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Are you driving rexlessly?

5K views 43 replies 19 participants last post by  Gonville 
#1 ·
I am a Leaf lover (owned gen.1 since 2011, 42,000 miles) who selfishly and irrationally wants to own an i3 as well.
So far I have failed to persuade my wife to even look at the i3, let alone test drive it ( I've had two test drives).
She was irrationally upset at the Leaf purchase and has yet to forgive me.
Despite that I am delighted with the Leaf and am now truly obsessed with driving electric only.
So I have just got to be patient.
It seems UK buyers prefer the i3 with a range extender but is there anyone on this forum who is driving without one, as I would like to follow their posts please?
The sort of thing I want to know is; would you have killed you wife to own one, i.e. is it that good?
 
#2 ·
First question is how good is your wife! As for Rex, I bought mine to keep my wife sweet. 2,000 miles and I have not used it yet. It did run on a maintenance at 2000km, but I had no control over that. I do expect to use it some day, and it stops my wife panicking when the range gets low. Best of luck with your quest. PS I'm still delighted with my i3.
 
#5 ·
Love my wife, and also love the i3!
I have the REX and have used £16 of fuel in 4800miles. Although not sure I would buy an i3 without the REX, you just can't guarantee chargers will a)work or b) work with the particular card you have.
P.S Mike, hope you are well, good to see you are still banging the i3 drum!
It's wonderful being retired, gives you lots of opportunities!! Banging drums being one
 
#6 ·
The Rex allows us old fogeys to enjoy trips not possible in the Leaf we had previously. In the two weeks we've had him (Rex can't possibly be female) we've been catching up so his usage is higher than we expect when we settle down to a more normal routine.

Yesterday we went over the Pennines to somewhat north of Skipton. 73 miles electric with 12 remainng and 92 petrol with 9 remaining (might have been overfilled a little because I topped up from a can before starting). I did refuel at Ripon on the way back but need not have done.

Cruised at 60 on the motorway sections (approx a third of the total), otherwise with the traffic flow on the A59. The performance of Rex was much better than I had anticipated. Mpg is difficult to estimate accurately because the tank is so small that refilling variation is significant. But certainly better than 50.
 
#7 ·
My range anxiety ended (touch wood) long ago and I simply couldn't bring myself to have a rex or dog as I like to call it, so yes it is male. We do in fact have a female real dog in the family, which is by the way.
Anyway when I do get an i3 I don't mind finding alternative transport for longer uncertain journeys and I really like train travel. Would love to go to China by train and again will do one day.
I bang on about my lovely blue Leaf and when I get the i3 (must remain positive) I will have a sticker on the back that says "my other car's a Leaf"
 
#8 ·
I have the REx but I think I've used less than £20 worth of fuel in 3000 miles.

However, it get used psychologically much more than its fuel consumption implies. The REx means that Mrs SS is happy to use the car for more than 5 mile trips. It also means I'm happy to arrive home with 5 miles of range left - I'd be less chipper about planning trips with this margin without the REx.

And it means I've been able to drive to my mother's 160 miles away. Sure, that would have been *possible* with public chargers but it would have failed the domestic harmony test. Stopping every 70 miles for a 20 minute charge is fine for daddy's eco toy - but not for driving around with children.
 
#10 ·
Richard, is the REx really that bad ? Would it not mean that you could buy an i3 and keep the wife happy ?

I wouldn't be driving an EV if it wasn't for the REx. It was needed to convince me that I could live with an EV as my only vehicle. I regularly see comments from BEV owners about the REx being a 'smelly petrol engine' (which is hard to deny :D) but how many of these people also have an ICE car in their garage for longer journeys ?

BEV as your only car is obviously ideal but I see the REx as a significantly better solution than BEV + 2nd car. I even think it's better than BEV + hire car/train/plane.

Like a lot of REx owners I'm finding that I'm not using it much (£30 in 2k miles), but it's letting me drive my EV without having to plan. Eg, it's a get out of jail card if you need to do a trip at short notice, or if your car fails to charge overnight, etc etc. If I'm going on holiday in the UK, I can drive there and then drive pure electric when there rather than being in an ICE hire car for the entire time.

Rather than it being such a bad thing might it not actually be the solution that you're looking for? :)
 
#11 ·
I totally agree Andy, that is why we own the Volt.

145000 mile in just over a year about 95 gallons of petrol, no road tax, no second insurance/servicing charges, free congestion charge in London. But most of all no worries ever and best of all a wife (who has never liked a car before) that is completely in love with the car and is already talking about a model E as our next car.
 
#16 ·
@richardglover range via battery or REx turns an EV into a car... I'm driving around Scotland today without thinking about charging which is exactly what we need for this to become mainstream.
If you have any doubts, read Nikki's attempt to join WAVE... just another drive for me.
Totally agree but without the 70-95k price tag.
 
#15 ·
It bothers me that I agree with everyone on the logic of having a Rex but I love my Leaf and I kind of feel that I was being unfaithful to her if my other had more to offer.
If however I had two 100% electric cars it would be like two wives to ignore instead of one.
 
