Guess what Mad_Lad got this time?

I travelled to the Airport this morning to drop off the outlaws, finally ( jump for joy ) the house is mine again

Anyway, 190 Kms and I was going to charge at the garage just outside the Airport, one leaf charging and a 40 Kwh just pulled in before me, I moved on, the charger at Clonshaugh is down, Naas is down and I just checked the map a second ago and the one at the airport is still in use so the next available charger on this route N7, M7 is Waterford hahaha this is a joke, Newlands has no CCS, Carlow has no CCS.

I wouldn't normally use Naas any more because I have the Rex and it's too difficult to get to but I said today, I would give it a go because I'm not in a rush and I was on my own.

The Rex saved me probably 1 hr waiting around but if I had a BEV only I was screwed.

The state of Ireland's DC infrastructure is a horrid joke at this stage.

ELM327

In fairness quite a few of the fast chargers in Dublin are offline at the moment, combine that with the numbers on the road for the holidays (a lot of people took this week off too) and it's bound to be busy.

I did over 2k km over the holidays visiting family members and I queued once for 15 minutes. Rest of the time, chargers were free and working. Gorey, Coynes Cross, J14M7, Navan, Enfield, and (i think) longford amongst others. I had to call ecars for the longford one but the rest without issue other than 15 mins queue in Gorey.

It's crap compared to other countries and it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Not the point, they're shouldn't be so many off line and there shouldn't be queues not at this stage of the game. No new chargers since 2015, it's not acceptable any more.

Dublin is where you'd think there'd be a lot more chargers working but the amount of chargers is ridiculous, and none in the city at all, 0.

If I were to drive say from Dublin port to Waterford, there are 0 chargers along that route, absolutely 0 working chargers, even if Naas were up that leaves only 1 charger between Dublin Port and Waterford and the Naas charger is extremely busy and very inaccessible at the best of times.

So what's going to happen when there are 2 chargers on site, will there be 1 down and we'll be told we should be thankful that there is one working while 3 cars are queuing ?

The Government should make all garages install chargers, there isn't a single garage owned charger in Ireland that I know of.

It's looking more and more likely I'll need to hang on to the Rex for a lot longer than I thought, not a bad thing either really. I was actually thinking that if I'm still on shift then I could give the car to the OH and she can drive it to work when I'm off, I work 14 shifts a month the rest I'm off, or, if I take 4 holidays I get two weeks off. It has it's advantages but I'd be clocking up a lot more mileage if I had a regular 9-5.

It all depends on the battery really , currently it's showing 100% capacity after 1 year 9 months and 44,000 odd Kms.

rolion

Ha, a good one...you are talking driving Dublin to Waterford as there are no online chargers... to be honest, i am afraid sometime to drive inside Dublin's M50 !!! Saturday,D15 offline, Clondalkin LUAS offline, others occupied.

I think, day after day, since i got the LEAF, that the only realistic way I save money is that I haven't drove around the Country as used to do with the MPV, hundreds of kilometres and sleeping weekends in hotels, spending hard earned cash.
With the EV, i barely spend few euros at the charging points for a beverage and a scone.

With current state of charging points availability, i will say that's the really fcukign savings I make...

unkel

Sell the Leaf, go back to your house, lock the door behind you, stay right there and your savings will be even more savage.

mickdw

The leaf was the best thing ever. Range was never an issue until rex was bought.
Now the rex is the life saver.... If this trend continues, petrol will be the fuel of the future.

NIMAN

...and they wonder why people won't invest in EVs.

Shocking infrastructure. Government not taking it seriously at all.

unkel

mickdw wrote: »

The leaf was the best thing ever. Range was never an issue until red was bought.
Now the rex is the life saver.... If this trend continues, petrol will be the fuel of the future.

