Does anyone NOT LIKE their EV?
Discussion
I'll be honest, I'm regretting it slightly.
Mainly in respect of the looks. I'm in the 'Drive Tastefully' camp.
Every time I come back to the i3, especially from the rear I think: 'what the f*** have I done!'
Having said that, once in the interior it's quite the opposite (apart from the high driving position, but I guess the batteries have to go somewhere).
Mainly in respect of the looks. I'm in the 'Drive Tastefully' camp.
Every time I come back to the i3, especially from the rear I think: 'what the f*** have I done!'
Having said that, once in the interior it's quite the opposite (apart from the high driving position, but I guess the batteries have to go somewhere).
My view of this technology is some what coloured by my nearest neighbours experience. They bought a Zoe in a great burst of environmental goodness, and proclaimed they were "driving on sunbeams", which as they are a farmer with about 50 kW of installed solar, might actually be true in their case.
All was good until winter 2015 when it arrived home on the back of a transporter. She didn't realise that when it said "45 miles" or whatever, it actually meant 35, and if you had the lights, wipers and heater on it meant less than that. They had a family member with a medical condition which meant they getting stuck in a cold car was actually moderately serious - but also meant that they pounded the heater.
They weren't doing big journeys in it, just lots of small ones, and kept getting stranded about 3 miles from home. I think they are not "engineering smart" enough to manage charge. I doubt they have physics o-level, and the idea that a charger at home might take more/less time than any other charger is beyond them. kW/h, amps ..... might as well be in Japanese.
They drive a diesel Merc now. Probably put petrol in it occasionally.
All was good until winter 2015 when it arrived home on the back of a transporter. She didn't realise that when it said "45 miles" or whatever, it actually meant 35, and if you had the lights, wipers and heater on it meant less than that. They had a family member with a medical condition which meant they getting stuck in a cold car was actually moderately serious - but also meant that they pounded the heater.
They weren't doing big journeys in it, just lots of small ones, and kept getting stranded about 3 miles from home. I think they are not "engineering smart" enough to manage charge. I doubt they have physics o-level, and the idea that a charger at home might take more/less time than any other charger is beyond them. kW/h, amps ..... might as well be in Japanese.
They drive a diesel Merc now. Probably put petrol in it occasionally.
I got a leaf to replace my wife's cavernous citroen picasso. tbf, this did 49 mpg anyway: even 70 on a run. But it was a dog and needed to go.
Financially a leaf made sense, offsetting costs of ownership/running costs v using cash/loans for a new car that will depreciate anyway. Currently I think from a business model POV, it works. My man maths says its doing 297 mpg (equivalent of) in our short ownership.
However, the looks are ok: I'm not in awe of it. I don't like the fact it doesn't have an auto diming rear mirror. cabin wise its quite spacious, but its just not as good as an MPV. ditto the boot. I'd rather have more proper buttons for stuff, than everything being touch screen: but probably most cars are heading that way
but as a second car, run around I think its utter genius. I look forward to the next gen of models in 2018. I think its something we will stick with. A bigger, more spacious family type car would be wonderful and I'm sure it will come.
Financially a leaf made sense, offsetting costs of ownership/running costs v using cash/loans for a new car that will depreciate anyway. Currently I think from a business model POV, it works. My man maths says its doing 297 mpg (equivalent of) in our short ownership.
However, the looks are ok: I'm not in awe of it. I don't like the fact it doesn't have an auto diming rear mirror. cabin wise its quite spacious, but its just not as good as an MPV. ditto the boot. I'd rather have more proper buttons for stuff, than everything being touch screen: but probably most cars are heading that way
but as a second car, run around I think its utter genius. I look forward to the next gen of models in 2018. I think its something we will stick with. A bigger, more spacious family type car would be wonderful and I'm sure it will come.
So far:
Looks: EVs still generally look quirky. This is changing.
Range: EVs range needs to be better calculated. As it's like running an ICE car with a small tank.
