Test drove an i3 over the weekend - my views on this points machine!

Mattp

Mattp

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Ive been intrigued with battery cars and like the idea of almost zero cost commuting, currently i drive ~30 miles a day in the QP all on B roads with very light traffic, but even so the speeds tend to be about 40-50mph. 'Almost' a waste for the car!

So took advantage of the 24h BMW test drive - the friendly dealer actually gave me two days which was nice! So... an i3 for 2 days...

The looks - from the outside its different, sometimes i like it, sometimes it looks a bit awkward, inside is a bit space car! but it fulfills every fuction that a basic small car needs to - its me and my family ok, a little snug in the back, but the Freelander is the usual family bus... For a space car its really light on toys... the QP has more driver convenience aids!

but...

by jiminy the thing goes! i mean, its not the fastest car in the world, but to 50, im not sure much would bother it, but its not just that... its the way it does it... its full throttle launch in silence, no screaming exhaust or fumbled gear changes... just a surge of speed! The noise the QP makes when pushed is addictive, but equally, the eerie quiet of the i3 is equally captivating! its not just in town where your driving too fast... on the dual carriageway too... 50 sounds the same as 69, which sounds the same as XX that makes no more or less noise than XX! the QP makes a growl when pushing the loud pedal to XX the freelander has its little diesel thumping away to get to XX but the i3 just does it...

A really weird sensation of speed... its not right! and of all the cars Ive driven, I think that if I had the i3 I would be racking up the points at an alarming rate!

I also think that Id end up having a serious accident in one - in 48 hours of ownership I had one woman walk out infront of it and my wife had 3 people just step out without hearing it approach... that was scary and not due to the velocity of the car, but for its silent running at walking pace...
 
conaero

conaero

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Its an odd one for me. As, like many on here, my veins corse with high octane, the thought of driving one is not something I want to do.

Let me expand...its a Porsche 911 type scenario...I hate the things but fear driving one in case I like it!

So for now, I will just plough on in ignorance :)
 
Felonious Crud

Felonious Crud

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They are quite a captivating proposition. I had a brief test in one a few years ago and they really do take off. I was pretty smitten, but not for the £30k price tag. At maybe half that I'd be interested.

Amusingly, a read an article recently about an electric car that was fitted with a noise to alert people to its presence. The selected noise was a kind of high-tech spaceship sort of sound. The result? When the car was nearby, people looked up at the sky.
 
jmoon80

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We have a Renault Zoe for the school run (approx 3 miles each way twice a day) and weekends running around London. It's brilliant. Not up there with the i3 in terms of performance, but considerably cheaper (at least upfront), and it looks like a normal (Renault) car. Still as quick as anything away from the lights, driving sensibly, and as mattp says, just no fuss about it, meaning it's very relaxing to drive.

I think the fake noise thing is going to become compulsory soon, for exactly the reasons you mention. The Zoe makes a metallic drone below 20mph. Currently, you can switch it off (although it resets every time you turn off the ignition) but as I say, I think that's going to change. It doesn't stop people walking out in front of me, but then again, quite often, nor does the sound of a V8... Some people just didn't pay attention to their green cross code at school (or are wearing headphones, on their phone etc...)

Weekend toy cars in all shapes and forms are a different matter, but as a family runaround (even out of town when charging speeds improve etc), I have to say I'm sold on electric. I imagine that an i-pace is a lovely bit of kit for most purposes.
 
zagatoes30

zagatoes30

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You can pick them up for £14k on AT now which makes them more interesting as a runabout option
 
rockits

rockits

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I would have looked at something electric for the missus but there are just too many unknowns and the dirty cheating govt I don't trust not to pile in at some point and hit them to a point that the benefit is reduced or eroded. Going to get a Discovery Sport to replace the Freelander I think.
 
safrane

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Will never buy new... unless I win at the weekends... So my fear of electric cars is how long the battery will live for after 4/5 years and multiple charges.
 
