So who's getting an i3?

[chandrew]

Welshbeef said:

teabelly said:

The wireless ones don't even make contact. Basically you stop over one and it does the rest. It's the only sensible solution. You can't have cables trailing about.

The non ev parking over a charging point is impossible to deal with unless you go down the gated parking spot route and issue EV drivers with special toggle thingies to open the gates. Rising ground posts wouldn't be any good as numpties would end up impaled on them.

I'd think EV parking spaces and charging spots have been empty and unused as far as many have been concerned which is why they aren't respected.

Problem is clearly parking is at a premium and if there is one spot left is ICE car going to have to drive miles away to park and taxi back in or sod it park in an EV space?

Also what if you have too many EVs and not enough infra? Or old parking lots with no charge points

Huge parking charges - it focuses people's minds.

Zurich airport drop-off zone now charges CHF1 per minute after about 5 or 10 mins.

I recently lost my car parking ticket for the local railway station. They had cameras on the entry to find exactly the time I arrived via registration plate recognition. They charged me the right parking for the time, plus a nice CHF20 'admin' charge :-)

[DonkeyApple]

squirejo said:

DonkeyApple said:

I have to say that I have seen far fewer of these cars than I expected. Living in an area that probably has the highest concentration of G-Wizs, Telsas and some pretty weird EVs in between I genuinely expected to see an absolute tonne of the these around here. And in London in general I've just not noticed any at all.

What have sales figures been like?

Either you are joking or you haven't been anywhere in the massive Westminster borough, where EVs in general, and i3s in particular are rife!

Not joking at all. I live in Hampstead, work in the City and booze in Mayfair and it dawned on me the other day that I just hadn't seen any i3s. Hampstead is the original home of the EV there are tons of them. Even some weird Peugeot 306 thing and it's the only place I've seen Tesla sports cars and i8s but I've only seen one i3 living here. And I've not seen them out and about either. Lots of Model S though and Leafs.

Where I have seen them is on the A40 in the Cotswold's. I've seen a few. But then there is a dealer at the Oxford end so maybe they are test drives?

It's not the sort of car that doesn't stand out so as I was a staunch advocate of the i3 and firmly believed that it was the EV that would go mainstream and be on every suburban driveway out on the Met Line it just struck me that two years on it looks like I am wrong.

Edited by DonkeyApple on Saturday 27th February 08:36

[DonkeyApple]

MarshPhantom said:

Welshbeef said:

MarshPhantom said:

That's where they all are. Seen more I8s than I3s personally. I don't think anyone would claim it's been a success.

How do EV users in Central London cope with lack of charging points?

This has to be the biggest sort to medium term issue of EVs.

1. You can certainly imagine some people unplugging cars at night for sts and giggles then out you pop ready for your commute and no range.
2. All charge points are full and have a queue.
3. Some idiot ICE driver has parked in the EV charge point as it was the only parking space left when they arrived - now you cannot charge
4. Bloody charge point broken again grr
5. How much to charge my car!!!!
6. OEM service cost get lost you've only checked the wiper blades and tread depth yet want £200 on yer bike.

This is the problem, absolutely ideal if you live in London, but not if you live in a flat/have no off road parking/can't park near your house etc, which is the majority of people in London.

Also, one of the largest benefits of living in London is that you don't actually need a car anyway. And this hasn't been more true since the arrival of apps that deliver cheap taxis whenever and wherever, car clubs and rental companies that deliver to your doorstep at precise times.

I used to see residential streets half empty as people took their car into work but now the cars just don't move on a daily basis. I was in Farringdon the other morning and every single non commercial vehicle was a minicab.

I just get the feeling that most private cars in the centre of Town have come in from the suburbs but modern EVs must have the range to get them there and back without needing a charge in between so I've been assuming that for some it was the free parking rather than the charging that was the real benefit as it saved £100s a week as opposed to a few £ of electricity?

[BigBen]

DonkeyApple said:

MarshPhantom said:

Welshbeef said:

MarshPhantom said:

That's where they all are. Seen more I8s than I3s personally. I don't think anyone would claim it's been a success.

How do EV users in Central London cope with lack of charging points?

This has to be the biggest sort to medium term issue of EVs.

1. You can certainly imagine some people unplugging cars at night for sts and giggles then out you pop ready for your commute and no range.
2. All charge points are full and have a queue.
3. Some idiot ICE driver has parked in the EV charge point as it was the only parking space left when they arrived - now you cannot charge
4. Bloody charge point broken again grr
5. How much to charge my car!!!!
6. OEM service cost get lost you've only checked the wiper blades and tread depth yet want £200 on yer bike.

This is the problem, absolutely ideal if you live in London, but not if you live in a flat/have no off road parking/can't park near your house etc, which is the majority of people in London.

Also, one of the largest benefits of living in London is that you don't actually need a car anyway. And this hasn't been more true since the arrival of apps that deliver cheap taxis whenever and wherever, car clubs and rental companies that deliver to your doorstep at precise times.

