[Axel]

Thanks to you lot I am now seriously considering ditching the VW Touran family wagon and get EV'd

I am doing a 70mile round trip commute to Northampton daily and the car only carries a DD, DS and DW on the weekends. There maybe longer journeys (airports, holidays...), so Rex gives me that convenience and peace of mind I need to consider switching. unless somebody can kindly lend me the cash needed to splash on a Model S.

So, where in MK can I see and drive one first of all?

Secondly, how does one go about procuring such a beaut?

My car is probably still worth a few grand and I am happy to pay a few hundred a month, seeing that I save ~£330 in diesel and running costs a month!

Thanks for dragging me to the future folks

 

[Paul]

The local BMW dealer has them I'm sure, however for a personal view check this list: https://speakev.com/threads/roll-call-milton-keynes-area-ev-owners-and-enthusiasts.2583/ there's some local i3 owners who might be able to offer some insight, namely @Amateurish and @John Ganderton

 

[Rob Owen]

So, where in MK can I see and drive one first of all?

Looks like you've got a BMW i stockist on your doorstep.

 

[Axel]

Thanks @Paul & @Rob Owen. I think I'll just pop down over the weekend and have a gander.

Heard about a waiting list for i3 orders might exist...?

 

[Axel]

@John Ganderton's all black looks sweet! Although @Amateurish storm trooper look is also pretty cool.

Do you gentlemen have any more i3 pr0n to share?

Also, what's your experience with the mobile app? What spec and finance options have you picked and why?

Beers or ales as bounty offered.

 

[Brooktop]

Once you get used to the harsh regen when you lift off the pedal, you'll love it. No disrespect but it's light years ahead of your current wheels. Welcome to the future!

 

[Axel]

I am sure looking forward to that EV smile

However, reading i3 boot space is too small for even a small pushchair I wonder whether this car is right for me?

I have two small kids and need to pack our Mclaren chair.

Also, only four seats maybe an issue at some rare occasions.

But the Leaf hasn't got the range (trip to the beach, airport..), and the Ampera may have a bigger boot but also only four seats. Leaves the Prius plugin, right?

Argh. This EV lark is asking for some difficult choices to be made.

I want the i3, but my head says Leaf. What do you kind folk think?

 

[Olivier]

The only practical family EVs on the market right now are the Leaf, Tesla S and the outlander PHEV. I tried all the ones you tried and decided to wait longer. Then I heard of the outlander.

 

[Hoa Tu]

We did a test drive of the i3 at the MK dealer back in Nov. Decided against it as it was only 4 seats, small boot and no improvement to Leaf range. Also no movement on list price even when we offered full cash payment for it.

Glad we went with the Leaf now for the bigger space esp when doing small children activities and you need to fit 3 children in the back. Also be surprised if you could get a road bike in the back without taking any wheels off which you can easily do in a Leaf.

 

[Paul]

There's plenty of options now or soon if you're prepared to go plug-in hyrbrid route, but most of these will not meet your 70 mile trip without a day time charge at your work: https://speakev.com/threads/a-complete-list-of-evs.2813/

To be honest, work places should really be encouraged to get chargers in now anyway, very high on the "green credentials" tick-box list, if your employer cares about the future at all (and I'd think they should, all things considered!).

As for beach trips, long trips and prams and such... let me tell you my view.

For years we owned Minis (the old type) then we owned and drove MINIs (new type) for many years. This was during both single and double child years. It was not a problem, ever.

The reason is we bought a (relatively) expensive car, and then chose buggies and such to fit. This to us always seemed far more sensible than buying an (often bloated) buggy or whatever then having to make our car fit it, that just seems back to front. That'd be like choosing a house to fit a sofa you like when really your dream house is perfect in every other way... seriously, the house is more important than the sofa, and the car is more important than a buggy.

The other thing was "what about trips to IKEA, what about big holidays?". We hired or borrowed vans for those (rare) occasions. Why drive a van every day of your life when you can have a great fun vehicle and borrow a van when you need one?! Holidays we usually took the MINI. I try not to be wasteful anyway so having small, minimalist but useful stuff is always my preference over bulk.

So, how does that fit with EV ownership?

With the LEAF you get 14 days ICE vehicle hire FOR FREE for when you want to go on holiday out of range.

Even if you don't use this, it's relatively easy now to trip in the LEAF using the (currently free) Electric Highway to leapfrog beyond range. Destination charging is becoming more common too. If you're not heading East it seems pretty easy. With kids, taking a break to charge, have a pee etc is no bother, in fact it's often quite welcome!

We regularly drive out of range in the LEAF now, it's never been a big problem, even with several chargers down you can do it, with them working it's a piece of cake.

With a BMW i3 I can't comment from experience, but boot-wise it does seem limited. We tried the ZOE and the LEAF and the LEAF dealership was streets ahead and the car just that bit more practical, so we went for that.

I'd try out as many EVs and plug-in cars as you can, see what grabs you and see how you can make it work for you.

 

[Andy]

Hi Axel,

You're on the right track, any of those choices would be good!

