Guess what Mad_Lad got this time?

ELM327

They are nice but remember, in 3 years when you go to sell the range will be super small compared to other premium cars that are available now or in next 12 months

ELM327

ELM327 wrote: »

They are nice but remember, in 3 years when you go to sell the range will be super small compared to other premium cars that are available now or in next 12 months

That's the same for all current electric cars in fairness with the exception of maybe the Kona of course but the i3 is a far different car, I wouldn't drive the Kona, I don't like it and the i3 Rex has more than enough range.

The 42 Kwh i3 will most likely have plenty of range for most people too especially when the charging infrastructure improves.

punisher5112

punisher5112 wrote: »

Oh my god these are really growing on me.

At 1st I was like God they're awful looking yokes but I see one now and have a really wanting for one.

I really wish I had the money as I've moved and doing at least 180km a day and getting 54mpg in a 1.5 diesel.

Just bought a house so no hope of a loan to go with it but it's something I will have to be seriously considering at some point in the future as costs will be high running and ice.

I had the same opinions about the i3 first, hated it, test drove it and immediately loved it especially driving around Connemara , it was a joy and is a Joy on back roads and I still love driving it today, the Leaf was a good car but I really did get bored of it, it was too ordinary, the i3 is extra special.

Tazium

Tazium wrote: »

Unlikely to ever have it at home Mad_Lad, it's a company car, brand new. I know feck all about the battery which is probably the best result for EVs. - just get in and go! It's 42.2kWh, 135kW according to the order dockets. I've posted previously about which car to go for and the personal taxation on BEV's is just 4% rather than 20-25% for ICE this really helped the decision. Still have a lego-car feeling about it, expect that won't last though.

Nice, you will love it, it's a fun car, take it to some back roads.

I don't think you will get bored of it.

So what's the story, you are not allowed to bring it home ?

It has 3 phase AC charging , 11 Kw so see if you can get the 3 phase AC 32 amp cable because it is very convenient in town when you can plug into an AC street charger and it will save a lot of fast charging.

Tazium

haha you're saying things I don't understand. There's two cables that I got with the car, one is the granny type, house plugin and other is a Type2 cable I think. It's capable of fast charging and there's plenty of chargers here - NL. I could bring it home but it's a feck of a drive to do that from here!

Gumbo

Deleted User wrote: »

What year is it, battery ?

From the pics, its brand new and the 120Ah version.

kceire

kceire wrote: »

From the pics, its brand new and the 120Ah version.

Thought it was an import to Ireland when I saw the Reg thought it was a U.K car lol.

Didn't know it was an NL car but didn't even spot the steering on the left, I blame the sideways pics lol.

Tazium

Tazium wrote: »

haha you're saying things I don't understand. There's two cables that I got with the car, one is the granny type, house plugin and other is a Type2 cable I think. It's capable of fast charging and there's plenty of chargers here - NL. I could bring it home but it's a feck of a drive to do that from here!

Yes supplied is a type II single phase charge lead which will be good for 7 Kw.

The i3 can charge at 11 Kw 3 phase AC which makes a difference, believe me.

You need a 3 phase 32 amp cable but I don't know what kind of AC charge points you got there, 7 Kw , 11 or 22 Kw. You would need to check this first.

ELM327

It's Holland, so I presume they have 11kW 3 phase at home, like most other advanced European nations.
In Ireland we're told to use different christmas lights due to our crappy grid, forget about 3 phase we're lucky to have 220v single phase in some places

unkel

ELM327 wrote: »

It's Holland, so I presume they have 11kW 3 phase at home, like most other advanced European nations.

It's not standard in most houses but it's a really cheap upgrade (a few hundred quid, I could live with that )

ewj1978

punisher5112 wrote: »

Just bought a house so no hope of a loan to go with it but it's something I will have to be seriously considering at some point in the future as costs will be high running and ice.

