Discussion
By way of background, I had no real interest in electric cars until around 3 weeks ago.
I first drove an electric car around 3 years ago - the Tesla Roadster, based on the Lotus Elise. I recall thinking it was very fast and smooth but heavy. This negated the key benefit of the Lotus type car. It was also very overpriced at £100,000.
I next drove the BMW i8 hybrid 2-3 weeks ago, and ordered one. See separate thread in i8 forum.
After ordering the i8, I immediately had a test drive in the i3 RX version (range extender). This version adds a very reasonable £3,000 to the price.
To my eyes it looks great from the rear, good from the sides, and ugly from the front. However, my son thought it the best looking BMW at the dealer, other than the i8. My wife and daughter just thought the i3 looked "nice". So, opinions will vary.
The RX version has a tiny petrol engine that never drives the wheels (hence not a hybrid), but can be used to charge the batteries. This effectively gives the car greater (but not unlimited) range, instead of the normal 100 mile range of electric only. The penalty is higher CO2 and 250kg weight (standard car is just 1,195kg). I understand that the petrol engine can only maintain charge up to around 50mph.
The i3 has a lot of front occupant space, good rear space for 2 passengers, and a small boot. It is extremely airy inside, and is a very quiet car.
The car accelerated well but not as quickly as I was expecting - I probably had unrealistic expectations after the i8, even in its pure e-drive mode. Acceleration and overtaking were however much quicker than the average city runabout, and of course the instant and linear torque makes overtaking a pleasure.
The car is near silent at all times, and very smooth. It is extremely calming and relaxing to drive - just like the i8 in e-drive.
The turning circle is excellent, extremely good in fact. The i3 has an option for an auto-park system (car parallel parks itself) but I did not test it.
It corners fairly flatly, thanks no doubt to its extremely low centre of gravity. It understeers easily when pushed. The i3 is rear wheel drive.
The i3 is a complete pleasure to drive...very nice indeed. Extremely easy too, as the throttle is so precise and immediate.
Regenerative braking is very strong, but only took me 5 seconds to get used to. My wife however never did get used to it during her (quite short) drive. I did not dislike the regenerative braking in any way whatsoever, and in fact preferred it to a normal car. I rarely used the brakes themselves during the test drive, when driving normally (vs quickly). The accelerator pedal was the only one needed for most driving, making the car even easier and more relaxing to drive.
The £30k price tag of the basic car seems high, and yet when you drive it and see the technology used, it seems quite a fair price. The car has an aluminium chassis with carbon fibre passenger cell, just like the i8! Astonishing at this price range!
It is a quality car, and feels it. This is not your average city runabout in terms of construction, feel, materials, or the way it drives. It will also feel perfectly at home at motorway speeds, and I did it to around 70mph.
This explains the low weight of the car, and why it drives so well. The chassis is stiff and the car feels like a quality build. The interior feels "lightweight" but not cheap. Lots of "hippy" reclycled materials are used in the i3 interior (unlike the i8), but they don't detract from the car at all - unless you opt for the (IMHO) stupid wooden panel on the dash.
Overall, the i3 feels like a proper electric car that you will enjoy driving - more than a petrol or diesel city runabout. It feels much nicer to drive than any conventional fuel city runabout car, and has a very positive effect on the mood of the driver (extremely relaxing and calming). It is electric done right. I was impressed enough that I am considering replacing my diesel Landcruiser with a non-RX version.
(copied over from another forum where I posted this originally)
I first drove an electric car around 3 years ago - the Tesla Roadster, based on the Lotus Elise. I recall thinking it was very fast and smooth but heavy. This negated the key benefit of the Lotus type car. It was also very overpriced at £100,000.
I next drove the BMW i8 hybrid 2-3 weeks ago, and ordered one. See separate thread in i8 forum.
After ordering the i8, I immediately had a test drive in the i3 RX version (range extender). This version adds a very reasonable £3,000 to the price.
To my eyes it looks great from the rear, good from the sides, and ugly from the front. However, my son thought it the best looking BMW at the dealer, other than the i8. My wife and daughter just thought the i3 looked "nice". So, opinions will vary.
The RX version has a tiny petrol engine that never drives the wheels (hence not a hybrid), but can be used to charge the batteries. This effectively gives the car greater (but not unlimited) range, instead of the normal 100 mile range of electric only. The penalty is higher CO2 and 250kg weight (standard car is just 1,195kg). I understand that the petrol engine can only maintain charge up to around 50mph.
The i3 has a lot of front occupant space, good rear space for 2 passengers, and a small boot. It is extremely airy inside, and is a very quiet car.
The car accelerated well but not as quickly as I was expecting - I probably had unrealistic expectations after the i8, even in its pure e-drive mode. Acceleration and overtaking were however much quicker than the average city runabout, and of course the instant and linear torque makes overtaking a pleasure.
The car is near silent at all times, and very smooth. It is extremely calming and relaxing to drive - just like the i8 in e-drive.
The turning circle is excellent, extremely good in fact. The i3 has an option for an auto-park system (car parallel parks itself) but I did not test it.
It corners fairly flatly, thanks no doubt to its extremely low centre of gravity. It understeers easily when pushed. The i3 is rear wheel drive.