I used to see residential streets half empty as people took their car into work but now the cars just don't move on a daily basis. I was in Farringdon the other morning and every single non commercial vehicle was a minicab.

I just get the feeling that most private cars in the centre of Town have come in from the suburbs but modern EVs must have the range to get them there and back without needing a charge in between so I've been assuming that for some it was the free parking rather than the charging that was the real benefit as it saved £100s a week as opposed to a few £ of electricity?

Out of 20 in my group at work 4 now have electric cars, all bought as second cars used for commuting duties. All chosen mainly to see what they would be like as well as the very low running costs. As a second car out here in the sticks where people do have driveways etc they make a lot of sense.

Agree on not seeing many i3s, I reckon I have seen far more i8s and my village has a massive BMW dealership in it.

Ben

[MarshPhantom]

DonkeyApple said:

MarshPhantom said:

Welshbeef said:

MarshPhantom said:

That's where they all are. Seen more I8s than I3s personally. I don't think anyone would claim it's been a success.

How do EV users in Central London cope with lack of charging points?

This has to be the biggest sort to medium term issue of EVs.

1. You can certainly imagine some people unplugging cars at night for sts and giggles then out you pop ready for your commute and no range.
2. All charge points are full and have a queue.
3. Some idiot ICE driver has parked in the EV charge point as it was the only parking space left when they arrived - now you cannot charge
4. Bloody charge point broken again grr
5. How much to charge my car!!!!
6. OEM service cost get lost you've only checked the wiper blades and tread depth yet want £200 on yer bike.

This is the problem, absolutely ideal if you live in London, but not if you live in a flat/have no off road parking/can't park near your house etc, which is the majority of people in London.

Also, one of the largest benefits of living in London is that you don't actually need a car anyway. And this hasn't been more true since the arrival of apps that deliver cheap taxis whenever and wherever, car clubs and rental companies that deliver to your doorstep at precise times.

I used to see residential streets half empty as people took their car into work but now the cars just don't move on a daily basis. I was in Farringdon the other morning and every single non commercial vehicle was a minicab.

I just get the feeling that most private cars in the centre of Town have come in from the suburbs but modern EVs must have the range to get them there and back without needing a charge in between so I've been assuming that for some it was the free parking rather than the charging that was the real benefit as it saved £100s a week as opposed to a few £ of electricity?

I don't know many people in London that don't own a car.

[DonkeyApple]

MarshPhantom said:

I don't know many people in London that don't own a car.

I don't think ownership has changed much but from Zone 2 in the usage has changed dramatically. Far more cars are just spending all week parked up, especially for people who work in the centre.

[DonkeyApple]

BigBen said:

Out of 20 in my group at work 4 now have electric cars, all bought as second cars used for commuting duties. All chosen mainly to see what they would be like as well as the very low running costs. As a second car out here in the sticks where people do have driveways etc they make a lot of sense.

Agree on not seeing many i3s, I reckon I have seen far more i8s and my village has a massive BMW dealership in it.

Ben

Yup. I thought the suburbs would fill with i3s as they are perfect for the suburban, second car, runabout duties and have a BMW badge but they just don't seem to have been adopted at anywhere near the rate I believed they would be. It's going to be very interesting to see how the new Tesla sells as from my personal experience the much more expensive Tesla S seems to have outside the i3 around here by quite a magnitude.

[BigBen]

DonkeyApple said:

BigBen said:

Out of 20 in my group at work 4 now have electric cars, all bought as second cars used for commuting duties. All chosen mainly to see what they would be like as well as the very low running costs. As a second car out here in the sticks where people do have driveways etc they make a lot of sense.

Agree on not seeing many i3s, I reckon I have seen far more i8s and my village has a massive BMW dealership in it.

Ben

Yup. I thought the suburbs would fill with i3s as they are perfect for the suburban, second car, runabout duties and have a BMW badge but they just don't seem to have been adopted at anywhere near the rate I believed they would be. It's going to be very interesting to see how the new Tesla sells as from my personal experience the much more expensive Tesla S seems to have outside the i3 around here by quite a magnitude.

Come to think of it there is one i3 in the work car park owned by a chap who works in another bit of the business and has cause to do a lot of business miles where it makes some sense.

The reason the suburbs are not crawling with them is that they are a £30k+ car which is a huge amount for a small second car which may typically have been a Golf or smaller e.g. a sub £20k prospect.

Ben

[DonkeyApple]

Although I'm not aware that the suburbs are full of people shy of leasing expensive cars. London burbs are the highest density of 'look at my wad' types in the UK.

[BigBen]

DonkeyApple said:

Although I'm not aware that the suburbs are full of people shy of leasing expensive cars. London burbs are the highest density of 'look at my wad' types in the UK.

That is a good point, perhaps the i3 simply isn't big enough for that role!

[DonkeyApple]

BigBen said:

DonkeyApple said:

Although I'm not aware that the suburbs are full of people shy of leasing expensive cars. London burbs are the highest density of 'look at my wad' types in the UK.