Had to wait ages to get my house sorted but as soon as i did, bang straight onto avantcard and no bother getting a rate of 6.1%.
Being a homeowner will not affect your loan approval.

My i3 arrives Saturday week.

Cardenkelly

n97 mini wrote: »

400 sounds a lot.

I got the Ampera serviced in Charles Hurst (to keep the warranty). £250, which I felt was also very expensive. It bugged me that while they looked at a lot, they did less work than the €180 service the Civic IMA got. Granted that was years ago but the price of parts hasn't really changed.

hi, i just bought from hurst in lisburn. did u know that their service guy has now left for england and wanted to take mine to england tofix the charge door !!! they said they could find NOBODY in ire to fix it. i had to tell them about ryans in wexford and they happily let me get on with it. who, may i ask repairs yours and where in the south are you??? thx mick

punisher5112

ewj1978 wrote: »

Had to wait ages to get my house sorted but as soon as i did, bang straight onto avantcard and no bother getting a rate of 6.1%.
Being a homeowner will not affect your loan approval.

My i3 arrives Saturday week.

Realistic what sort of payment a week or month....

n97 mini

Cardenkelly wrote: »

hi, i just bought from hurst in lisburn. did u know that their service guy has now left for england and wanted to take mine to england tofix the charge door !!! they said they could find NOBODY in ire to fix it. i had to tell them about ryans in wexford and they happily let me get on with it. who, may i ask repairs yours and where in the south are you??? thx mick

Leixlip. Got the one and only service so far in Belfast late last year. Next not due to December. I'm not too worried about the conventional stuff as I do that myself anyway. Changed the rear brake pads not long after I got it as they were crumbling away. Almost no wear but just old.

ewj1978

punisher5112 wrote: »

Realistic what sort of payment a week or month....

on €25k was €485 a month.

ELM327

ewj1978 wrote: »

on €25k was €485 a month.

That's pretty good for 6% tbh
Wonder what their max amount of (unsecured?) finance they offer. This type of finance is a good option for folks looking to purchase in UK.

ewj1978

jumping in to show my new motor.
2016 94AH Rex.

mordeith

Colour is gorgeous

Nice one well wear.

Welcome to the i3 Club !

ELM327

Did you get that for 25k? that's a great deal.
Best value (much better than Ioniq/leaf40 etc) due to rex

Soarer

ewj1978 wrote: »

jumping in to show my new motor.
2016 94AH Rex.

Could do with a polish.

Soarer

I think I've put in on record before that there are one or two things about the i3 that slightly irritate me. But even with those annoyances, I find myself still really wanting one...approx. 12 months after my test drive!

I'm planning (hopefully) to upgrade the car in the next few (possibly 6) months.
Teslas are too rich for my blood unfortunately, so they're out.
Same goes for Niro/Kona. Wouldn't buy them anyway if I'd the money tbh.
Ioniq is a good car, but would want the SE from the UK. So a hen's teeth job.
e-Golf is a bit too saucy for the range given.

So that leaves me with a Tekna L40 or an i3 REx from the UK.
I've been back and forth in my head for weeks/months, and always seem to come back to the conclusion of....if I'm to spend ~€25k on a car, the only one I think I'd regret buying is the i3! That might change in the depth of winter when I have to open the kids' door in the pi$$ing rain! But at the minute, that's where I am. Fupp sake!
I'd be fairly particular as to what I'd want in the car too (the majority of the following)...
LED headlights
Tinted rear windows
Leather interior
Big screen
Reversing camera
Sunroof
Harmon Kardon Audio
Anything but the ugly wheels.
Could have a long wait on my hands!

So to bring this back on thread....
You have the REX, you're tootling up the motorway, your battery runs low and the REx kicks in. Can you still sit at 120 (ie. will the REx rev enough to top up the battery quickly enough?), or do you have to reduce speed to allow for charging?

