Could I live with an i3?
Discussion
My company lease car is up for renewal and I've been seriously contemplating going for an i3 REX.
I currently have a Skoda Superb through the lease scheme, but I don't really need anything quite so large and my other half won't drive it either due to the size.
The car will be shared between myself and my OH during the week (she'll use it for her 3-mile commute when I'm in the ofice and I'll use it when I'm travelling on business). My business trips are usually around 200 mile round trips, but can be up to 400 - hence the REX. I travel for work 2-3 days/week.
I will use a separate car for driving to the station and for other local travel and the i3 will get used a bit at weekends for local duties mainly.
This is purely speculative because I'm waiting for a quote back from our lease company for an i3 and I may not actually be able to afford one! I'm hoping that the saving in BIK and contributions by my employer will offset the relatively high lease costs.
I currently have a Skoda Superb through the lease scheme, but I don't really need anything quite so large and my other half won't drive it either due to the size.
The car will be shared between myself and my OH during the week (she'll use it for her 3-mile commute when I'm in the ofice and I'll use it when I'm travelling on business). My business trips are usually around 200 mile round trips, but can be up to 400 - hence the REX. I travel for work 2-3 days/week.
I will use a separate car for driving to the station and for other local travel and the i3 will get used a bit at weekends for local duties mainly.
This is purely speculative because I'm waiting for a quote back from our lease company for an i3 and I may not actually be able to afford one! I'm hoping that the saving in BIK and contributions by my employer will offset the relatively high lease costs.
My worry about the Rex is that it wouldn't be able to "make progress" on long (motorway) runs , pistonhead style . So , that means 2 cars for me , bev for commute , another for site visits .
Not sure what the range would be with the i3 at higher speeds , but the telegraph article didn't suggest it worked well .
Suppose it depends on your driving style , roads used etc .
Not sure what the range would be with the i3 at higher speeds , but the telegraph article didn't suggest it worked well .
Suppose it depends on your driving style , roads used etc .
ds666 said:
My worry about the Rex is that it wouldn't be able to "make progress" on long (motorway) runs , pistonhead style.
I think that's a fair statement. When 'making progress' you'll get to a speed where the amount of charge generated by the REx can't keep up. BMW have said this happens at 120kmh (75mph) but I haven't seen this corroborated anywhere. It's your judgement if that's PH enough for you or not.If you keep below this speed there is no reason why you'll run into the problems that the Telegraph guy did. The buffer in the battery will fill in the increased power requirements when motoring fast up hills.
The problem I think you'd run into is getting p*ssed off filling it up every 70 miles or so. I wouldn't want to be doing a 200 mile journey regularly. For that you might want to consider an Ampera which can do much longer range between fillups (but it does have significantly shorter battery range).
The regular fill-ups doesn't bother me actually - I used to use a motorbike for these long trips and filling up at the start/end of each long journey wouldn't bother me really.
I have to admit, the main reason I'm looking at i3's is purely aesthetic, I think they look fantastic inside and out. If this isn't a feasible option, I'd probably just go with a regular oil burner.
Generally when I'm making site visits, I'm not bombing down the motorway, usually 60-70 so 'making progress' won't really be in this cars remit.
I have to admit, the main reason I'm looking at i3's is purely aesthetic, I think they look fantastic inside and out. If this isn't a feasible option, I'd probably just go with a regular oil burner.
Generally when I'm making site visits, I'm not bombing down the motorway, usually 60-70 so 'making progress' won't really be in this cars remit.
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