#18 ·
About an hour ago I had a conversation with a techy-type at an internet datacenter who was admiring our Volt in which I had arrived. (This is not at all uncommon, as we all know merely seeing these EVs spark a chat among many interested.) We talked briefly about Volt vs. Prius vs. Leaf vs. Tesla vs. traditional ICE cars since he seemed to be presently doing some research on behalf of his sister who does a lot of short commute trips (20-mile) but regular long-haul (400-mile) trips and that the vehicle would need to accommodate both.

The reality is that unless you're seeking adventure, are happy to tolerate interruptions, and are in no real rush to arrive at your destination promptly, then the Leaf is completely out-of-the-question for most people. The range is just too short and the regular interruptions (at least 30 min every 50-70 miles, depending on where you can get charging) are just too invasive for the typical motorist.

Everyone would love a Model S, but nobody that I've met in-person has been willing to pay for one.

So for those that I've met in-person and had this usual EV pros-and-cons discussion it really comes down to Volt vs. Prius (not plug-in) vs yet another ICE car. Invariably they start calculating the cost of fuel and trying to justify the higher purchase price of the Volt (used or new) as compared to the Prius (again, used or new) and the ICE car (you guessed it, used or new). As I'm sure you're all aware: it's a hard sell.

One thing that I've noticed since using the Volt is that there really is value (both time savings and sheer pleasure) in not frequenting the petrol pumps. The benefits of using an electric vehicle extend beyond the mere comparison between miles-per-gallon and miles-per-kWh. It's something that I didn't expect - that the convenience of "fueling up" at home is quite relevant.
 
#19 ·
Fair point. And the time to get in and out of a petrol station can be significant when busy. I used to have to fill up twice a week.

Think you are missing the second car element for pure mid range ev's like the Leaf. For most people who have one ice or hybrid, the Leaf as a second car is not limited by it's range.

Am also not convinved most people do 400 mile trips regularly.

I have done 360 miles return trips in a day in my Leaf though. It added at least 2 hours to the journey.....though would have stopped each way anyway in an ICE. And as people realise the trip done this way saves you £50 each time can imagine some people will choose this - but accept a minority.
 
#20 ·
Think you are missing the second car element for pure mid range ev's like the Leaf. For most people who have one ice or hybrid, the Leaf as a second car is not limited by it's range.
I'm going to throw something in here as someone who moved from a Leaf + second ICE to a REx + second ICE.

It may be counter-intuitive, but our EV miles have gone up significantly since getting the REx:

- Every day: With the Leaf we'd have to switch to the ICE for any journey that was on the edge of range, or any trip that may or may not have charging available. With the REx we can run it from full battery to empty without any concerns, so it gets used a lot more.
- Holiday/over-night stays: With the Leaf we'd have to take the ICE for the long journey, even if at the destination we could have survived pure-EV. With a REx we can take it and enjoy pure-EV wherever we end up.

So if the goal is to move as many miles from ICE to EV I'd recommend a REx over a pure EV. There may be something 'wrong' in carrying around a petrol engine, but if the ultimate goal is to increase EV miles over ICE miles it makes sense.
 
#34 ·
I bought my I3 because, as a senior citizen, I got fed up with my DH asking to go to places within a couple of miles of home. My 2 Litre ICE never got warm and the battery needed to be kept on a constant trickle charge. Two months and 800 miles on, the total cost to date is 14kWhs (£1.50) of electricity via the home charger (which I thought that I should check) and £5.10 on Rex fuel. The rest has been free PV; free Ecotricity and free destination charging.

In sum, my I3 will do 98% of trips without me giving them a moment's concern. The other 2% need a bit of planning. For example, we are off on Saturday to a cottage in Wales which has 2 charging points. Getting there will require an hour's break for luch etc and a 7kWh top up. I know, I could just use the Rex!
 
#38 ·
What I have never understood about rapid charging is why the Government has not engaged pro-actively with the fuel suppliers. For example, my favourite County Council (Worcestershire) wants to place 2 rapid chargers in Worcester City when there is an ideal site at a BP Service Station situated about 100 yards from the Southern Worcester bypass. There may, of course, many reasons why it cannot be used.. Paradoxically, Worcester City Council is tonight holding an extraordinary meeting to discuss how to reduce congestion - possibly, by significantly reducing in City parking places and increasing parking charges. Talk about joined up thinking but at least the RCs will be covered.
 
#39 ·
What I have never understood about rapid charging is why the Government has not engaged pro-actively with the fuel suppliers.
Who says they haven't?
 
#44 ·
I need to go back and check the agreement. I have a PCP which I think has a limit and an over miles charge. I've stopped driving the 535d so that might get back under the 10,000 in the 3years. I wonder if an extension is possible but I suspect it's to do with the residual value. If you run up too many miles then they will reduce that a lot or charge the 15p a mile surcharge. All understandable. Guess it depends on resale values and is it worth keeping. My current thoughts are keeping it. But three years will be up in no time.
 
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