Petrol is no good if you can't fill your car up anywhere. That's the problem with EVs in this country at the moment: not having a covering network of fast chargers where you don't have to queue

I'd be perfectly happy with my tiny 28kWh battery if I could fill up everywhere for 3 times the price of home peak rate electricity. This problem was the same with early petrol cars. There were no pumps to fill you car up with. You had to go to the chemist to buy a jerrycan of petrol.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Petrol is no good if you can't fill your car up anywhere. That's the problem with EVs in this country at the moment: not having a covering network of fast chargers where you don't have to queue

I'd be perfectly happy with my tiny 28kWh battery if I could fill up everywhere for 3 times the price of home peak rate electricity. This problem was the same with early petrol cars. There were no pumps to fill you car up with. You had to go to the chemist to buy a jerrycan of petrol.

haha, it wasn't actually petrol though from the Chemist was it ?

unkel

Yup. Quick google:

"Today we fill up our cars with petrol from pumps at filling stations, but for the first 25 years of British motoring such things didn't exist. Instead, you could only buy petrol in two-gallon cans from chemists"

First petrol station opened in the UK in 1919, probably a bit later here.

mickdw

mickdw wrote: »

The leaf was the best thing ever. Range was never an issue until red was bought.
Now the rex is the life saver.... If this trend continues, petrol will be the fuel of the future.

Lol, no but the Rex is a mighty good get out of jail card for now for sure.

I burned less than 3 litres of petrol for 193 total Kms and that was driving the car on too.

In my leaf thread on many occasions quite clearly stated I was aware of the limitations of the car and stated clearly that there were many trips I simply could not take it and clearly stated I knew what I was getting into with the car and with the PCP. However, range wise I can take the i3 Rex anywhere.

What I really wasn't prepared for was the attitudes of a lot of people at chargers, selfish inconsiderate gits. "I want for free and screw you, I want it all not just a little bit"

You see back in January 2015 , sh1t, when I think of it , 4 years ago !! time is flying, but I had high hopes for the charging infrastructure by the time it came to change and while I accepted the limited infrastructure in 2015 I find it hard to digest today.

Whether I have 20-30-60 Kwh, eventually the infrastructure will come back to bite me when I need it the most.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Yup. Quick google:

"Today we fill up our cars with petrol from pumps at filling stations, but for the first 25 years of British motoring such things didn't exist. Instead, you could only buy petrol in two-gallon cans from chemists"

First petrol station opened in the UK in 1919, probably a bit later here.

Haha, Jaysus, I can't ever imagine having to going to a Chemist for Petrol !

NIMAN

NIMAN wrote: »

...and they wonder why people won't invest in EVs.

Shocking infrastructure. Government not taking it seriously at all.

Yes , indeed it is disgraceful. But they did allocate 20 odd Million for EV chargers , I wonder how far that will get the ESB, will they continue to dot single chargers everywhere or will they install 4 + per site ? I have read where they intend to install 150 Kw chargers which would be good progress but garages need to get the finger out after all, they could probably make more from charging for charging than what they make on Liquid fuels.

unkel

They say they will install 4 per site but iirc I saw it posted somewhere that wouldn't be until Q2 2019

And it's the ESB, a semi-state company. Very good at paying themselves massive salaries and pensions. But not so quick to provide adequate infrastructure. It's likely the private sector will do a far superior job far quicker (Ionity)

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Petrol is no good if you can't fill your car up anywhere. That's the problem with EVs in this country at the moment: not having a covering network of fast chargers where you don't have to queue

I'd be perfectly happy with my tiny 28kWh battery if I could fill up everywhere for 3 times the price of home peak rate electricity. This problem was the same with early petrol cars. There were no pumps to fill you car up with. You had to go to the chemist to buy a jerrycan of petrol.

Sure, you could live with a small battery if you can A, charge it any time anywhere, and B, charge it fast, 10 mins to 80%.

I find it strange that BMW have not increased charger power for the 42 Kwh i3, it's disappointing really, limited to 50 Kw on a 150 kw charger, even if they increased it to 70 Kw, the battery is AC cooled for God's sake , you can charge it to death in the height of Summer and it will never get too hot or throttle charging, it is rather strange.

