Making the switch to a BEV

[Moonpie21]

Thought I'd just post my thoughts on how I got to where I am, maybe it will help someone leap either way.

I'm getting older and my priorities are changing, gone are the days when I would sit in anything and pretend I knew what I was doing whilst being shaken to death and making anti social noise (music or exhaust). I am sure we all go through that and I wont resent anyone taking their turn at exploring it. Long story short my needs have changed and I can now safely say I am probably in the category "employed middle aged family man".

To be in this category I want either a car or cars that provide the following:

- Safe family transport (children)
- Extended family transport (grandparents)
- A bit of fun for the odd occasion
- Something that fits as socially responsible? amongst my colleagues/clients
- Enough toys to keep me comfortable whilst using the car (phone connectivity etc)
- Something for my wife to feel comfortable in/use
- The odd load lugging use (the rubbish tip, trip to Ikea etc)

The truth is I don't NEED a car/cars that meet all of these, but it's amazing how you justify things to yourself and I want to. Sadly I am not that smart to have one car that fits all of these or if there was one it does not fit within my personal circumstances. So up until yesterday I had the following; Mazda MX-5 NA, JEEP Renegade, Mercedes C200 Convertible and a Nissan Elgrand. Basically I thought pretty much a perfect mini fleet that answers all of those criteria (I know they aren't to everyone's taste or the most exciting/expensive, but they work for me).

Anyway a couple of weeks ago the Mercedes broke. I believe it was the air conditioning clutch, it ground to a halt and had a knock on damaging effect. Now it was all replaced with little fuss under warranty, so not a worry, but it did highlight an issue. The car is currently under 3 years old, fantastic still all covered, but it is a complex thing and I thought what if this goes wrong out of warranty. Its got all the hood mechanism, regenerative braking, a 48 volt mild hybrid system with a small turbo engine. The car is quite heavy, so I assume all of this is under quite a bit of pressure to perform. I'll now get to the point... it is neither traditional combustion or BEV so a complex solution. So I thought now is the time to leap one way and go BEV make it one technology and simpler. Plus there is more of a choice for BEV's and they seem to be more achievable as ownership prospects (range and price).

So I have now decided to chop in the Mercedes making use of the booming second hand market and the equity I have in the car (a pleasant surprise, I never expect any using a PCP). What am I going for... I am ashamed to say a BMW I3s.

I just said there was a lot more choice given BEV's and here I am going for one of the oldest BEV's out there. But I do 12 miles a day mostly suburban driving, the I3 has reduced/held it's price so it still qualifies for grants and has now upgraded the batteries to a decent range (still competitive). Funnily enough I hated it when it first came out, but the design has really grown on me and I think it still looks interesting and great with a decent bit of build quality/luxury (wrong word) to go with it, the technology is a bit old but I am not that smart and it does everything I need it to.

That leads me to my future; a cheap MX-5 for that half an hour of roof down fun at non license losing speeds on the rare occasion, the Jeep which keeps my wife happy, The Elgrand for hauling tasks/extended family excursions and finally the I3s for lower costs reliable day to day socially responsible funnish me transport.

I think I have found my happy place/balance again only time will tell. I wonder what the replacement will be for my wifes Jeep, will this lead me to another BEV?

Anyway I still have a chance to change my plans, am I mad or talking sense, I don't mind being educated.

[wobert]

I’ve gone through a similar process with replacing the wife’s 116d.

We’d owned it since 2013, taking it from 6k to 97k miles.

Whilst still serviceable, I considered that once we breached 100k it would be more difficult to move on.

With a budget limited to £18k I set about searching for a suitable BEV replacement. Her motoring consists of pottering around locally plus a commute to her work place of 60 miles 2-3 times per week.

Given the budget and a preference to stay with BMW the i3 matched the criteria and we ended up with a late 2017 car with 20k miles from the local dealer.

It’s perfect for what she needs, slightly raised driving position, roomy, peanuts to run (we’re having a home charge point installed and switched to an EDF EV fuel deal (4.5p per Kw/h), minimal service costs (no REX) or potential warranty issues. Good level of kit etc.

Plus it reminds me of my R53 MINI in terms of the drive and the looks you get.

Overall, impressed!