That is a good point, perhaps the i3 simply isn't big enough for that role!

I just don't know but I expected the suburbs to fill up with them as it did with Minis, Evoques and other 'look at my wife's car. I'm loaded me'. And around here, given the adoption of the Tesla I thought I'd see lots but there is only one that I've seen.

[EricE]

I test drove an i3 two years ago and still can't get it out of my head. It was so surprisingly fun to drive while being practical at the same time. Most of the driving fun must have to do with the weight, the i3 is only 1290 kg with a very low centre of gravity while Golf GTI is 100kg more! Might just have to buy an i3 when the battery facelift is out.

The battery range in winter is short and the windows tend to mist up but other than that are there any major flaws with the car that I have missed? I refuse to use Facebook so I can't join the owners group there.

[modeller]

EricE said:

I test drove an i3 two years ago and still can't get it out of my head. It was so surprisingly fun to drive while being practical at the same time. Most of the driving fun must have to do with the weight, the i3 is only 1290 kg with a very low centre of gravity while Golf GTI is 100kg more! Might just have to buy an i3 when the battery facelift is out.

The battery range in winter is short and the windows tend to mist up but other than that are there any major flaws with the car that I have missed? I refuse to use Facebook so I can't join the owners group there.

I don't 'use' facebook either .. but i'm a member of the i3UK group. Lots of great info, so if you're seriously interested, come join!

The i3 is a great local runabout and with the REX can be used longer distances. A perfect 2nd car I think.

[KrisP]

I had a drive of one of these at the weekend and cannot stop thinking about it since. Anyone have any insight into how long the lead times are for a new one at the moment?

[hornetrider]

KrisP said:

I had a drive of one of these at the weekend and cannot stop thinking about it since. Anyone have any insight into how long the lead times are for a new one at the moment?

I got quoted 8-10 weeks.

I can't stop thinking about it either. Pick up my loaner tomorrow for a few days. There may be trouble... aheeeead

[Devil2575]

DonkeyApple said:

BigBen said:

DonkeyApple said:

Although I'm not aware that the suburbs are full of people shy of leasing expensive cars. London burbs are the highest density of 'look at my wad' types in the UK.

That is a good point, perhaps the i3 simply isn't big enough for that role!

I just don't know but I expected the suburbs to fill up with them as it did with Minis, Evoques and other 'look at my wife's car. I'm loaded me'. And around here, given the adoption of the Tesla I thought I'd see lots but there is only one that I've seen.

I think the problem is that the I3 doesn't shout that message loud enough.

[chandrew]

hornetrider said:

KrisP said:

I had a drive of one of these at the weekend and cannot stop thinking about it since. Anyone have any insight into how long the lead times are for a new one at the moment?

I got quoted 8-10 weeks.

I can't stop thinking about it either. Pick up my loaner tomorrow for a few days. There may be trouble... aheeeead

We also got quoted a similar time. In the end we went second hand due to the cost saving. I decided if I was getting a new one I'd wait for the larger battery pack. I think 12 months time with 50% greater range and more widespread CCS charging EVs like the i3 will be even more attractive.

[squirejo]

DonkeyApple said:

Not joking at all. I live in Hampstead, work in the City and booze in Mayfair and it dawned on me the other day that I just hadn't seen any i3s. Hampstead is the original home of the EV there are tons of them. Even some weird Peugeot 306 thing and it's the only place I've seen Tesla sports cars and i8s but I've only seen one i3 living here. And I've not seen them out and about either. Lots of Model S though and Leafs.

Where I have seen them is on the A40 in the Cotswold's. I've seen a few. But then there is a dealer at the Oxford end so maybe they are test drives?

It's not the sort of car that doesn't stand out so as I was a staunch advocate of the i3 and firmly believed that it was the EV that would go mainstream and be on every suburban driveway out on the Met Line it just struck me that two years on it looks like I am wrong.

Edited by DonkeyApple on Saturday 27th February 08:36

Sorry missed this. Am surprised...I saw 7 on the way home from regent st to Clapham on Mon night! What's certainly the case is the number of EVs in general, by either seeing them on the road or noting the increased use of Source Ldn charge points. Every day I see i3's, Zoes, Leafs and Teslas. Limited number of others. I am coming up for my 2-year anniversary as an EV convert for commuter car. It's been an excellent move....for one thing the many advantages of an EV like pre heating, excellent steering lock, peaceful progress, excellent torque and smooth drivetrain....

[trowelhead]

Interested to hear from any i3 owners planning to get a Model 3... end of my lease will coincide roughly with planned launch.

A tempting proposition, especially if the perks of running via ltd company do not go away...

[AndyDubbya]

trowelhead said:

Interested to hear from any i3 owners planning to get a Model 3... end of my lease will coincide roughly with planned launch.

A tempting proposition, especially if the perks of running via ltd company do not go away...

Put my order in yesterday. My i3 lease ends in Jan 2017, so I'll have to get something else in between, given the RHD production schedule. I think I fancy a change, so not another i3 though - 330e maybe?