Is the i3S Rex a good idea for around 25,000 miles a year

Hi guys I am new so so hello to you all my company car is due next March I currently have a Golf GTD but after working out how much it costs me per month I am totally horrified so will an i3S be ok I am a sales rep covering the North East of England.

Some days I might be more local doing anything from 70 miles to 150 per day but every two weeks I go to Newcastle which is 110 miles one way and 220 miles round trip so does this make sense with the Rex as I just have to save some money as I worked out the Golf is costing me £10,000 over three years and the i3 would cost me £5,400 which is a huge difference, also with the BIK rates changing in April 2020 the i3 rate will drop even lower so it will save me a fortune as I am paying tax at 40% so will this car be ok for me.

Thanks

Andy

On your long drive days, it will work as long as you don't mind stopping every hour and a half or so to get gas (petrol?) or to charge when the battery is depleted. It will probably work without for the 70-150 mile days especially if you can charge along the way. Cold weather and strong winds can reduce your electric range. I strongly suggest you get a 220V home charger.

Thanks for the reply I suppose it would get me to Newcastle on a single charge and then hopefully the car park I stop in might have an electric point although no doubt it will be occupied but then it would mean using the Rex to get home which I don't mind filling up I just hope my company can get a decent lease deal on one as this is the way I have to go as I can't be paying what I have been paying any longer.

I was going to ask about which home charger do I get as I have no idea your link just takes me to a page with a fair few on so which one do I look at

Thanks

I will put almost 20,000 miles on my i3 this year.

It is working well.
Very reliable.

In the Summertime, I have a range of 120+ miles.
In the Wintertime, less, usually about 85+ miles.

I also have a REX Unit. I have never needed it.
Just glad that it is there, in case.

I have used the FAST DC charging.
Works great.
We only have two DC chargers in the area.
They plan to put in more this year.

andya said:

I was going to ask about which home charger do I get as I have no idea your link just takes me to a page with a fair few on so which one do I look at
Thanks

Click to expand...

This website added the link in my post automatically, just as it did in your post. I don't have a 220V unit so I can't recommend one. Maybe another poster can help but you're in the UK, right ?

Yes I am in the UK

andya said:

I was going to ask about which home charger do I get as I have no idea your link just takes me to a page with a fair few on so which one do I look at

Click to expand...

As explained, the link to Amazon's EVSE's (a.k.a.. charging stations) was automatically added by this Website, so ignore it because these EVSE's are for the North American market which uses a different EV charging standard than the U.K. including a different charging plug (i.e., they're not compatible with a British i3).

Fortunately for you, an appropriate 230 V charging cable is included with every British i3. This has approximately twice the charging power of the wimpy 120 V North American version, so overnight charging with this charging cable might be sufficient for you. However, a 3rd-party charging station would likely charge 3 times faster if your home electrical supply would support 16 A charging. Plenty of advice from British i3 owners should be forthcoming.

Some of the electric utilities in the UK have deals about installing EVSEs, so you may want to check with your power supplier. This assumes you have a place to park the car that will be close enough to where they can install one. Many of them can be installed outside, but the wiring to it may end up a bit more expensive.

Unless the car has 3-phase inputs, I think the maximum it can use on an EVSE is around 32A or so. IT won't hurt if you can get a larger one, and it may work out better for your next vehicle, as they are backwards compatible...larger won't be used, but it won't hurt...the car decides how much is available from a signal from the EVSE, then uses as much as it can of it.

The plug is different between the USA version and the Euro one, but the actual signaling protocol is the same from what I can tell. The Euro spec has a shutter on the plug to protect the pins from being exposed. There isn't power on them until the interlock is made by inserting the plug, so IMHO, that isn't needed. The J1772 plug the USA uses (and some other countries) doesn't apply the acv until the interlock is closed by inserting the plug, so the shutters end up as a secondary feature on the Euro plug that is not in the simpler (and less costly) J1772 plug.

From what I can tell, England has a lot more CCS units than most of the USA (California excepted), which makes longer trips more convenient.

Thanks for the replies guys much appreciated