So who's getting an i3?
Discussion
Welshbeef said:
The question is what is the projection in year wide when we expect the UK to surpass that level?
Does that projection mirror what the National grid is doing to meet it?
TBH I doubt anytime before 2050. Though I have run some numbers in a spreadsheet that show with the rate of decrease in battery prices... about 7% per year (halving every 10 years) in the mid 2020s it will be cheaper to buy and run an EV than an ICE car. Then you might see something like what happened with mobile phones when they switch ed to digital and affordable contracts came in. In 1999 I was the second person I knew to get a 2G mobile. By 2001 everyone was buying them.Does that projection mirror what the National grid is doing to meet it?
At the moment people buy them for a reason other than price. Personally I've wanted an EV since about 1999 - when I first invested in fuel cells. However I've never been tempted by any of the hybrids that came out in that time frame. The i3 is a proper drivers car though.
The key benefit is the way the motor delivers torque without needing gears to control it. Just an adjustment of the right foot. The fact they now bought in the regen control by having a lift off point makes it effortless. The friction brakes are there only for emergencies... or if you are braking a bit late coz you are in fun mode.
I'd love to have a pure EV - not REX, but for now, my regular changing of jobs from being a contractor means I need the safety net of knowing if I need to do 120 miles in a day (like my current commute) and there's no charger at the other end, I can get home by visiting BP. Maybe in 5 years time the charging infrastructure will be everywhere, but there's a long way to go.
After a year of i3 ownership, it looks like I will have to hand my i3 back (change of job). I've enjoyed it so much I am looking into ordering another one. Could any Rex owners let me know that their PCP or lease costs were (PM is fine if you don't want figures public). The best lease I've found is £438 inc VAT on a 3+35 at 10k miles (total cost £16644). Is that par for the course?
TransverseTight said:
TBH I doubt anytime before 2050. Though I have run some numbers in a spreadsheet that show with the rate of decrease in battery prices... about 7% per year (halving every 10 years) in the mid 2020s it will be cheaper to buy and run an EV than an ICE car. Then you might see something like what happened with mobile phones when they switch ed to digital and affordable contracts came in. In 1999 I was the second person I knew to get a 2G mobile. By 2001 everyone was buying them.
At the moment people buy them for a reason other than price. Personally I've wanted an EV since about 1999 - when I first invested in fuel cells. However I've never been tempted by any of the hybrids that came out in that time frame. The i3 is a proper drivers car though.
The key benefit is the way the motor delivers torque without needing gears to control it. Just an adjustment of the right foot. The fact they now bought in the regen control by having a lift off point makes it effortless. The friction brakes are there only for emergencies... or if you are braking a bit late coz you are in fun mode.
I'd love to have a pure EV - not REX, but for now, my regular changing of jobs from being a contractor means I need the safety net of knowing if I need to do 120 miles in a day (like my current commute) and there's no charger at the other end, I can get home by visiting BP. Maybe in 5 years time the charging infrastructure will be everywhere, but there's a long way to go.
I'm not sure the mobile phone analogy stands up, it's not as though we all used to have (superior in every way) petrol powered mobile phones and decided to switch to (much less practical but cheaper) battery powered mobiles.At the moment people buy them for a reason other than price. Personally I've wanted an EV since about 1999 - when I first invested in fuel cells. However I've never been tempted by any of the hybrids that came out in that time frame. The i3 is a proper drivers car though.
The key benefit is the way the motor delivers torque without needing gears to control it. Just an adjustment of the right foot. The fact they now bought in the regen control by having a lift off point makes it effortless. The friction brakes are there only for emergencies... or if you are braking a bit late coz you are in fun mode.
I'd love to have a pure EV - not REX, but for now, my regular changing of jobs from being a contractor means I need the safety net of knowing if I need to do 120 miles in a day (like my current commute) and there's no charger at the other end, I can get home by visiting BP. Maybe in 5 years time the charging infrastructure will be everywhere, but there's a long way to go.
Amateurish said:
After a year of i3 ownership, it looks like I will have to hand my i3 back (change of job). I've enjoyed it so much I am looking into ordering another one. Could any Rex owners let me know that their PCP or lease costs were (PM is fine if you don't want figures public). The best lease I've found is £438 inc VAT on a 3+35 at 10k miles (total cost £16644). Is that par for the course?