ELM327

If you're deciding between a leaf and an i3 rex do yourself a favour and get the i3.
To answer your question all the i3 rex except the US first gen ones have no problem sustaining speed on the rex

Shefwedfan

Soarer wrote: »

So to bring this back on thread....
You have the REX, you're tootling up the motorway, your battery runs low and the REx kicks in. Can you still sit at 120 (ie. will the REx rev enough to top up the battery quickly enough?), or do you have to reduce speed to allow for charging?

According to The Grand Tour once the REX kicked in you had to run in low power mode, limited speed and everything turned off. Including heating etc


Now this seems to be a little but incorrect.....

ELM327

Shefwedfan wrote: »

According to The Grand Tour once the REX kicked in you had to run in low power mode, limited speed and everything turned off. Including heating etc


Now this seems to be a little but incorrect.....

This is not correct, the grand tour is an entertainment show not a factual show. the only i3 this happened on was the 22kWh version and even then it was only the US spec models due to legislation around BEVx categorization

Shefwedfan

ELM327 wrote: »

This is not correct, the grand tour is an entertainment show not a factual show. the only i3 this happened on was the 22kWh version and even then it was only the US spec models due to legislation around BEVx categorization

It is a good entertianment show, you have to admit

Soarer

ELM327 wrote: »

If you're deciding between a leaf and an i3 rex do yourself a favour and get the i3.

Yeah, thanks.
That's the way I'm looking myself. I'm sure I'd get used to the doors (change the mindset from looking at it as an awkward hatchback to an easy access coup;))

ELM327 wrote: »

To answer your question all the i3 rex except the US first gen ones have no problem sustaining speed on the rex

That's good to know.
And I'm assuming that, if one was so inclined, that the i3 could be run on the REx all the time, and never actually charge the battery? As daft an idea that would be!

Shefwedfan wrote: »

According to The Grand Tour once the REX kicked in you had to run in low power mode, limited speed and everything turned off. Including heating etc

Seen that episode myself. But I assumed they were just doing thing to the extremes (as always).
Your e-golf is a lovely looking motor actually. Surprised it hasn't sold yet!

unkel

ELM327 wrote: »

To answer your question all the i3 rex except the US first gen ones have no problem sustaining speed on the rex

The REx is a 2 cylinder 650cc 33BHP small motor bike engine

Max it can do is 110km/h indicated, so the real speed is less than that (I don't know how much less) without the help of the electric motor, but a tiny bit of headwind and you will be overtaken by Nissans driving at LeafSpeed :pac:

Linky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmCOdHZF91Q

Max speed in EV mode is an indicated 154km/h. That's not great either. But I guess adequate for most owners.

LOL I've never experienced any loss in power running on Rex at 120 Km/h even with 4% battery.

Once load has reduced it will charge back up a bit again.

Only an idiot runs the battery down so low anyway, the idea here is that if you are doing a long motorway trip and do not want to restrict your speed and don't want to charge on route knowing you won't make it on battery alone then fire up the Rex as soon as it allows at 75% battery charge and the battery range will drop much, much slower.

At 120 Km/h it's well capable of driving the car with no loss of power with low battery, remember the 94 Ah has a more powerful Rex than the 64 Ah.

Then when you get to slower roads and in town you can run 100% on battery again.

Rex is really great to have and most of all it avoids this in the pic below. I passed the Carlow DC on Saturday and a Model S was there , Leaf 40 and 24/30 Kwh leaf queuing. That has the potential to be 2 hr wait before you get to charge if you're the 4th car there. No thanks. It will improve in a few years but for now there's no way I would go back to EV only 60 Kwh or no 60 Kwh either.

Soarer

Cheers Mad_Lad.

So on a bit of a long journey, the ideal would be...
Start with 100% battery and full tank.
Set the car to turn on the REx at 75% (or whatever).
If you can't make it on one tank of juice and battery charge, top up the car with petrol to maintain the slow rate of battery discharge.
Once within EV range of your destination, switch off REx.

Sound about right?