So who's getting an i3?

[RossP]

KTF said:

RossP said:

Plus the i3 is so much more fun to drive than a leaf!

In what way?

Acceleration and handling.
i3 0-60 6.5s
Leaf 0-60 10.2s

[Welshbeef]

RossP said:

KTF said:

RossP said:

Plus the i3 is so much more fun to drive than a leaf!

In what way?

Acceleration and handling.
i3 0-60 6.5s
Leaf 0-60 10.2s

Plus i3 has a carbon tub and as a Rex it's not limited by battery.

[toys]

I think people are getting a little blinkered with the i3 / Leaf comparisons.

In my view comparing these two cars is like comparing a Golf GTi with a Focus Tdci. Frankly the i3 is in a different league to the Leaf when it comes to performance, handling and (to a lesser degree) overall design and quality.

There are many considerations when buying a car, and purchase cost is only one of many.

I am a very happy i3 owner, but fwiw believe that the Leaf is excellent value for what it provides. Horses for courses...

[RossP]

I agree with toys.

i3 is the (much) better car, but for the money the leaf is a cracking buy.

Mine is a battery only i3 too

[MarshPhantom]

Face facts chaps, most people getting an electric car are doing it to save money. The i3 may be brilliant, but to most in this market that doesn't really matter.

[RossP]

MarshPhantom said:

Face facts chaps, most people getting an electric car are doing it to save money. The i3 may be brilliant, but to most in this market that doesn't really matter.

Hmmm, not sure I agree. I wanted an i3 because they are brilliant to drive and look funky. The fact that running one as a company car is extremely tax efficient was a bonus. As is the low fuel costs. I have spent approx £400 on electricity over 16,500 miles. Happy days!

[Richyboy]

I don't get why BMW aren't trying to saturate the market with i3's before the release of the smaller cheaper tesla.

[Welshbeef]

RossP said:

Hmmm, not sure I agree. I wanted an i3 because they are brilliant to drive and look funky. The fact that running one as a company car is extremely tax efficient was a bonus. As is the low fuel costs. I have spent approx £400 on electricity over 16,500 miles. Happy days!

But you have 4 vehicles

M135i
I3
Fiat 500 "Pop"
Ducati monster

So you are not able to carry out the full car duties with the one vehicle you need 3 plus a nice toy. Expensive all round depreciation. Say instead you bought 1 car to do all that plus the Ducatti net net you'd be far better off.

[amstrange1]

Richyboy said:

I don't get why BMW aren't trying to saturate the market with i3's before the release of the smaller cheaper tesla.

Presumably because they don't want to lose that much money.

[daemon]

amstrange1 said:

Richyboy said:

I don't get why BMW aren't trying to saturate the market with i3's before the release of the smaller cheaper tesla.

Presumably because they don't want to lose that much money.

Indeed.

And likewise, why sell your cars cheaper now, before the Tesla comes along?

What good would saturating the market do?

Wait until it comes along and THEN discount if you have to.

[RossP]

Welshbeef said:

RossP said:

Hmmm, not sure I agree. I wanted an i3 because they are brilliant to drive and look funky. The fact that running one as a company car is extremely tax efficient was a bonus. As is the low fuel costs. I have spent approx £400 on electricity over 16,500 miles. Happy days!

But you have 4 vehicles

M135i
I3
Fiat 500 "Pop"
Ducati monster

So you are not able to carry out the full car duties with the one vehicle you need 3 plus a nice toy. Expensive all round depreciation. Say instead you bought 1 car to do all that plus the Ducatti net net you'd be far better off.

Didn't realise there was a limit on how many vehicles one was allowed (esp on PH!)

Who said I can't carry out full car duties with one vehicle? I do share the vehicles with the wife.

The i3 does more miles than the others put together. There's a surprise!

It's a Panda 100HP not a Fiat 500 - should have gone to specsavers? Anyway that's for my daughter who is learning to drive (i3 nor M135i suitable)

M135i is for sale anyways (pending arrival of new M4)

Hey, I love cars (and bikes) so why not spend my money on them??

Also I suspect from previous posts you have no interest in EVs and are just trolling...

Edited by RossP on Wednesday 29th July 21:25

[Richyboy]

daemon said:

Indeed.

