Mattp
Member
- Messages
- 501
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...
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...