EV Thread

[Carlos]

We managed with 1 car since January and hardly used that but we will need a second car for typically sub 100 mile days from September when my daughter starts an Engineering Apprenticeship.

I fancy trying a sub £20k ev for a few months before going back on the never never.

Anyone got any cheap ev experiences ?

[jamcg]

@Mito Man has experience with the i3

[Mito Man]

Yeah, you'll want an i3 Rex with that mileage, plus a 20 grand one will be what, 5 years old so the battery will be quite degraded. Plus they're pretty tall so inefficient at motorway speeds. The standard one has a very fast rack and along with the skinny tyres it's super twitchy above 50 mph - takes getting used to but has more grip than it has any right to. The steering is devoid of any feel so it takes time to find the courage to get to the limit. It was a decent car though, comfortable and perfect in the city. Ours kept snapping engine mounts every other year resulting in a drivetrain error message but it was fixed under warranty and then as a recall after that.

On the whole I'd say the range extender is worth it despite the annoying drone as it's way better than stopping at a services and wasting 40 minutes of your life charging at 50kw. Back on the early i3s 50kw charging was an optional extra and I think as standard they were half that so really useless if you actually wanted to get anywhere.

[Marv]

My sister leased an i3 for nearly 3 years. Was only used for local runs, normally less than 30 miles.

Only problem she has was with the tyres, which seemed to puncture easily. Otherwise seemed like a really good car.

I can you get the current shape Nissan Leaf or few years old Zoë ~£20k?

[Jobbo]

I had a ride in a friend's Leaf last year and liked it. Range isn't massive compared to the EVs coming out now but may be enough for your use.

Not sure how much a £16k Leaf (which appears to be the starting point for the bigger 40kWh battery) will depreciate though. There are bigger battery versions now which will hit residuals of the earlier cars, as the 40kWh hit the earlier 30kWh.

[Carlos]

The Zoe feels small compared the i3 but I will have a look at a leaf.

[Holley]

Missus has had an i3 for almost 3 years now (rex version). Agree not the sort of car to do motorway miles on for long distances, but it's fine on short dual carriageways. As a town car it's pretty perfect, compact, great visibility, spacious inside and pretty quick. Quite good fun to drive (I quite enjoy racing around our local village roads in it) although can get a little bouncy if get carried away. Hardly ever need to put petrol in (maybe twice a year) as mostly she does less than 100 miles in a day. Only issue we've had is the seatbelt has come loose, that's about it. Plus you get to tell people you own a rear engined, rear wheel drive car with a carbon fibre body shell

[simon_g]

94ah rex (late 2016 is when they changed to the bigger battery) is doable for that. Should do 100 miles easily on electric, DC charge if you can but you've got the backup of burning some petrol. I'm hoping for a dip in prices soon - the London congestion charge discount changes in October to BEVs only so anyone driving in regularly will change. Would aim for a facelift/LCI one (thin LED headlights) which are meant to ride better, more stable at motorway speeds and have the newer big screen Pro nav as standard - can be coded easily for carplay without extra hardware.

Test drove a 120ah one a few weeks ago thinking I'd try it for practicality so I could rule it out but actually the doors are only an issue in a tight space and the kids really like the back despite the non-opening windows, that low window line means they can see out better. It's some really neat packaging getting that much space in a 4m long car.

Watch out for luxury tax on April 2017 onwards Rex ones, a basic i3 rex was under (so just the normal £145pa) but it didn't take many options for the list price to hit £40k. Put the reg in here and if it says "additional rate applicable until" then you'll be paying an extra £335pa until the car is 6 years old.

Prices on everything secondhand EV have been going mental though. Lots of demand now as people have caught on, but there were way fewer people buying them 3-4 years ago, and the new cars have got way better in that time. Leasing something new can feel like better value if you don't mind being tied into a 2-3 year deal.

[mr_jon]

i3 would be the last choice on a pretty long list.

[dinny_g]

Anyone catch the Guy Martin thing yesterday.

His John 'o' Groats trip was a bit of an eye opener - Not so much that it took him 27 hours - everyone knows EV isn't right for that sort of journey but it's the cost of public charging that was a surprise. £240 for the trip compared to £130 for Diesel.

[Carlos]

i3 would be the last choice on a pretty long list.

Why ?

Of the cars i've looked at (Zoe, Golf, Leaf) the i3 has the longest range, the quickest and the only one that feels special with the carbon frame and supercar doors Also it clearly isn't a ICE car made into a EV or an EV packaged to look like a ICE as to not upset what people expect. The Leaf even has a transmission tunnel !

I'd pretty much made up my mind hence the title and the Range Extender is a pretty much essential for me.

I've put a deposit on a late 2016 Rex car which has the bigger battery (33Kwh) and avoids any ved that came in for the Rex cars from April 2017.

[Jobbo]

Nice - what trim and colour?

[Carlos]

Nice - what trim and colour?

Protronic Blue, Grey/Blue cloth interior and Diamond Cut/Black wheels. I think the only other option is the tilt/slide glass roof which is a nice extra.

[simon_g]

From drivegreen I'm guessing? Looks great, enjoy!

[Carlos]

From drivegreen I'm guessing? Looks great, enjoy!

Yep.

I've enquired about a few over the last couple of days and they seem to sell straight away. There were 2 at Cotswold BMW the weekend and whilst doing my jonny big bolloxs play it cool haggle technique they both sold although the nicer of the 2 was £1500 more than i've paid.

I appreciate the feedback as i wasn't aware of the lack of DC charging as standard pre 2017 model or the differing ved rates over a couple of months so helped narrow the search.

[integrale_evo]

I know it’s not going to mean much, but I’ve always quite liked the i3 purely because it is it’s own design and doesn’t look like a spazzy version of a normal car

[JonMad]

Are there any other cars that work the same way as the i3 rex, i.e. using the engine to just charge the battery rather than drive the wheels?

[jamcg]

Are there any other cars that work the same way as the i3 rex, i.e. using the engine to just charge the battery rather than drive the wheels?

Vauxhall Ampera I think?

[simon_g]

The Nissan e-power hybrids are series ones too, all drive is from the electric motor. Not plug-in though and a small battery.

[Carlos]

Are there any other cars that work the same way as the i3 rex, i.e. using the engine to just charge the battery rather than drive the wheels?

Vauxhall Ampera I think?

I think Exiges had one but they only did about 40 miles on electric. They were never developed so only lasted 3 years or so.