The i3 is a complete pleasure to drive...very nice indeed. Extremely easy too, as the throttle is so precise and immediate.
Regenerative braking is very strong, but only took me 5 seconds to get used to. My wife however never did get used to it during her (quite short) drive. I did not dislike the regenerative braking in any way whatsoever, and in fact preferred it to a normal car. I rarely used the brakes themselves during the test drive, when driving normally (vs quickly). The accelerator pedal was the only one needed for most driving, making the car even easier and more relaxing to drive.
The £30k price tag of the basic car seems high, and yet when you drive it and see the technology used, it seems quite a fair price. The car has an aluminium chassis with carbon fibre passenger cell, just like the i8! Astonishing at this price range!
It is a quality car, and feels it. This is not your average city runabout in terms of construction, feel, materials, or the way it drives. It will also feel perfectly at home at motorway speeds, and I did it to around 70mph.
This explains the low weight of the car, and why it drives so well. The chassis is stiff and the car feels like a quality build. The interior feels "lightweight" but not cheap. Lots of "hippy" reclycled materials are used in the i3 interior (unlike the i8), but they don't detract from the car at all - unless you opt for the (IMHO) stupid wooden panel on the dash.
Overall, the i3 feels like a proper electric car that you will enjoy driving - more than a petrol or diesel city runabout. It feels much nicer to drive than any conventional fuel city runabout car, and has a very positive effect on the mood of the driver (extremely relaxing and calming). It is electric done right. I was impressed enough that I am considering replacing my diesel Landcruiser with a non-RX version.
(copied over from another forum where I posted this originally)
I borrowed an i3 REx for 4 days, and therefore had the opportunity to test it very extensively. I will not repeat my comments from the initial post in this thread, but will add my further thoughts.
The i3 was a relaxing car, with great ride quality and impeccable road manners and handling. Being rear wheel drive, lightweight, 50:50 weight distribution and with an extremely low centre of gravity does that for a car
Torque and acceleration are instant and constant. It moves off so quickly that very few cars will beat it in the Traffic Lights GP IIRC BMW state it accelerates faster 0-30mph than the M5.
In fact, if it had wide tyres and bigger brakes, it would be a very capable little sports car.
It corners fairly flatly, thanks no doubt to its extremely low centre of gravity. It understeers easily when pushed, and the narrow tyres do limit how strong the braking is. Throttle response is excellent, and feels scalpel precise.
It is by far the best super-mini class car I have driven, and a complete pleasure to be behind the wheel of.
The loaned car was full of gadgets. Too many to list, but the auto park deserves a mention. It was scary sitting there as the i3 parallel parked itself in very tight spaces, but strangely fascinating.
I also tested the voice recognition, but that was absolutely terrible. The built in concierge service was good though.
My family found that we could in fact manage with the small boot space. Interior occupant space is of course excellent, and the car feels much bigger inside than it looks on the outside - tardis-like in fact Sadly without the tardis sound effects though
I range tested the car on a long trip, driving it fairly hard and not at all economically. It had 4 occupants and air conditioning running. This was the heavier (REx) variant and I calculated that it would do at least 79 miles under those conditions. The lighter i3 (BEV) would manage more. This is sufficient for me.
I remain amazed that a car in this bracket has an aluminium chassis with carbon fibre body, and composite body panels. Astonishing!
After 4 days, I really begrudged having to return the i3 and driving my Landcruiser home. So I ordered a new i3 for my wife
The i3 was a relaxing car, with great ride quality and impeccable road manners and handling. Being rear wheel drive, lightweight, 50:50 weight distribution and with an extremely low centre of gravity does that for a car
Torque and acceleration are instant and constant. It moves off so quickly that very few cars will beat it in the Traffic Lights GP IIRC BMW state it accelerates faster 0-30mph than the M5.
In fact, if it had wide tyres and bigger brakes, it would be a very capable little sports car.
It corners fairly flatly, thanks no doubt to its extremely low centre of gravity. It understeers easily when pushed, and the narrow tyres do limit how strong the braking is. Throttle response is excellent, and feels scalpel precise.
It is by far the best super-mini class car I have driven, and a complete pleasure to be behind the wheel of.
The loaned car was full of gadgets. Too many to list, but the auto park deserves a mention. It was scary sitting there as the i3 parallel parked itself in very tight spaces, but strangely fascinating.
I also tested the voice recognition, but that was absolutely terrible. The built in concierge service was good though.
My family found that we could in fact manage with the small boot space. Interior occupant space is of course excellent, and the car feels much bigger inside than it looks on the outside - tardis-like in fact Sadly without the tardis sound effects though
I range tested the car on a long trip, driving it fairly hard and not at all economically. It had 4 occupants and air conditioning running. This was the heavier (REx) variant and I calculated that it would do at least 79 miles under those conditions. The lighter i3 (BEV) would manage more. This is sufficient for me.
I remain amazed that a car in this bracket has an aluminium chassis with carbon fibre body, and composite body panels. Astonishing!
After 4 days, I really begrudged having to return the i3 and driving my Landcruiser home. So I ordered a new i3 for my wife
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