I got mine on 3+35 for 30k miles per year for 574+vatskilly1 said:
I got mine on 3+35 for 30k miles per year for 574+vat
You're going to do 30k a year in an i3?? I presume that's a lengthy commute with charging either side?My Rex was on contract hire, from memory the basic price for a standard car with no options was around £370 per month on 3+35 for 15k miles per year. I added some options.
TallTony said:
You're going to do 30k a year in an i3?? I presume that's a lengthy commute with charging either side?
My Rex was on contract hire, from memory the basic price for a standard car with no options was around £370 per month on 3+35 for 15k miles per year. I added some options.
Yep - well on the way !My Rex was on contract hire, from memory the basic price for a standard car with no options was around £370 per month on 3+35 for 15k miles per year. I added some options.
skilly1 said:
Fuel reduced from £4,500 per year to £600 in elc
Benefit in kind gone from £4,000 per year to £500
So toal saving per year around £7,400
Not bad for a bit of inconvience !
And normally you'd be taking a significant hit in driving pleasure for that kind of saving but it doesn't feel that way does it? I need to put more miles on mine. Not getting best value at the moment 3k in a year. Benefit in kind gone from £4,000 per year to £500
So toal saving per year around £7,400
Not bad for a bit of inconvience !
Exacty ! I love driving it and it has taken a lot of stress / triedness out of my commute. I was aso getting a pain in my knee from clutch use before and that has gone. On top of this the local council paid 40% of the install of the work charge point and the one at home is almost free - you could not make this up!
skilly1 said:
Exacty ! I love driving it and it has taken a lot of stress / triedness out of my commute. I was aso getting a pain in my knee from clutch use before and that has gone. On top of this the local council paid 40% of the install of the work charge point and the one at home is almost free - you could not make this up!
Skilly, can you tell me more about the local council deal. I made enquiries but just got passed from department to department. Thanks, TonyTallTony said:
Skilly, can you tell me more about the local council deal. I made enquiries but just got passed from department to department. Thanks, Tony
It was from Plugged in Midlands but from what I understand the deal has now stopped. The contact was Jane Holmes who was very helpful.
skilly1 said:
Exacty ! I love driving it and it has taken a lot of stress / triedness out of my commute. I was aso getting a pain in my knee from clutch use before and that has gone.
That's the bit I've been enjoying most.. I do a 120 mile trip from Staffs to Northampton and last week one of the days I only had to drive 40 of the 60 on thew way back. . the i3 drove the rest. Basically the M1 and M6 were below 35mph, so stuck on the drive assist. After hovering over the break pedal for the first 5 miles - I got to trust it. You do have to keep a pair of thumbs and fingers on the steering wheel, but basically you are just playing commander Picard going "Make it so". And keeping an eye on things. (Just 1 - alternating between left and right).What more impressive, if it can be, is that I now tend to drive with Active cruise on all the time, except coming up to roundabout as it will accelerate when it loses sight of the car in front [I'm a software tester by trade so have to see what happens
] . Stick it on at whatever the limit is, and just tag along behind the car in front which is usually not going at the limit anyway. Just have to remember it doesn't steer for you at that speed. I hope they can get that working via a software update, but I doubt it. Lot less tired when I arrive at work than I used to. I used to take a 15 minute nap in mt previous car just to get over the 1.5 hour drive. Now I'm straight into work.What has been an immesnse displeasure is the state of public charging. Less said the better. Still I've got a REX specifically as I do lots of miles and didn't want to be compromised. A I can manage a 120 mile round trip commute it says to me - everyone who is thinking of a well specced 1 series (or similar) should consider an i3. If you look at the actual options and what you get, after the £5k grant the i3 REX comes in about 1 or 2k more than a 120d having the same kit. To me that's a bargain considering the ongoing savings to be made. I'll be happier once I get my charging at work sorted as it will save me even more money, but for now I'm doing 50/50 on electric / unleaded.
Thats a great write up (although I do question how old you are if you needed a nap after a 1.5 hour drive 
)
Just one thing I'm curious about given the use you give it, is there anywhere in the paperwork that suggests how to stagger your servicing if the REX engine is used a lot? Does it just go on mileage or is there an engine hour meter somewhere in the settings to check how long its been running for?
I'm guessing its not very stressed but it'll still need oil and filter changes like any other engine I guess.