Wack61

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rockits said:
I would have looked at something electric for the missus but there are just too many unknowns and the dirty cheating govt I don't trust not to pile in at some point and hit them to a point that the benefit is reduced or eroded. Going to get a Discovery Sport to replace the Freelander I think.
Click to expand...

Once electric cars start to make a big enough dent in the government's income they'll start the move to black box road charging for everyone , smart motorways are step one to automated cars , it won't matter there's no hard shoulder if a human isn't driving
The days of the V8 are drawing to a close , hopefully I'll be dead before I get in a car that knows where I'm going and chooses music based on my mood while it drives me there
 
Zep

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Wack61 said:
Once electric cars start to make a big enough dent in the government's income they'll start the move to black box road charging for everyone , smart motorways are step one to automated cars , it won't matter there's no hard shoulder if a human isn't driving
The days of the V8 are drawing to a close , hopefully I'll be dead before I get in a car that knows where I'm going and chooses music based on my mood while it drives me there
Click to expand...

I can’t see smart motorways being the thin end of the self driving car wedge. A self driving car can break down and block a smart motorway lane just as well as a human guided one. Also there is still a (presumably terrified) human inside the broken car whether it got there by human or Skynet control.

If there was a link between smart motorways and self driving cars it would be the other way round in my view. Automate to reduce the risk and then increase the available capacity.

Smart motorways are just a cheap way to increase the capacity of the motorway network and reduce emissions (through reduced speed limits). In my view anyway!
 
FIFTY

FIFTY

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I have seen a few i3's smoke people at the lights it is quite entertaining

Apparently the nissan leaf will do 0-60 in sub 7.5s but I have never seen anyone floor it in one of those

Guess the average bmw driver in the UK is more likely to drive like the stole it than the ranks of non performance line Nissan customers
 
Zep

Zep

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And as far as electric cars go, I am in the same place as Matt. If I didn’t drive long distances I would try an electric car and probably quite like it. And in the future I do see an electric (probably fuel cell) car replacing the daily run around. But they will have to prise the keys to a V8 out of my cold dead hand.
 
Nayf

Nayf

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FIFTY said:
I have seen a few i3's smoke people at the lights it is quite entertaining

Apparently the nissan leaf will do 0-60 in sub 7.5s but I have never seen anyone floor it in one of those

Guess the average bmw driver in the UK is more likely to drive like the stole it than the ranks of non performance line Nissan customers
Click to expand...
I did and it was quick.

Rest of the experience didn’t go quite as well - part 7.
https://www.parkers.co.uk/nissan/leaf/hatchback-2018/long-term-reviews/n-connecta-40kwh-auto-5d/
 
conaero

conaero

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Zep said:
And as far as electric cars go, I am in the same place as Matt. If I didn’t drive long distances I would try an electric car and probably quite like it. And in the future I do see an electric (probably fuel cell) car replacing the daily run around. But they will have to prise the keys to a V8 out of my cold dead hand.
Click to expand...
Me first!
 
Contigo

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The acceleration would get tedious after a while and soon wear off and then you are left with another bland Euro box. It's different but not different enough to satiate our petrolhead desires.
 
Zep

Zep

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Contigo said:
The acceleration would get tedious after a while and soon wear off and then you are left with another bland Euro box. It's different but not different enough to satiate our petrolhead desires.
Click to expand...

Yes - and everyone else with have a box with the same acceleration which would ruin all the fun!
 
E

Ebenezer

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So we will sit,
Smug at traffic lights,
V8s revving,
Giggling,
Waiting to be left for dust,
As all around us whirr off into the sunset.
(together in their bland Euro boxes)
What larks!
Eb
 
daverichardson

daverichardson

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The safety point is a good one
I was in a filling station the other day and went across to pay in front of some small Honda (?) - no matter the point was the driver was about to move off and I was directly in front and had not heard a thing.
We smiled and waved but I felt a bit of a numptie
 
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