[Pixelpeep Z4]

The i3 is a fantastic car. we had a 94ah REx from new in 2017, covered 60,000 miles and only just got rid of it.

imo, the i3 is expensive for what they actually offer - there are cheaper, better equipped, better range alternatives (we went for the e-niro4 with 282 mile range, 7.5 to 60, tons of tech as standard including LED headlights, JBL audio etc, but win a special place in your heart because of how they drive

my advice is: Do it. you won't look back.

[off_again]

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

The i3 is a fantastic car. we had a 94ah REx from new in 2017, covered 60,000 miles and only just got rid of it.

imo, the i3 is expensive for what they actually offer - there are cheaper, better equipped, better range alternatives (we went for the e-niro4 with 282 mile range, 7.5 to 60, tons of tech as standard including LED headlights, JBL audio etc, but win a special place in your heart because of how they drive

my advice is: Do it. you won't look back.

Completely agree about the expensive aspect of the i3. They just aren’t worth the money that BMW was asking. But deals can be had and they did some good deals to get them out of the door.

But, they make a cracking second hand buy. They drop pretty quickly and suddenly it becomes a bit quirky but solidly built and feature laden EV. If you can get a great deal on a new one, it’s probably good value. Second hand in the right spec, it’s a good deal. Still expensive for what it is, but it does drive really well.

[Moonpie21]

wobert said:

I’ve gone through a similar process with replacing the wife’s 116d.

We’d owned it since 2013, taking it from 6k to 97k miles.

Whilst still serviceable, I considered that once we breached 100k it would be more difficult to move on.

With a budget limited to £18k I set about searching for a suitable BEV replacement. Her motoring consists of pottering around locally plus a commute to her work place of 60 miles 2-3 times per week.

Given the budget and a preference to stay with BMW the i3 matched the criteria and we ended up with a late 2017 car with 20k miles from the local dealer.

It’s perfect for what she needs, slightly raised driving position, roomy, peanuts to run (we’re having a home charge point installed and switched to an EDF EV fuel deal (4.5p per Kw/h), minimal service costs (no REX) or potential warranty issues. Good level of kit etc.

Plus it reminds me of my R53 MINI in terms of the drive and the looks you get.

Overall, impressed!

A home charge point, investigating solar and a change in tariff are all on my list of things to do. Funnily enough these might be considered a chore to some, but I am quite looking forward to working out what is best for my shiny new toy (when it turns up).

[wobert]

Moonpie21 said:

wobert said:

I’ve gone through a similar process with replacing the wife’s 116d.

We’d owned it since 2013, taking it from 6k to 97k miles.

Whilst still serviceable, I considered that once we breached 100k it would be more difficult to move on.

With a budget limited to £18k I set about searching for a suitable BEV replacement. Her motoring consists of pottering around locally plus a commute to her work place of 60 miles 2-3 times per week.

Given the budget and a preference to stay with BMW the i3 matched the criteria and we ended up with a late 2017 car with 20k miles from the local dealer.

It’s perfect for what she needs, slightly raised driving position, roomy, peanuts to run (we’re having a home charge point installed and switched to an EDF EV fuel deal (4.5p per Kw/h), minimal service costs (no REX) or potential warranty issues. Good level of kit etc.

Plus it reminds me of my R53 MINI in terms of the drive and the looks you get.

Overall, impressed!

A home charge point, investigating solar and a change in tariff are all on my list of things to do. Funnily enough these might be considered a chore to some, but I am quite looking forward to working out what is best for my shiny new toy (when it turns up).

The ‘holes in the cheese’ aligned for me, as coincidentally I was just at the end of my existing energy supply contract.

Likewise the charge point, I used one of the online umbrella websites to get quotes, having done some research no different charger types / features / benefits etc.

[LordGrover]

They're not quite as expensive as I was lead to believe, though maybe I was misinformed.

I contacted BMW looking for approved used i3 120 Ah. I was looking at two year old c. £20,000 models. Not paying cash, PCP.

I was able to 'buy' (PCP) a new one from their stock at less per month than the used cars. Clearly, there's the balloon at the end, but the money I'm saving will pretty much pay for that itself. I 'paid' a tad over £30,000.