I really wonder when the ESB will start installing chargers ? Summer ? that's another half a year away !

unkel

unkel wrote: »

They say they will install 4 per site but iirc I saw it posted somewhere that wouldn't be until Q2 2019

And it's the ESB, a semi-state company. Very good at paying themselves massive salaries and pensions. But not so quick to provide adequate infrastructure. It's likely the private sector will do a far superior job far quicker (Ionity)

I'm sure the ESb will have to account for every penny the Government give them, I should hope so !

Q2 2019 is a joke , I really can't see things improve a lot when my PCP is up in November 2020.

Yeah Ionity may have 1 site of 4 x 150 kw chargers by Q4 2019 but that's not a big deal really. They were supposed to have the first site open by the end of 2018 !

A new garage is being built on the M9 just after kilcullen, very slowly by the way, so I hope they intend to install a few chargers there, the M9 is severely lacking chargers.

Wildly Boaring

[Deleted User] wrote: »

What I really wasn't prepared for was the attitudes of a lot of people at chargers, selfish inconsiderate gits. "I want for free and screw you, I want it all not just a little bit"

I am not up on the chargers and fast v slow. AC or DC.

But this was a point I wanted to make after the Christmas break.

I met an uncle of mine before Christmas who has a Toyota plug in hybrid. Last time I met him he would not shut up about how great it was and all the money he was saving.

This time he would not shut up about charger trouble. And his main gripe was the attitude of "Leaf drivers" (his words).

Cars parked up all day using the sole working charger.
Cars parked all day for free parking.
Drivers telling him to stop using their charger
"Leaf drivers" with the attitude thet they were more important than him as he could use petrol too.

He was genuinely pissed off. To the extent that their second car was deffo to be fully elec last time and now will not be changed in the medium term.

After meeting him I started keeping an eye out. It is rare to see a working, free charger. Are we at the.capacity of our current infrastructure?

My mother was looking at a leaf. He turned her off completely, but he is generally an all or nothing type anyway

Wildly Boaring

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

I am not up on the chargers and fast v slow. AC or DC.

But this was a point I wanted to make after the Christmas break.

I met an uncle of mine before Christmas who has a Toyota plug in hybrid. Last time I met him he would not shut up about how great it was and all the money he was saving.

This time he would not shut up about charger trouble. And his main gripe was the attitude of "Leaf drivers" (his words).

Cars parked up all day using the sole working charger.
Cars parked all day for free parking.
Drivers telling him to stop using their charger
"Leaf drivers" with the attitude thet they were more important than him as he could use petrol too.

He was genuinely pissed off. To the extent that their second car was deffo to be fully elec last time and now will not be changed in the medium term.

After meeting him I started keeping an eye out. It is rare to see a working, free charger. Are we at the.capacity of our current infrastructure?

My mother was looking at a leaf. He turned her off completely, but he is generally an all or nothing type anyway

There are AC and DC public charge points, technically the AC are charge points and DC are actual chargers, for AC the charger is built into the car.

Charging varies from car to car but for example, a Nissan leaf 2011-2014 had only a 3.3 Kw charger which took 7 hrs to charge, later the updated model came in 2014 with "optional" 6.6 kw charger, taking half the time to charge provided the car was plugged into a suitable charge point or properly known as "EVSE" most were still sold with 3.3 kw chargers and dealers bought only the 3.3 kw with the odd 6.6 kw in order to keep costs down but the 6.6 Kw charger was very convenient and in 2 hrs you could get around 13 Kwh into the car just over 50%.

The EGolf, Ioniq have 7 Kw chargers as well as the BMW i3 from 2014- the newer 33 Kwh battery which came out in late 2016 and includes a 3 phase 11 Kw AC charger and gets from say, 20-90% in 2 ish hrs , remember the original Leaf had 24 kwh battery and took around 6 hrs for a lot less kwh delivered than a 11 Kw i3 or 22 Kw Zoe.