I'm not sure I'd recommend the i3 if space is a big concern. The boot is 260 litres but it's pretty big if you fold the rear seats down at 1100 litres which is actually bigger than the LEAF's 720 (370 with seats up). The winner for space is the Outlander PHEV, have you considered that?

Also, what's your experience with the mobile app? What spec and finance options have you picked and why?

The mobile app is pretty well done, tells you battery charge, range etc. You can remotely pre-condition, configure charging times, send destinations to the sat-nav, etc.

For finance, EV's are very tax efficient if you can purchase through a LTD company. Is that a possibility?

For the i3 spec, there's a lot to choose from (it is a BMW after-all) so I'll save getting into that detail until you know for sure the i3 is the one you want.

Secondly, how does one go about procuring such a beaut?

Not all BMW dealers sell the i3 but it seems your local one in MK does. At the moment you'll have to pay list price and there is still a long waiting list (approx 6 months) so that's probably going to be the case for the foreseeable.

The i3 isn't the cheapest option but if you're interested in 'driving dynamics' it's the most fun out of the cars you're looking at. They've put a lot of effort in making it lightweight and it also has the most powerful motor. This might not be important to you though but if it is I'd recommend test driving them all (comparison).

I work about 30 miles North of Northampton so if you're ever up that way I'm happy to meet up to show you my i3 REx, answer any questions in more detail, etc.

 

[Robwiz]

I was going to reply in a similar vein to Paul. It's the 80/20 thing – go with the car that best meets your needs for 80% of your usage and be creative about the other 20%.

The 14 days ICE offer from Nissan only applies if you buy new from a Nissan dealer. Pre-registered and ex-demo Leafs can be had for significant savings – I'd be inclined to buy one of these and put the saving towards hiring from Holiday Autos (or similar brokers) when necessary.

Three years ago, we replaced our faithful old Citroen C5 estate with a Hyundai i10 and haven't missed its load-lugging capacity at all – on that basis I'd suggest you take a good look at the Renault Zoe which has the best real-world range by quite some margin. If you haven't already found it, there are excellent owner insights at www.myrenaultzoe.com

Trevor, who owns myrenaultzoe, has posted some interesting views on the i3 on his site.

 

[Paul]

You've obviously not visited MK Renault dealer.

 

[Robwiz]

You've obviously not visited MK Renault dealer.

Guilty as charged m'lud! EVs should be the wake-up call for Renault because the customer demographic is different and with higher expectations.

 

[fenlander]

With a BMW i3 I can't comment from experience, but boot-wise it does seem limited.

Having had both a Leaf (Mk1) and an i3 I think the i3 boot is more practical. The flat area is great, and with the back seats down you actually have a lot of space. Make sure you try that out when comparing the two cars - don't just go on the litre capacity - I don't find it's very often that I put all my luggage in a blender before pouring it into the boot space.

4 seats or 5 seats comes down to the van argument for me - it's such a rare requirement for us to carry 5 that you may as well hire a people carrier.

The big thing though is the Rex - it makes all the difference between being a car with limitations and one that you just don't worry about. My EV miles have gone up from around 10,000 a year in the Leaf to 14,000 a year in the i3, just because the i3 gets used to the limit of range wheras the Leaf often got abandoned for that last trip that was on the edge.

 

[Brooktop]

When I first got the EV bug I thought I'd go for an i3 BEV and on the rare occasions I was doing a journey it couldn't cope with, I'd hire an ICE. My circumstances changed so decided a REX was right for me.

 

[smartie]

If you go for a nearly new Leaf (even the top range Tekna) you could save yourself £15k+ over an equivalent spec I3 Rex, have 5 seats and bigger boot and use hire/car clubs for occassions when you go on long trips.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

That is a good approach if you can make it work for you... £15k will buy a lot of car rental!!!

 

[flipper]

You've obviously not visited MK Renault dealer.

I did, and managed to get a drive in the Zoe.
But they were ... not terribly engaged. The car only had about 10% battery ("I'm sure I asked for it to be charged" he said).
On the plus side: no pressure, no hard-sell
On the negative side: no real interest.
(To be fair, I've dealt with them before, almost bought a Clio from a much more interested, knowlegadble salesman, who was still there as far as I can tell. It's luck of the draw, as always).

 

[flipper]

If you go for a nearly new Leaf (even the top range Tekna) you could save yourself £15k+ over an equivalent spec I3 Rex, have 5 seats and bigger boot and use hire/car clubs for occassions when you go on long trips.

If you play your cards right you can almost save that on a new Leaf...
The deal might not be there right now, but I paid less than £17000 for my Acenta, new, with metallic and the cold pack. And it's *not* a Flex car.
I really liked the i3. But it had too many negatives: 4 seats (and small back seats at that), silly back doors, and (most of all) price. I arranged a test-drive with no hassle, but the dealership never followed up with a finance quote (as requested) and nor did BMW Online - even though they sent an email asking if I wanted to be contacted (I said yes, obviously). I pay £255/month for my Leaf - the i3 would have been at least £450, probably more with some nice options - and that wasn't even the REx.

I'm not sure why the Ampera doesn't suit, though, @Axel - you don't need 5 seats, do you?