Only had it a month and just love the thing. It may be almost ten years old model, but in many ways it's still ahead of the game. Aluminium chassis, Carbon Fibre reinforced plastic shell, interesting, attractive and tactile interior and plenty of room for four. For my needs 150 miles is ample (10 miles each way commute), I have a drive and can charge at home so it's full every morning - plus preconditioned so cool on a hot day and warm when it's cold out. Getting something with a greater range would mean dragging around an expensive and heavy battery that would never be needed - I really don't understand the perceived need for 300+ miles range; for most people they may take advantage of that once a year to visit rellies or go on holiday to Cornwall/Scotland, where a little forward planning would fulfil that requirement anyway.
The only concern for many is the BMW iDrive and the pie dish - for me it's fine, but some of the competition has more recent/current tech by way of touch displays which I'm not keen on anyway, so I'm more than happy.

I heartily recommend them.

[wobert]

We’re fortunate in that I have a G20 330e company car for longer distance stuff, so the i3 is a good match for the wife’s usage.

[QuattroDave]

Another fan of the i3 here, we have a 60ah REX to go alongside our mustang (when I say alongside, I mean at the complete opposite end of the scale)

Range aside I thought these weren't too badly priced from new. Bearing in mind they're carbon fibre shell and plastic panels they were incredibly light for a mainly battery hybrid (<1300kg)

We bought ours in November and paid less than £13k from a dealer with warranty (and the all important suite interior with big screen nav) and can't see myself in any other electric car in that price bracket or even double for that matter. I pace will be next!

[Moonpie21]

LordGrover said:

I was able to 'buy' (PCP) a new one from their stock at less per month than the used cars. Clearly, there's the balloon at the end, but the money I'm saving will pretty much pay for that itself. I 'paid' a tad over £30,000.
.

A very similar deal is what I have gone for, looking at their competitors around the same price point, better performers can be had but the BMW works for me and most importantly, to my eyes, is a little different.

[Big Nanas]

LordGrover said:

They're not quite as expensive as I was lead to believe, though maybe I was misinformed.

I contacted BMW looking for approved used i3 120 Ah. I was looking at two year old c. £20,000 models. Not paying cash, PCP.

I was able to 'buy' (PCP) a new one from their stock at less per month than the used cars. Clearly, there's the balloon at the end, but the money I'm saving will pretty much pay for that itself. I 'paid' a tad over £30,000.

Only had it a month and just love the thing. It may be almost ten years old model, but in many ways it's still ahead of the game. Aluminium chassis, Carbon Fibre reinforced plastic shell, interesting, attractive and tactile interior and plenty of room for four. For my needs 150 miles is ample (10 miles each way commute), I have a drive and can charge at home so it's full every morning - plus preconditioned so cool on a hot day and warm when it's cold out. Getting something with a greater range would mean dragging around an expensive and heavy battery that would never be needed - I really don't understand the perceived need for 300+ miles range; for most people they may take advantage of that once a year to visit rellies or go on holiday to Cornwall/Scotland, where a little forward planning would fulfil that requirement anyway.
The only concern for many is the BMW iDrive and the pie dish - for me it's fine, but some of the competition has more recent/current tech by way of touch displays which I'm not keen on anyway, so I'm more than happy.

I heartily recommend them.

Its a carbon fibre chassis! And uses thermo plastic moulded body panels.
Not only that, uses recycled and sustainable materials and was designed to be over 90% recyclable at end of life.

Quite why BMW have ditched all this and gone back to traditional pressed-steel construction is a mystery. Everyone I've met in the last 3 months of ownership has been very interested in the sustainable nature of its construction.

Edited by Big Nanas on Wednesday 30th June 16:12

[annodomini2]

LordGrover said:

... I really don't understand the perceived need for 300+ miles range; for most people they may take advantage of that once a year to visit rellies or go on holiday to Cornwall/Scotland, where a little forward planning would fulfil that requirement anyway.

Some people's lives are different, some have 50+ mile commutes.

Not all yes, but some do.

There is also those that may normally have say a 10 mile, but may regularly do longer journeys.

There is a need, but not everyone.

[Pixelpeep Z4]

annodomini2 said:

LordGrover said:

... I really don't understand the perceived need for 300+ miles range; for most people they may take advantage of that once a year to visit rellies or go on holiday to Cornwall/Scotland, where a little forward planning would fulfil that requirement anyway.

Some people's lives are different, some have 50+ mile commutes.

Not all yes, but some do.

There is also those that may normally have say a 10 mile, but may regularly do longer journeys.