The king of AC is the Renault Zoe which can charge at 22 Kw from the AC points or 44 kw AC at a fast charger but fast AC is dead and there won't be any more chargers supporting fast AC or 44 Kw but 22 Kw AC is dead handy to say the least and so is 11 kw it means less time spent at fast chargers.

Our Public DC chargers max out at 45-50 Kw max, but a lot of cars don't charge at the full 50 kw and depends on battery temp, much below 20 Deg C means slower charging and early electric cars would start at 45 Kw and quickly ramp down to 30 kw and less by 80% where the likes of the 33 Kwh i3 and 30 Kwh leaf and Ioniq continue to charge at full rate until about 80% and still charge at a decent rate up to about 90%.

Electric cars are great but the limited range is a lot harder to live with especially considering the Public DC fast charging network is severely lacking.

On the plus side, the Leaf has more chargers available because there are more ChaDeMo than CCS chargers because Nissan were the first out with the Leaf and they adopted ChaDeMo but it's likely all future chargers will be CCS only meaning the leaf could be at a huge disadvantage in a few years unless they adopt CCS and fast.

At ballinasloe before Christmas there was a Leaf 40 Kwh driver and already p1ssed off with the network along with an Ioniq driver.

At 70% I let the Leaf driver charge and headed off to Galway, I could have been a proper little d1ck and told him too bad he'll have to wait like I was told many times when I had the Leaf but even when I had the Leaf I let many drivers in and even told them to go on ahead and do their shopping and I will plug them in and start their charge which I did but didn't have to.

Many times I was left 30 mins to an hour at Naas after a 12 hr shift while locals went to shop knowing I only needed 10 mins to get home but was told too bad I'll have to wait when they could have charged at home.

Indeed, I also thought those with petrol engines should not use the DC network but considering I was never a d1ck in the Leaf and always just took what I needed I think even with my petrol backup that I deserve a little bit of the network after all , it's there for everyone, you could and I have many times argued that while yes, the person with the Rex or Outlander can make their way home on petrol that the local leaf driver can also charge at home using his home charge point but won't because he's "entitled" to use the network and boy God he will indeed make sure to use it, but soo too is the PHEV driver now when I say PHEV at least cars that can charge at the faster rate such as i3 or Outlander but especially the i3 which charges at 50 Kw V I think 20 Kw for the Outlander.

Give and take is what I say, don't to to others what you would not like them to do to you. I stand by that always have and always will, if I can help someone out I will.

Oh and cold increases charge times, optimum battery temp is 20 deg C and much below this can see a notable increase in charge times for all electrics. Also heat, the leaf can see increased charge times when the battery is hot, also the Hyundai ioniq, even though it's fan cooled it has it's limitations but still better than the Leaf 24-40 kwh , the BMW i3 battery is AC cooled and can be fast charged forever and it will not over heat or throttle charging current even no matter how hard it's driven.

ewj1978

They'll be bringing in charging for public points this year. When that happens you'll see a lot of empty chargers. Main reason: its free now. Charging comes in, it'll be cheaper at home.

ewj1978

ewj1978 wrote: »

They'll be bringing in charging for public points this year. When that happens you'll see a lot of empty chargers. Main reason: its free now. Charging comes in, it'll be cheaper at home.

Maybe, but there might be a lot of people who can't charge at home , apartment owners, people renting etc. The Government need to make EV charging a right along with broadband, to be honest I would consider EV charging a lot more important than high speed broadband.

It would solve a lot of issues at Naas anyway for sure because a lot of people there were locals who could charge at home.

I'm not so sure people will be willing to pay to queue though so the ESB need to get the finger out and fast !!!

