMW haven't got anything else other than a bigger battery i3 or a heap of PHEVs. They can build some great cars when they're bothered.

There are rumours of a full EV 3 Series coming to Frankfurt. It's seen as a response to the Model 3 as it's aimed at the same market.

So the question is, would you buy the Rex if you had the money or the BEV only and save 5 K ?

I drove 408 Kms yesterday and spent 47 mins charging while I had food but in reality could get away with 38-40 the last 2-4 % takes ages.

Yes the Rex allows the freedom of driving pretty much anywhere, however where available and possible the 11 Kw AC charger in the I3 would allow decent range in 1-2 hrs of charging if you're in a place where you are going to stop anyway you may as well plug in.

I'd say absolutely the Rex if it's your only car, you can go anywhere in it, on the ferry to the U.K, Travel to France etc. In a Leaf ? no chance or even the BEV only I3 I would not take. But we have 2 cars and this gives us a lot more choice.

Some here would say, (oh but you can't go from Cork To Donegal on one charge) then if this is an issue for you then the Rex is your car. You will find yourself always wanting to charge on battery power whenever possible and you will charge a lot more than you thought you would have believe me which brings me back to what we were discussing on another thread about allowing plug ins to use the charging infrastructure after having experienced what is effectively a plug-in but with a very large battery.

I would say that allowing a I3 Rex owner to use the charging infrastructure should not be considered a waste of the infrastructure because it's got such a large battery or any other plug-in with such a large battery, there is 0 in Ireland that I know of anyway with a large battery such as the I3 be it the 22 or 33 Kwh version.

Having said that, as I did yesterday in Kinnegad after 8 mins a Leaf driver pulled in so I let him charge, I don't want to make someone wait when I do not really need to due to having the Rex. What we really need as we all know are a lot more chargers.

Here's the difference compared to the 24 Kwh leaf, I got to Joe Duffy motors with about 57 % battery and got home with 20% in the Leaf. So I can make a return trip to Dublin in the I3 no problem. And I usually go to Blanch and charge up at the AC point there and that would give me a lot of range in the (optional) 11 Kw charger.

stesaurus

stesaurus wrote: »

The i3 and Leaf are a totally different class of car and it shows. I'm planning on changing my i3 in the next 6 months and it's a pain that BMW haven't got anything else other than a bigger battery i3 or a heap of PHEVs. They can build some great cars when they're bothered.

Yes the I3 is a very well engineered car it's a real shame it's so expensive, and a real shame the Government imply VRT on the Rex which should not be the case at all.

There should be a reduction in VAT for all electrics and no VRT provided the battery has got at least 20 Kwh which should be considered more than a plug-in.

Orebro

Excellent write up Mad_Lad, thanks.

What is the VRT situation on he Rex model - does it come to much?

liamog

liamog wrote: »

There are rumours of a full EV 3 Series coming to Frankfurt. It's seen as a response to the Model 3 as it's aimed at the same market.

Quiet possible , I believe it was due for production in 2018, probably mid to late 2018 but imagine the cost of that would be insane you're probably talking 50 K for the base and again you'd have more VRT due to the cost.

I know we need some tax but it's ridiculous 23% vat + VRT , it;s robbery really and the Government would be better off getting to grips with the ridiculous housing rental prices and house prices are going back up and then they have the cheek to tax income and then such high vat etc. Give people back their salaries and make goods cheaper , people will spend more and the Government get it back anyway but at least people will have something at the end of the day rather than being robbed which is essentially what it is.

Orebro

Orebro wrote: »

Excellent write up Mad_Lad, thanks.

What is the VRT situation on he Rex model - does it come to much?

I hope you're sitting down.

I think this model I had , not sure the trim was 52.5 K after all taxes and grants.

You could lease it with a deposit at a decent price but I strongly warn people about PCP as I always have, if you can not afford it then don't get sucked into PCP. It can work out to your advantage as it did me on the Leaf and you have the balloon to pay at the end or if you do not then any equity you have in the car after will be lost it just so happens that my leaf will most likely be negative by 2-2.5K so I win in that case or not depends how you look at it, I'll have no deposit going forward.

The BEV version starts at 35K after grants and tax. And even the basic one would be fun to drive but I would advise to get the version with the heat pump which I think is called the auxiliary heating ? and it would still be an enjoyable car to drive despite cloth seats etc you would.