There is a need, but not everyone.

if you wanna drive it like you stole it - it helps to have double the range that you need. My commute is a 100mile round trip. i'd like 200+ miles of range so i can drive it how i want to.

e-niro is 282 (actual is damn near @ 270-280ish) and even abusing the tits off it, it still returns 240 to a charge

[anonymous-user]

Big Nanas said:

Its a carbon fibre chassis! And uses thermo plastic moulded body panels.
Not only that, uses recycled and sustainable materials and was designed to be over 90% recyclable at end of life.

Quite why BMW have ditched all this and gone back to traditional pressed-steel construction is a mystery. Everyone I've met in the last 3 months of ownership has been very interested in the sustainable nature of its construction.

Edited by Big Nanas on Wednesday 30th June 16:12

No, it's quite deffinately an alluminium ladder chassis (battery box really), subframes at each end are Ally too:



CF tub is then bolted on top:



This does two things:

1) avoids having to put high point loads into the CF tub (ie suspension and powertrain reactions)
2) Allows the use of a lower tollerance CF tub, because the welded ally chassis + subframes carry the precision allignment parts


The reason it's not carried across to other BMWs (yet) are

1) Low volume process - no way to make say half a million 3 series via this process yet
2) cost, far more expensive than a bashed tin body for a high volume car

[danp]

Max_Torque said:

The reason it's not carried across to other BMWs (yet) are

1) Low volume process - no way to make say half a million 3 series via this process yet
2) cost, far more expensive than a bashed tin body for a high volume car

Hopefully you’re implying that BMW might produce something else using similar construction?

I gather that US sales of the i3 are ending soon, and possibly next year for the rest of us - so they’ll have the SGL/BMW plant out there needing something carbon to build!

[off_again]

danp said:

Hopefully you’re implying that BMW might produce something else using similar construction?

I gather that US sales of the i3 are ending soon, and possibly next year for the rest of us - so they’ll have the SGL/BMW plant out there needing something carbon to build!

Yep, officially ended. Only cars left are existing orders and dealer stock. I know it’s been regarded as a failure, but they sold a lot of them! Something like 40k+. Could have been better but that’s not bad.

And yea, I am sure BMW have something in store for the factory in WA.

[anonymous-user]

180 bhp, high torque, rear wheel drive, light (for a BEV hatch) - they are a hoot.
I have 5 cars, including a RS4 and 911, and live in our new i3.
I don’t even have a charger - just a 3 pin plug I overnight it on once or twice a week. I only do max 70 miles a day and it offers min 140 in winter and close to 180 this morning.
Running costs are tiny.
Looks a bit odd, but who cares?
Do it.

PS When I looked in Jan you could get a pre-reg delivery mileage S for 29k. Normal one for £26500.

PPS If you do a lot of motorway driving definitely go for the S. If country roads, I prefer the ride of the standard car. S looks better.

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 30th June 21:10

[Daaaveee]

I loved my i3 that we had for 8 or 9 months. Will be getting one as a second car when needs must.

[anonymous-user]

Moonpie21 said:

What am I going for... I am ashamed to say a BMW I3s.

Trust me, the i3 is nothing to be ashamed about. Yes, some find the looks challenging (personally i love that it looks like nothing else on the road) but the engineering is incredible and should be celebrated by every car nut, and then there is the way the thing drives, a car that is far, far more than the sum of it's parts. I've driven an i3 now for nearly 6 years, and i still enjoy each time i drive one, honestly, and i am lucky enough to get to drive some pretty amazing cars. You'll struggle to find an actual owner who doesn't like and even LOVE their i3 :-)

[wobert]

Max_Torque said:

Moonpie21 said:

What am I going for... I am ashamed to say a BMW I3s.

Trust me, the i3 is nothing to be ashamed about. Yes, some find the looks challenging (personally i love that it looks like nothing else on the road) but the engineering is incredible and should be celebrated by every car nut, and then there is the way the thing drives, a car that is far, far more than the sum of it's parts. I've driven an i3 now for nearly 6 years, and i still enjoy each time i drive one, honestly, and i am lucky enough to get to drive some pretty amazing cars. You'll struggle to find an actual owner who doesn't like and even LOVE their i3 :-)

I describe the i3 as an ‘engineer’s car’ (speaking as an engineer), built to meet the purpose rather than down a budget sheet.