DrPhilG

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Indeed, I also thought those with petrol engines should not use the DC network but considering I was never a d1ck in the Leaf and always just took what I needed I think even with my petrol backup that I deserve a little bit of the network after all , it's there for everyone, you could and I have many times argued that while yes, the person with the Rex or Outlander can make their way home on petrol that the local leaf driver can also charge at home

I had my first dose of passive aggressive anti-i3 fun last week. Arrived at a fast charger just a minute before a L40. I only wanted a 20 minute boost as I had a 90 mile round trip after work and wanted to get up to 90%.

Leaf guy sat in his car for a while and then got out, did a full walk around mine, checked my battery level (about 84% at that stage) on the charger and then asked how long I'd be.

I told him I'd be a few minutes, and I was, and when I was unplugging he had a moan about all these hybrids hogging the fast chargers when they didn't need it, and those who charge beyond 80% even though it slows way down at that stage.

I may have told that story before, but it's late and I've been at work since 8am so I'm too tired to check.

I'd be far more concerned about people using the chargers just because it's free and could otherwise charge at home , people using it to charge when needed are not using the network inappropriately and worse again those who rub other people's noses in the fact that they are 100% aware you need a charge and are not a bit shy in letting you know they're using the charger because it's free and don't care you are on the road since 7 am and are trying to get just 10 mins charge to get home at 8:30 PM, these are the people I despise the most especially when they turn around and tell you that you should have got a car that was suitable !!!!!

If anyone had words with me at a charger I'd politely tell them to contact the ESB and request that they install a lot more chargers and I'd also ask them which would they prefer a PHEV owner using the network because he needed it or a BEV owner using the network just because it's free and could charge at home instead ? that would shut them up pretty quick.

DrPhilG

Oh he wasn't confrontational, just snide, lol.

DrPhilG

Ps if you've ever wondered what the inside of an i3 door looks like...

Is that yours ? what happened ?

DrPhilG

Storm Deirdre nearly blew the door off. Blew it wide open and damaged the check strap. Also bent this bit of the internal frame slightly.



New check strap/door brake cost £41 from BMW, the bodyshop fitted it for just £20 (friend of a friend).

When they stripped the panel and spotted the bent part they just took the door off, heated it and straightened it.

oodles19

Well lads, I've been following this thread (and others) and they've been hugely informative. I'm about to pull the trigger on an i3 94ah for the mother, there's a few knocking around in the UK that can be had for less than €22k all in and imported.

Mad_Lad's and others posts have been hugely informative, so thanks to all, I just have a few questions if anyone can help?

What should I be looking out for in relation to condition/battery life/REX health etc?

Does anyone have any experience with UK manufacturer approved warranty carrying over here? Can it be added to or service packs purchased in Ireland?

What cabling should be included?

My Mam is in her 60's and not techy in the least, is the Pro Nav worth bothering with or is the standard ok really?

Anything else I should be looking out for in general?

oodles19

oodles19 wrote: »

Well lads, I've been following this thread (and others) and they've been hugely informative. I'm about to pull the trigger on an i3 94ah for the mother, there's a few knocking around in the UK that can be had for less than €22k all in and imported.

Mad_Lad's and others posts have been hugely informative, so thanks to all, I just have a few questions if anyone can help?

What should I be looking out for in relation to condition/battery life/REX health etc?

Does anyone have any experience with UK manufacturer approved warranty carrying over here? Can it be added to or service packs purchased in Ireland?

What cabling should be included?

My Mam is in her 60's and not techy in the least, is the Pro Nav worth bothering with or is the standard ok really?

Anything else I should be looking out for in general?

Where can you get a 94 Ah i3 Rex imported tax paid for 22 K Euro's ?

Post a few links.

The pro Nav is good it gives the full screen size where the standard looks really gammy because it's much smaller with plastic to fill up the rest of the space but to be honest that's my individual taste.