I believe Joe Duffy Motors have a Rex 22 Kwh version in stock for 35 K, not so bad if you got the Rex but 2nd hand Rex 22 Kwh with 120-130 Km range EV for 35 K or New 33 Kwh with 170-220 Kms range for 35 K ?

Orebro

Good Lord.

stesaurus

liamog wrote: »

There are rumours of a full EV 3 Series coming to Frankfurt. It's seen as a response to the Model 3 as it's aimed at the same market.

Won't be out for a while and I want to change in next 6 months. There's the Ioniq and Leaf 2 I guess with Kona etc. on the horizon but a 3 series BEV or Model 3 is at least 18 months away.

who_ru

BMW giving electric a bad name with those prices.

TBi

who_ru wrote: »

BMW giving electric a bad name with those prices.

No but VW is. Selling an ev Golf at the same price as the highly engineered, carbon fibre i3!

Depends whether you see 35 K as worth it or not and that's for the basic spec. it's a really good car and I liked it a hell of a lot but I'm sure you can get 2nd hand ones from the U.K cheaper.

Patser

Really tempted by an I3, even had a few minutes of a test drive, so thanks for that write up Mad Lad.

Did you have anyone as passenger in the back? How awkward was it getting in and out for all of ye if ye did, and how did performance/handling fare out?

3 things stopping me from changing now:
1. Price - it's insane how dear it is for a 4 seater. So that has me stuck looking at a UK import
2. I'm an EV newbie, so hearing about DC quick charge, heat pumps etc while looking at vague online ads has me worried about going over and ending up with an outdated model
3. I only got my own hybrid last year, it's big, powerful and economical. 'Upgrading' to a smaller, more limited car - albeit more fun and even more economical seems counter intuitive to some part of my mind.

unkel

Deleted User wrote:

Quiet possible , I believe it was due for production in 2018, probably mid to late 2018 but imagine the cost of that would be insane you're probably talking 50 K for the base.

What makes you say that? They managed to sell a very fast 330e phev for the same price as a 318d and an BEV 3-series doesn't even need any ICE parts and battery cost will be coming down big style this year and next year. And of course it will have to compete with the Model 3. I'd say a Base price of around €40k is more likely

We'll see who predicts right

Patser

Patser wrote: »

Really tempted by an I3, even had a few minutes of a test drive, so thanks for that write up Mad Lad.

Did you have anyone as passenger in the back? How awkward was it getting in and out for all of ye if ye did, and how did performance/handling fare out?

3 things stopping me from changing now:
1. Price - it's insane how dear it is for a 4 seater. So that has me stuck looking at a UK import
2. I'm an EV newbie, so hearing about DC quick charge, heat pumps etc while looking at vague online ads has me worried about going over and ending up with an outdated model
3. I only got my own hybrid last year, it's big, powerful and economical. 'Upgrading' to a smaller, more limited car - albeit more fun and even more economical seems counter intuitive to some part of my mind.

No bother,

The I3 is a tall car and you kind of have to climb up a little into the rear seat, but, it's actually not bad, you can raise the drivers seat for more foot room if needs be and for better access you can let the drivers and passengers seat forward like in a 3 door.

I didn't have anyone sitting in the rear for any length of time.

I'm short enough at 5 foot 8 so sitting in the rear seat at my driving position is no problem at all for me, my Partners Dad on the other hand would probably struggle at 6 foot 5 , he has no issue at all in the rear seat in the Leaf. The Leaf has plenty of headroom.

Performance was excellent, handling surprisingly good on those skinny 19 inch wheels, steering was great and it made me realise when I got back into the leaf how loose it felt I nearly crashed into the roundabout coming out of Joe Duffy motors on the way out because it felt like awful understeer after the I3 lol

Even though the suspension was pretty soft and was a bit bouncy on the Galway roads the handling was pretty damn good. It soaked up the crap roads very well indeed, I was expecting to have to go to the dentist to redo my fillings but was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it was and how good it handled. The bad twisty roads were a lot of fun and particularly so with the Rex because I didn't need to worry about range so I put the boot down, it just so happens I had the range on battery after all.

