[Axel]

The Others... sounds Lost ;p

So what are your thoughts on this?
https://www.chevrolet.co.uk/cars/volt/

I have been pondering why this generator / battery approach wasn't done way earlier? Sounds great!

 

[Paul]

Not really sure about range extenders, I'd rather just use electric power and have a longer range, Tesla style. It shouldn't be long until that's much more common. In the mean while, I almost feel you'd be fine EV only and hiring a nice low CO2 petrol/diesel car if you ever REALLY needed it.

I do wonder about how reliable they will be in the longer run too, one EV advantage is the lack of parts and complex, serviceable components.

 

[Axel]

wondering whether a trip to and from Birmingham Aerodrome will work on a single charge or if I'd need a sleep-over. happily trade those thoughts for a wee bit more complexity. that or graphene battery tech

 

[Axel]

just spotted one in black, parked at Sainsbury's at the Hub. It looks quite good

 

[Paul]

They do look good, I often find an Ampera and a Volt parked next to me at CMK, look more like "normal" cars than the Leaf for sure.

 

[Axel]

wondering about what four full seats mean... can you put three adults and two kids in bulky car seats in that thing?!

 

[Axel]

wow! just comparing personal car leasing quotes for Vauxhall Ampera & Nissan Leaf...

Ampera ~£500
Leaf ~£250

 

[Paul]

That's a BIG difference. i3 with range extender an option? Too small?

 

[Axel]

probably, still need to fit 2+2 and sometimes 3+2 (adults + dd/ds)

is i3 out yet? not sure about price point but i'd reckon it'll be comparable to Volt/Ampera?

 

[Paul]

i3 cheaper than those two I believe, not on the roads yet, but will be next month. Not sure if Wollaston in Northampton are a BMW i dealership or not, but I always found them brilliant to deal with for MINIs.

 

[Abi]

wow! just comparing personal car leasing quotes for Vauxhall Ampera & Nissan Leaf...

Ampera ~£500
Leaf ~£250

That is quite a difference! Two car for the price of one.

 

[Axel]

i think somebody needs to test drive the i3 a post up their experience plus comparison with existing EV ;-)

 

[Paul]

All in good time, all in good time,

 

[Darren Griffin]

wondering about what four full seats mean... can you put three adults and two kids in bulky car seats in that thing?!

It means it's four seats only. The battery pack occupies the hump between the seats so there is no possibility of getting five people in.

 

[RickMGoldie]

The Others... sounds Lost ;p

I have been pondering why this generator / battery approach wasn't done way earlier? Sounds great!

It's not quite as simple as it sounds as the main electric motor / petrol engine / secondary electric motor-generator are all mated together through a planetary gearbox. It is all very clever engineering and was a long time in development. So instant copying not possible, hence BMW only doing a seperate crawl home generator as a REX. The fully integrated voltec system provides opportunities for improving the high speed electric motor performance in EREV mode by partially using the engine torque to drop the revs of the main electric drive motor, so the most can be got out of each gallon of petrol. Having said that, Tesla have put a generation time limit on the need for this complexity. My Ampera is very probably the last car I will buy which I am happy with but the future does look bright EV-wise for younger folk.

 

[Matt Beard]

...hence BMW only doing a seperate crawl home generator as a REX.

It's actually a lot better than that - but the Telegraph story seems to have lodged firmly in the public's mind.

The i3 REX should allow driving at a constant 50 or so until you run out of fuel, or driving relatively normally if you use a little care. If you turn it on before the battery gets low it should even allow you to drive almost any way that would be regarded as normal driving. It seems like it will take a little getting used to.

 

[knoxie]

Yes I think that the REX motor can be made to work well once you get used to it, I was very skeptical before I actually had a go in the car, it can make sense and gives folks that safety net they think they need and while they wait for BMW to put out their own network or the network adopt the I3, either way the only way for some folks with the I3 is the REX and it would make sense considering the lack of rapid charging.

Having had my Leaf for 6 months it would be nice sometimes not to have to worry and plan so much for some journeys (I’m not talking that many) the I3 REX takes the planning and any worry out of the way, maybe in time when people are used to the car and there is a well-established RC network they wont then need the REX?

I love the Leaf and the I3 both great alternatives to horrible ICE, when running in electric mode of course!

 

[RickMGoldie]

This wasn't a discussion about the BMW .

 

[dpeilow]

I really don't want to go down yet another thread on this, but the i3 range extender has enough power to go 70 mph.

 

[Paul]

What about the general point I made earlier regarding complexity and therefore more chance for things to go wrong? Now we have more Ampera (and Volt) owners here, I'd be interested to know if you had those thoughts/concerns before taking the plunge, and how (if you did) you overcame such fears?