You'll get the standard single phase 32 amp cable that will connect to public charge point and home charge point, it also includes a portable EVSE ( charge point ) which will connect to a standard household 3 pin socket but charge times will greatly increase but handy if you go somewhere, bring a extension lead and ask BnB owner if you can charge from the shed or out the window.

The i3 ( 94 Ah only ) is capable of 3 phase charging on AC which means 2 hrs 30 mins from 10-90% or 2 ish hrs from 10-80% it's very convenient when away and there's an public AC 22 Kw charge point close by, faster AC charging means a lot less time spent at DC Fast chargers which are getting busier all the time, 11 Kw is greatly appreciated I can tell you !

Usual charge times are about 7 hrs at 16 amp home charge point to about 3.5 -4 hrs on 32 amp charge point but you'd usually have 20 odd % minimum before charging so charge times will be less.

However, BMW do not provide a 3 phase charge cable so you will have to buy one, get a 32 amp 3 phase charge lead however your Mother might not need to charge much away from home and might be quiet happy just to use the generator the odd time she might need a public charge but it's always nice to keep the battery topped up.

When the ESB start charging for electricity at the fast chargers later this year it might not work out much more expensive to use the generator but it will have all the benefits of not having to queue at chargers which the BEV owner will have to do, that is , pay to queue ! AC will be free for the foreseeable.

I do not know of any Rex related issues and I've used mine a fair bit over the last year and nearly 2 months, Rex issues were mainly related to early models but of course anything can happen. Mine has been very reliable no issues.

Battery life for the 94 Ah is unknown yet, but mine is almost 2 years 10 months old and has 44,188 Kms and showing 100% battery capacity so what it will be like in a few years is anyone's guess but it looks good so far.

The Samsung battery cells in the i3 have some pretty amazing figures related to cycle life , 3000 cycles to 80% would be about 500,000 kms and you still have 80% capacity with the Rex there to make up the shortfall if needed. It remains to be seen how it will last in real life.

The is also has an AC cooled battery which only the Model S has and it makes a big difference, the i3 can be charged all day long on the fast charger and it won't get too hot and it won't throttle charger power either increasing charge times, the Nissan Leaf 40 Kwh can cripple charging from 45 Kw to 20 Kw , the Zoe and Ioniq have fans with limitations, their fan cooling in certain circumstances is not good enough but a lot better than the Leaf.

I can't say about carrying over the warranty but if it's a BMW warranty it should be no problem to get work carried out over here.

Regarding the tech, timers , charge points can be quite confusing to people who are not technically minded but you can set up the app on your phone so that if your Mother gets confused with setting up the timer then you can do it for her over the internet or via the app.

The i3 timer has a charge immediately function which means as soon as the car is plugged in it will start charging, then an off peak function which charges on off peak electricity which is between 11 PM - 8 AM in Winter and Midnight to 9 Am in Summer when the clocks change that is if your Mother has or intends to get a dual Meter installed costs about 50 Euro extra a year but that's nothing compared to Diesel, I got that back in a week by not having to pay for Petrol/Diesel and dishwashers and washing machines also immersion in Summer can use the night time electricity, dryer etc.

So if you want to leave at am , set depart time to 8 am and off peak from 11 PM to 8 AM.

Next is pre condition , click this if you want the car warm at the set depart time, it will also warm up the battery if it's very cold which is handy for a long trip by the time you need a fast charge the battery will be warm enough to allow full charger power. The car must be plugged in and the timer set 4 hrs in advance to allow it to warm up or the battery will not preheat.

If someone has a predictable routine such as someone with a 9-5 job Mon - Fri then all you need to do is set timer for say, 8 am, off peak 11-8am and set the days, Mon, tues, Wed etc, click precondition and that's it. You can also set two timers say the usual one for charging at night and then just a precondition timer for the evening when coming out of work say 5 PM.

Apologies for the long post and if you're already aware of some of the functions.