Electrics are progressing fast and the Model 3 should be available within 1-2 years for non deposit holders , so if buying new now the I3 sure as hell is a fun car. If buying new then I'd wait for the rumoured facelift which is supposed to have more range and more power.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

What makes you say that? They managed to sell a very fast 330e phev for the same price as a 318d and an BEV 3-series doesn't even need any ICE parts and battery cost will be coming down big style this year and next year. And of course it will have to compete with the Model 3. I'd say a Base price of around €40k is more likely

We'll see who predicts right

Because it's a BMW simple as and Tesla are no competition to BMW really, ICE sales are BMW's bread and butter.

Can Tesla make a model 3 that puts a smile on your face ? technology a side, is the chassis and handling good enough ? time will tell.

In reality thinking about it all now makes me realise Nissan should have had a Rex version of the Leaf, it would have sold far more.

unkel

Of course the Tesla is competition! And ICE isn't going to be anyone's bread and butter in a few years time

BMW 3-series sales have fallen radically in the last year. Down 40% or so. The only logical reason for this was the imminent arrival of Tesla Model 3

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Of course the Tesla is competition! And ICE isn't going to be anyone's bread and butter in a few years time

But for now ICE is most manufacturers bread an butter with the exception of tesla. They will adjust when and if necessary.

Wibbs

Deleted User wrote: »

Can Tesla make a model 3 that puts a smile on your face ? technology a side, is the chassis and handling good enough ? time will tell.

In chassis and handling they haven't yet. Their cars have zero "feel" in the steering, braking and chassis, are extremely heavy and boat like when pushing on and in every single track test the motor management craps itself and reduces power(and on more than one occasion the braking appears to crap out intermittently too). Their biggest "fun factor" is the acceleration.

Now for the most part the current EV market and early adopters and certainly the Tesla fans don't really care about style or handling(and seem to have little knowledge of the latter) and much more about the technology under the bonnet. The wider car buying public don't care much about those things either, or the tech for that matter, so I expect the supermini town car segment to go over to EV the fastest. The Beemer segment cares more though(and the brand cache, which Tesla has some) and longtime BMW owners are more likely to know about handling and road poise and all that. That will be the harder sell for the EV makers and Tesla is first into the fray. Given that Tesla and Musk never meet their advertised timelines, are not a large volume manufacturer and all previous cars have handled like a grand piano I'll wait and see.

unkel wrote: »

Of course the Tesla is competition! And ICE isn't going to be anyone's bread and butter in a few years time

Yep it will, or it depends what you mean by "a few years". Let's not lose the run of ourselves here. The practical market for EV's is First World (sub)urban family driving and likely to remain so for at least five years. For one everyday example even in the First World the White Van Man sector has pretty much nothing in the pipeline in EVs. Depends on the geographical market too. In high density population areas with infrastructure like Western Europe or Japan for example EV's will get more and earlier penetration, in places like the US, or Australia less so. Never mind places like Africa, South America, or large tracts of Asia.

uphillonly

Mad Lad, thanks for sharing. Forums are such a good way to gather info thanks to people like you sharing their real experience.

We went for a new BEV a couple of months ago. We didn't have the same test experience from that BMW dealership, inattentive & ignorant would be putting it mildy and ended up buying from Cork dealership. Our most useful test was taking a Go Car I3 for a few hours on a Saturday to see how it coped for the usual parent taxi kids activities. Cost a few quid but was convenient and we quickly learnt what a great car it is for us.

BEV has a 200km+ range so is fine for all our day trips from Dublin. Home charger now installed after dangling granny charger out the bedroom window for the first few weeks. It's so ridiculously easy to charge, once you have it, what you thought would be a burden is a plus. No more petrol station visits. For our normal use we only need to charge once a week. However I'm not sure I would have bought an EV yet if we didn't have off street parking to install our own charger.

Last weekend was the first big trip, 600km round trip to the west. With previous town driving it was telling me I had 230km range when I left but that dropped to 170km after driving at 120kmh for a while. Sweetspot seems about 90kmh. 100-110khm wasn't affecting it too badly. I'm a road cyclist so am well aware of wind being the biggest energy consumer as you increase your speed. The distance remaining adjusts on your current driving & seems fair.

Pleasantly surprised how comfy it was at motorway speeds, as our other car has a long wheel base, I thought the shorter, taller I3 would feel a little jumpy and be buffeted by the wind. Actually smooth. Acceleration, as you noted, is good at all speeds. Feels just as constant going from 100 to 120. I really like the cruise control, intuitive & easy to adjust so you don't need to turn on & off when behind slower cars. With the current fast charging network, long distance journeys require a bit of planning. ESB ap is accurate. They all worked well & I actually felt less tired & stressed. The forced 20-30 min break meant you got a proper rest that you need after 150km, probably safer driving as a result. We all know that feeling when you drive for too long and lose a bit of alertness.