Spec: Range of EVs is still limited, so you're forced to accept spec that isn't quite what you're used to. This will change with the 2018 launches.
I think that the current 1% of sales will boom massively in 2019. My guess is that it will be more than 5% and we won't have to wait until 2023 to reach that figure, which seems to be the accepted market growth standard at present.
Jez
Looks: EVs still generally look quirky. This is changing.
Range: EVs range needs to be better calculated. As it's like running an ICE car with a small tank.
Spec: Range of EVs is still limited, so you're forced to accept spec that isn't quite what you're used to. This will change with the 2018 launches.
I think that the current 1% of sales will boom massively in 2019. My guess is that it will be more than 5% and we won't have to wait until 2023 to reach that figure, which seems to be the accepted market growth standard at present.
Jez
I have a like/hate relationship with my i3 but mostly I hate it. It's my most hated car purchase so far.
It's a brilliant car but the things that are 'wrong' with it piss me off so much. Mainly the active cruise control, which is s
t. Somebody actually sat there and felt they'd done a good job of that... they should be ashamed of themselves.
Any wind on the motorway is down-right dangerous and should you want to stretch its legs a bit then you'll find the range suffers massively (that's a given of course).
I'll buy a petrol car next
It's a brilliant car but the things that are 'wrong' with it piss me off so much. Mainly the active cruise control, which is s
t. Somebody actually sat there and felt they'd done a good job of that... they should be ashamed of themselves.Any wind on the motorway is down-right dangerous and should you want to stretch its legs a bit then you'll find the range suffers massively (that's a given of course).
I'll buy a petrol car next
MagicalTrevor said:
I have a like/hate relationship with my i3 but mostly I hate it. It's my most hated car purchase so far.
It's a brilliant car but the things that are 'wrong' with it piss me off so much. Mainly the active cruise control, which is st. Somebody actually sat there and felt they'd done a good job of that... they should be ashamed of themselves.
Just turn it off an concentrate on driving properly yourself. We don't live in the USA, where you can drive for hours without seeing another car, so just drive it yourself! (DIY!)It's a brilliant car but the things that are 'wrong' with it piss me off so much. Mainly the active cruise control, which is s
t. Somebody actually sat there and felt they'd done a good job of that... they should be ashamed of themselves.MagicalTrevor said:
Any wind on the motorway is down-right dangerous
No, no it isn't. Try sticking a bit more tyre pressure in, run at the loaded settings, ime that makes it more stable, but it's by no means dangerous (also, do you drive 'one handed'? I see lots of people doing this, and funnily enough, they are generally all over the place....... )MagicalTrevor said:
and should you want to stretch its legs a bit then you'll find the range suffers massively (that's a given of course).
High speed = high drag. You can't beat physics, but ime, because of the regen, if you drive the i3 aggressively, but without going too mad (say stick to 65 on the straights) in cut and thrust traffic it actually still returns pretty good mileage!MagicalTrevor said:
I'll buy a petrol car next
Good idea. Best do this whilst you still can!! ;-)
I'm just coming to the end of my 24 month PCP period with my 24 Leaf & can't wait to see the back of it.
Mind you, I have done slightly over 18k miles in that time & for the last 12 months it's had to function as my only car.
Dislikes - interior a little low rent & stereo is appalling, but mainly it's all about the range, just not enough & far too susceptible to weather, hills, wrong kind of leaves etc etc!
In 5 years time, might be a viable alternative, once the public infrastructure has matured also.
Mind you, I have done slightly over 18k miles in that time & for the last 12 months it's had to function as my only car.
Dislikes - interior a little low rent & stereo is appalling, but mainly it's all about the range, just not enough & far too susceptible to weather, hills, wrong kind of leaves etc etc!
In 5 years time, might be a viable alternative, once the public infrastructure has matured also.