The i3 is a fantastic car and a real nice place to sit in higher spec trims.

oodles19

Deleted User wrote: »

oodles19 wrote: »

Well lads, I've been following this thread (and others) and they've been hugely informative. I'm about to pull the trigger on an i3 94ah for the mother, there's a few knocking around in the UK that can be had for less than €22k all in and imported.

Mad_Lad's and others posts have been hugely informative, so thanks to all, I just have a few questions if anyone can help?

What should I be looking out for in relation to condition/battery life/REX health etc?

Does anyone have any experience with UK manufacturer approved warranty carrying over here? Can it be added to or service packs purchased in Ireland?

What cabling should be included?

My Mam is in her 60's and not techy in the least, is the Pro Nav worth bothering with or is the standard ok really?

Anything else I should be looking out for in general?

Where can you get a 94 Ah i3 Rex imported tax paid for 22 K Euro's ?

Post a few links.

The pro Nav is good it gives the full screen size where the standard looks really gammy because it's much smaller with plastic to fill up the rest of the space but to be honest that's my individual taste.

You'll get the standard single phase 32 amp cable that will connect to public charge point and home charge point, it also includes a portable EVSE ( charge point ) which will connect to a standard household 3 pin socket but charge times will greatly increase but handy if you go somewhere, bring a extension lead and ask BnB owner if you can charge from the shed or out the window.

The i3 ( 94 Ah only ) is capable of 3 phase charging on AC which means 2 hrs 30 mins from 10-90% or 2 ish hrs from 10-80% it's very convenient when away and there's an public AC 22 Kw charge point close by, faster AC charging means a lot less time spent at DC Fast chargers which are getting busier all the time, 11 Kw is greatly appreciated I can tell you !

Usual charge times are about 7 hrs at 16 amp home charge point to about 3.5 -4 hrs on 32 amp charge point but you'd usually have 20 odd % minimum before charging so charge times will be less.

However, BMW do not provide a 3 phase charge cable so you will have to buy one, get a 32 amp 3 phase charge lead however your Mother might not need to charge much away from home and might be quiet happy just to use the generator the odd time she might need a public charge but it's always nice to keep the battery topped up.

When the ESB start charging for electricity at the fast chargers later this year it might not work out much more expensive to use the generator but it will have all the benefits of not having to queue at chargers which the BEV owner will have to do, that is , pay to queue ! AC will be free for the foreseeable.

I do not know of any Rex related issues and I've used mine a fair bit over the last year and nearly 2 months, Rex issues were mainly related to early models but of course anything can happen. Mine has been very reliable no issues.

Battery life for the 94 Ah is unknown yet, but mine is almost 2 years 10 months old and has 44,188 Kms and showing 100% battery capacity so what it will be like in a few years is anyone's guess but it looks good so far.

The Samsung battery cells in the i3 have some pretty amazing figures related to cycle life , 3000 cycles to 80% would be about 500,000 kms and you still have 80% capacity with the Rex there to make up the shortfall if needed. It remains to be seen how it will last in real life.

The is also has an AC cooled battery which only the Model S has and it makes a big difference, the i3 can be charged all day long on the fast charger and it won't get too hot and it won't throttle charger power either increasing charge times, the Nissan Leaf 40 Kwh can cripple charging from 45 Kw to 20 Kw , the Zoe and Ioniq have fans with limitations, their fan cooling in certain circumstances is not good enough but a lot better than the Leaf.

I can't say about carrying over the warranty but if it's a BMW warranty it should be no problem to get work carried out over here.

Regarding the tech, timers , charge points can be quite confusing to people who are not technically minded but you can set up the app on your phone so that if your Mother gets confused with setting up the timer then you can do it for her over the internet or via the app.

The i3 timer has a charge immediately function which means as soon as the car is plugged in it will start charging, then an off peak function which charges on off peak electricity which is between 11 PM - 8 AM in Winter and Midnight to 9 Am in Summer when the clocks change that is if your Mother has or intends to get a dual Meter installed costs about 50 Euro extra a year but that's nothing compared to Diesel, I got that back in a week by not having to pay for Petrol/Diesel and dishwashers and washing machines also immersion in Summer can use the night time electricity, dryer etc.