We are a 2+2 family and passenger space is perfect. Tall adult friends have been impressed with rear. Older in-laws think the raised floor is easier to get into the back. With seats folded flat I can fit two road bikes with front wheels off. For me that was an important use of a 2nd car. The flat boot without a lip makes this easier. But this is primarily a great city car, weekend breaks ok but driving away for a long holiday might be a space struggle with 4 in the car. Perhaps 3 would be no problem because of the independent folding seats.

BMW Connected app is useful: charging status, car location, walking directions to your car (you won't have the Prius La La Land issue), getting the lights to flash if in a big carpark, even remotely locking & unlocking the car. I just discovered you can set a destination on app and send it to car. Tested it last night. Easy. Sat Nav is good but running side by side with Google maps, Google always wins against any system as it has best traffic data. Google maps tracks the speed of mobile phones in cars. Great use of data.

The small exterior makes it a great city car. Turns like a London taxi, easy to get into small parking spots. It's so much so nicer to use in town than our estate.

Features we chose.

- Professional media package. Wider screen is very nice, especially in split screen with music on one side. When exiting a motorway with guidance the music split side shows you the correct junction exit, nice touch.
- Harmon Kardon speakers.
- heat pump. Checking forums this is a real energy saver in winter. Not needed yet.
- smarter wheels. Wasn't keen on the base set. There's always a little vanity in cars!
- Ours came with Enhanced Bluetooth. I'm still not entirely sure what it does extra but the bluetooth phone integration (iPhone) is very good. I can control music through steering wheel & choose calls from recent call list. Sees two iPhones at the same time.

With the grants the BEV cost 40k. It isn't the cheapest & I know the depreciation will be high as better batteries come out but it's a lovely drive, very practical & we plan to keep it a long time. My wife is more of a car person but was humouring my inner tree-hugger in agreeing to the I3. She's come to love it too. BMW are offering battery upgrades on older I3. Perhaps they will do the same with this model in a few years time and range will go to 300-400km? If they don't though, 200km is plenty for our main use & as the fast charger network expands, that won't be much of an issue.

No car can do everything well but it's noticeable that our old diesel estate hasn't been touched since we got this unless we need two cars. This smaller car covers almost all our driving requirements. Made me realise that for most driving, most people's cars are far larger than they need. If you are a two car family having one smaller car probably makes a lot of sense.

yannakis

Deleted User wrote: »

I hope you're sitting down.

I think this model I had , not sure the trim was 52.5 K after all taxes and grants.

:eek: Gawd, I'd be keener to go for a used Model S for that money! :pac:

goz83

uphillonly wrote: »

However I'm not sure I would have bought an EV yet if we didn't have off street parking to install our own charger.

So you have off street parking and access to your own charger? Any chance of posting a pic?

gooner99

Can anyone explain REX to me?

goz83

gooner99 wrote: »

Can anyone explain REX to me?

Range EXtender.

Small petrol generator to extend range of vehicle.

gooner99

goz83 wrote: »

Range EXtender.

Small petrol generator to extend range of vehicle.

Ah right. So you fill the car up a small amount of petrol. How much petrol and what is the range?

You can get another 140 odd Kms according to the estimated range for the Rex on the dash.

The petrol tank is about 7-8 litres if I remember correctly, if you were worried you could carry a can in the boot but I wouldn't bother.

yannakis

yannakis wrote: »

:eek: Gawd, I'd be keener to go for a used Model S for that money! :pac:

Yes it's expensive but can you get a model S that cheap ?

You can pick up a 33 Kwh I3 Rex from the U.K for about 28 K 2nd hand then add VRT ? how much that costs I wouldn't know but I wouldn't say it would be more than 1500 Euro's.

Or get a 22 Kwh older model Rex for less, maybe 110-130 Kms range EV.

If I were to get a new one I'd wait until the facelift model is announced hopefully in the Autumn, though that's pure speculation, rumoured to have more range which might eliminate the need for Rex especially if it can charge faster.

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes it's expensive but can you get a model S that cheap ?

Yes you can. They start under £40k, so under €46k plus a few grand VRT and then the cost of bringing it over. Around the €50k mark landed.