)Just one thing I'm curious about given the use you give it, is there anywhere in the paperwork that suggests how to stagger your servicing if the REX engine is used a lot? Does it just go on mileage or is there an engine hour meter somewhere in the settings to check how long its been running for?
I'm guessing its not very stressed but it'll still need oil and filter changes like any other engine I guess.
There's an iremote app that tells you when stuff is due for a check up. Currently 2017 for both inspection and brakes! You can work out how much use the REX is getting as the app tells you the total miles and the total electric miles. I'm currently on 428 electric out of 770 miles (after 1 week!). It also tells you how much planet saving you have done. 248 lbs of CO2 not emitted what ever that means ;-)
Should drop petrol use altogether when I get my Chargenow card from BMW which is the last one to arrive and the one I needed most so I can use the BMW dealers charger near where I work. Should be able to do 100% EV after that. It's nicer on EV mode as you do hear the REX running which is a constant reminder of how much it's costing you per mile. LOL. Plus the background brrrr of the REX does spoil the silent EV experience. It's always really bizarre running along without the motor. Especially when you give it some right foot and all you hear is the wind noise pick up :-) I've scared a few people giving short demo rides.. (they don't own fast cars though) . It's the 20-60 I think gets people - the 0-20 although fast isn't a high enough speed to cause concern.. but it's when the speed just keeps building and the whine of the motors gets louder and their brain catches up with the fact they are actually going a lot faster than they were a moment ago.
One thing I have got used to already is selecting when to put the REX on to make it convenient for fuel stops. If I've got less than half a tank in the morning I'll stick it on as soon as charge drops to 75% of the battery to run the tank dry before I get to work. Then I can fill up with cheap local petrol rather than the motorway services. The battery is still going to be flat when I get home. I switch the REX back on on the way home once charge gets to 12.5% - 1/2 of the last bar remaining - just so if there's any high speed uphill stuff the battery doesn't deplete to the point where speed limiting kicks in. Once I'm within 10 miles of home - back to battery power so I can sneak through town and suprise a few GTis ;-) Nearly got chance to try my luck against a scooby earlier but a petrol tanker pulled across the exist slip road blocking my lane . Probably a good thing - I might have been in the lead for the first 100 yards but my expectation is once they get to 2nd gear I'm toast.
Should drop petrol use altogether when I get my Chargenow card from BMW which is the last one to arrive and the one I needed most so I can use the BMW dealers charger near where I work. Should be able to do 100% EV after that. It's nicer on EV mode as you do hear the REX running which is a constant reminder of how much it's costing you per mile. LOL. Plus the background brrrr of the REX does spoil the silent EV experience. It's always really bizarre running along without the motor. Especially when you give it some right foot and all you hear is the wind noise pick up :-) I've scared a few people giving short demo rides.. (they don't own fast cars though) . It's the 20-60 I think gets people - the 0-20 although fast isn't a high enough speed to cause concern.. but it's when the speed just keeps building and the whine of the motors gets louder and their brain catches up with the fact they are actually going a lot faster than they were a moment ago.
One thing I have got used to already is selecting when to put the REX on to make it convenient for fuel stops. If I've got less than half a tank in the morning I'll stick it on as soon as charge drops to 75% of the battery to run the tank dry before I get to work. Then I can fill up with cheap local petrol rather than the motorway services. The battery is still going to be flat when I get home. I switch the REX back on on the way home once charge gets to 12.5% - 1/2 of the last bar remaining - just so if there's any high speed uphill stuff the battery doesn't deplete to the point where speed limiting kicks in. Once I'm within 10 miles of home - back to battery power so I can sneak through town and suprise a few GTis ;-) Nearly got chance to try my luck against a scooby earlier but a petrol tanker pulled across the exist slip road blocking my lane
. Probably a good thing - I might have been in the lead for the first 100 yards but my expectation is once they get to 2nd gear I'm toast.This is what happens when you give petrol head an electric car... i daren't post it in EV forums but feel safe on PH.
Was doing some testing on rolling / standing start acceleration runs. More than adequate in town.
Don't know how i got 1 star for acceleration and none for ancillaries as i had the heating down to 18 degrees to make sure the power went to the wheels instead of the cabin.
Was doing some testing on rolling / standing start acceleration runs. More than adequate in town.
Don't know how i got 1 star for acceleration and none for ancillaries as i had the heating down to 18 degrees to make sure the power went to the wheels instead of the cabin.
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