My Tesla has gone and I now drive a Audi S4 Avant. there are bits I miss, but apart from its party trick of instant torque it was a pretty rubbish car for the money (for the money is important as it cost 20k more than an Audi S7 at the time and an equivalent car today is 20k more than an RS7 and you can buy a lot of petrol for that). Rebooting the computers on a regular basis, panel and trim issues, useless headlights, seats wearing badly (I did do 30k miles in a year). Ironically it wasn't the EV bit that got to me, although I was starting to get pissed off turning up at a car park and finding all 6 charging bays full of phevs getting their 12 miles of range. A Tesla is really just a 30k bit of american tat with little depth in the design, a pair of electric motors, a big battery and a dodgy ipad stuck to the dash. My Audi, which is at least a 6 year old design, when you open the tail gate you get greeted with an metal threshold plate, you have metal eyes to help tie things down and lights so you can actually see whats in there, a boot cover that doesn't feel like a thin bit of MDF, seats that have taught leather, lights that work, a weight to the controls.
We have had our BMW i3 bev for about a month now and absolutely love it. I think how much you like your EV will to a great extent depend on what you are planning to use it for. Our long serving run around is an xc90, great for a big family car but not ideal for the huge number of short urban kid pickups that it does. The EV is a joy to nip around for all these tasks.
It rarely does more than 15 miles a day, so no range anxiety and no need to charge up in public. It is never on a motorway for more than a couple of junctions at a time so have not yet used the cruise control or noticed any issues with side winds.
It's not perfect, I agree with the comments about A pillar visibility being poor and the rear view mirror seems to be always in my peripheral vision but it's a great tool for the job for which it was bought.
Oh yeah to stay true to the title of this thread it has the most embarrassing horn i have ever experienced. It's a bit like a clown car.
It rarely does more than 15 miles a day, so no range anxiety and no need to charge up in public. It is never on a motorway for more than a couple of junctions at a time so have not yet used the cruise control or noticed any issues with side winds.
It's not perfect, I agree with the comments about A pillar visibility being poor and the rear view mirror seems to be always in my peripheral vision but it's a great tool for the job for which it was bought.
Oh yeah to stay true to the title of this thread it has the most embarrassing horn i have ever experienced. It's a bit like a clown car.
[quote]but as a second car, run around I think its utter genius.
[/quote]
Pretty much my thoughts on our Leaf - as a second car its perfect , especially if you live in an EV friendly part of the world ( like MK )
Much as I'd like to go all EV eventually , now isn't the right time for it.
[/quote]
Pretty much my thoughts on our Leaf - as a second car its perfect , especially if you live in an EV friendly part of the world ( like MK )
Much as I'd like to go all EV eventually , now isn't the right time for it.
The only thing about my ZOE I dislike is the pretty poor performance / Economy over 50mph
It makes it pretty unusable as a motorway car, you'd probably do 80-100 miles on a charge averaging 50mph but I'd not want to do more than 50 miles at 70mph
And I just can't drive on a motorway at 50mph
It makes it pretty unusable as a motorway car, you'd probably do 80-100 miles on a charge averaging 50mph but I'd not want to do more than 50 miles at 70mph
And I just can't drive on a motorway at 50mph
I've done 45K in my Leaf and whilst I would buy another electric car I would want to try something different. The Leaf is ugly, naff future think clocks and crap uncontrollable heater. I need 10 deg to take the chill off. Set 16 it goes freezing set 16.5 it's needlessly warm.
The dealers are as cheeky as ever quoting £300 for a service and £300 for new front discs and pads at just 12K!
I want a quality car high on traditional values with an electric power train. I'm hoping for an all electric BMV 3 series.
The Leaf's electric motor is acceptable after a 5.7 litre petrol V8 where any smaller IC engine would not be. Still have the petrol V8 for those longer journeys.
The dealers are as cheeky as ever quoting £300 for a service and £300 for new front discs and pads at just 12K!
I want a quality car high on traditional values with an electric power train. I'm hoping for an all electric BMV 3 series.
The Leaf's electric motor is acceptable after a 5.7 litre petrol V8 where any smaller IC engine would not be. Still have the petrol V8 for those longer journeys.
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