So if you want to leave at am , set depart time to 8 am and off peak from 11 PM to 8 AM.

Next is pre condition , click this if you want the car warm at the set depart time, it will also warm up the battery if it's very cold which is handy for a long trip by the time you need a fast charge the battery will be warm enough to allow full charger power. The car must be plugged in and the timer set 4 hrs in advance to allow it to warm up or the battery will not preheat.

If someone has a predictable routine such as someone with a 9-5 job Mon - Fri then all you need to do is set timer for say, 8 am, off peak 11-8am and set the days, Mon, tues, Wed etc, click precondition and that's it. You can also set two timers say the usual one for charging at night and then just a precondition timer for the evening when coming out of work say 5 PM.

Apologies for the long post and if you're already aware of some of the functions.

The i3 is a fantastic car and a real nice place to sit in higher spec trims.

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to type all that out and post such a comprehensive reply!!

Here are a few cars that appear to get me in around the €22k mark with €1300/€1400 VRT which is what I'm getting from the Revenue calculator:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201812113165300?advertising-location=at_cars&year-from=2016&postcode=ec1v9fr&model=I3&sort=price-asc&page=1&make=BMW&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201811272788420?advertising-location=at_cars&year-from=2016&postcode=ec1v9fr&model=I3&sort=price-asc&page=1&make=BMW&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201811132388141?advertising-location=at_cars&year-from=2016&postcode=ec1v9fr&model=I3&sort=price-asc&page=2&make=BMW&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201812223435139?advertising-location=at_cars&year-from=2016&postcode=ec1v9fr&model=I3&sort=price-asc&page=2&make=BMW&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used

What would you recommend from those if you don't mind me asking? You mentioned spec trims, what should I be looking for in regards to that? The mother could stretch to €24k or maybe €25k for the right car, but I've been looking at base level cars for bang for your buck driving to date...

oodles19

oodles19 wrote: »

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to type all that out and post such a comprehensive reply!!

Here are a few cars that appear to get me in around the €22k mark with €1300/€1400 VRT which is what I'm getting from the Revenue calculator:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201812113165300?advertising-location=at_cars&year-from=2016&postcode=ec1v9fr&model=I3&sort=price-asc&page=1&make=BMW&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201811272788420?advertising-location=at_cars&year-from=2016&postcode=ec1v9fr&model=I3&sort=price-asc&page=1&make=BMW&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201811132388141?advertising-location=at_cars&year-from=2016&postcode=ec1v9fr&model=I3&sort=price-asc&page=2&make=BMW&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201812223435139?advertising-location=at_cars&year-from=2016&postcode=ec1v9fr&model=I3&sort=price-asc&page=2&make=BMW&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used

What would you recommend from those if you don't mind me asking? You mentioned spec trims, what should I be looking for in regards to that? The mother could stretch to €24k or maybe €25k for the right car, but I've been looking at base level cars for bang for your buck driving to date...

To be honest, those cars have a decent spec, I'd try find one with the media professional which will have the better screen.

Any of those cars probably have all and more of the Equipment your Mother may ever use and the one she might appreciate more than anything is pre-heating, she'll love getting into a warm car and not having to defrost or defog the windscreen.

Look for the park assist which will parallel park the car automatically , if she's a person that struggles to parallel park it's quite fantastic but it is slow. I don't use it because I can park the car 10 times faster.

Some cars also have the Auto brake function and auto steer at slower speeds which might be handy on the M50, in traffic etc but you'd still need to be alert at all times not sure I would like this , I'd rather drive than always have to watch out for mistakes the car might make. Auto braking is convenient though and could save a rear end collision.

By the way, were you looking at i3 Rex or battery only ? all the ones in the links above do not have the Rex.