And likewise, why sell your cars cheaper now, before the Tesla comes along?

What good would saturating the market do?

Wait until it comes along and THEN discount if you have to.

Yeah but when the tesla comes along who is going to even bother with a discounted electric car with an 80 mile range?

[Zoon]

Richyboy said:

Yeah but when the tesla comes along who is going to even bother with a discounted electric car with an 80 mile range?

March 2016 reveal of the Model 3 according to the press.

[Amateurish]

There will always be a better car coming in the future. I am sure that the Leaf will get a longer range, the i3 will be improved etc etc. Better to compare what is available to buy right now, than think about what Tesla might be introducing to the UK in 2018...

[Amateurish]

gangzoom said:

Amateurish said:

Base i3 is £25k. Base i3 Rex is £28k. Tesla S 70 is £51k. That more than double the base model i3. So sure the S is better in every way, but it is *double* the price!

Leafs can be had for even less. My Tekna was £17k new IIRC.

But is comes with much better base spec and most important a 70kWh battery versus 18kWh - Add in no parking sensors, rubbish sat nav (my previous car was a BMW 335i, so I know how rubbish the 'Buissness nav is'), no real time traffic info, no keyless entry.

Even a battery i3 specced up to the same as the Tekna (without leather) comes out at £30k after the grant - Given both the Leaf and i3 has the same range, £13k premium (75% extra) is a lot to pay for the i3 over a top spec Leaf - assuming you paid £17k for the Leaf.

But I suppose with i3 you do get the most 'priceless' option as standard....The BMW badge, which is what my in-laws want more than anything else. So a used i3 is probably what they will end up with

I have to say I disagree, the i3 comes well specced as standard. The SatNav is good (better than the Leaf) and to be honest the whole iDrive system is better designed than the Leaf's UI. The i3 does have rear parking sensors as standard, and real time traffic info and keyless start. It's got BT, cruise, heated seats, auto wipers, headlights, 19 inch wheels all standard fit. The i3 is a much better car all round than the Leaf, and the handling and performance is streets ahead.

The Tesla may be better specced, but like I say it is double the price.

[gangzoom]

Amateurish said:

The Tesla may be better specced, but like I say it is double the price.

But we all know the battery is the most expensive part of any EV. The Tesla's battery is 3.5 times larger than the i3, or putting another way the i3's battery is 31% the size of the Tesla. So actually at double the price the Tesla is significently better value for money than the i3 based on battery size alone.

[Amateurish]

True. But battery size is definitely a case of diminishing returns. You wouldn't pay 10 times the price for 10 times the battery size. Personally, I think the i3 Rex is the ideal solution, rather than carrying around 70kwh of very expensive battery all the time.

[gangzoom]

Amateurish said:

True. But battery size is definitely a case of diminishing returns. You wouldn't pay 10 times the price for 10 times the battery size. Personally, I think the i3 Rex is the ideal solution, rather than carrying around 70kwh of very expensive battery all the time.

Given my Leaf has essentially the same range as a battery i3, I can tell you I would love to have 70kWh of energy rather than just 24kWh. The throttle response of the Leaf (I persume the i3) is great, but any 'spirted' driving drains the range pretty quickly - I've used 20% charge in a 10 mile B road drive. For me having a two stroke noisy petrol engine kicking in to recharge the battery takes the whole point of EVs. If I wanted petrol to power my car I would have keep my 335i.

[JonnyVTEC]

MarshPhantom said:

There's an online Top Gear article titled "Why isn't the i3 selling?" from April.

No UK figures but it says the Leaf is outselling it 3 to 1. The Leaf isn't exactly common.

Mentions 17000 sales worldwide, which doesn't seem much.

Last month in the UK it was 5:1.

[JonnyVTEC]

gangzoom said:

But we all know the battery is the most expensive part of any EV. The Tesla's battery is 3.5 times larger than the i3, or putting another way the i3's battery is 31% the size of the Tesla. So actually at double the price the Tesla is significently better value for money than the i3 based on battery size alone.

A counter view on that would be that BMW spent the money on the body such that you need less battery to deliver similar to a leaf, with the mass reduction paying dividends to driving dynamics; the investment on the body gives the i3 USP that is 'paid for' by the reduction in battery size and hence its price.