over 3 months into owning an i3 - the whole family loves it!

[psquare]

With over 4,5k miles after over 3 months now, our entire family of 4 still loves the car. It is used for 95% of our local journeys; it's taken us on longer trips "up north" and I recently took it from England to Germany and back. My wife loves to take it on her daily 35 mile commute and doesn't want to use the family Diesel anymore. To us all, it feels like a big privilege to drive something like the i3. We bought the car outright and have not regretted it so far.

 

[S3RDP]

After all the angry and negative comments on this forum from owners who clearly did not give enough thought as to the car that would best suit their needs or understood some of the limitations or trade offs of i3 ownership it is great to hear the voice of one (of I guess the majority) who are delighted with their purchase. I have also had my i3 for nearly 3 months and just loving the experience. The technology and design (although not the styling) just blows me away. BMW have been very brave and whilst buying the i3 did represent some degree of risk I really applaud BMW for such clever engineering. The i3 will not be appropriate for most but it is a huge leap forward in automotive thinking and as each day passes I have become convinced that I have actually made a very sensible purchase.

 

[psquare]

I've mentioned it many times in here: I am glad that I spent so much time researching the car and testing it. All kudos also to Rybrook BMW Warwick for being knowledgable and patient during this period. They couldn't have been more helpful.

 

[uktechie]

Same here :mrgreen:

Best click and go and perfect stop start system 100% better than old diesel system.

Super smooth Rita or Velocity type acceleration.

 

[epirali]

I'll add the things I really like so far:

- Rex: great solution to range and freedom problem. Perfect balance compared to other solutions.

- adaptive cruise control: although other cars have it, combined with electric drive makes for very nice traffic driving experience.

- interior feel: well though out redesign of typical interiors, with feeling of space, openness. A pleasant space to be.

 

[barrychan]

Also its a real conversation piece and head-turner

 

[itguy]

With over 4,5k miles after over 3 months now, our entire family of 4 still loves the car. It is used for 95% of our local journeys; it's taken us on longer trips "up north" and I recently took it from England to Germany and back. My wife loves to take it on her daily 35 mile commute and doesn't want to use the family Diesel anymore. To us all, it feels like a big privilege to drive something like the i3. We bought the car outright and have not regretted it so far.

Hi - on the trip to Germany, how did you finding charging through the various countries along the way or did you REX it all?

 

[mindmachine]

Took last delivery of my i3 Rex last September, this is the best car I have ever owned. I LOVE it. My other 2 cars sit now, even my plug-in Prius.

I really enjoy driving it and the quiet of driving electric is so wonderful. I also love the fact that I can fill up at home without the smell gasoline or needing to handle the germ infested public pump handle at the gas station. I also dearly love the fact that I don't have to cringe every weekend when the greedy gas companies raise the price by 15%/gallon every weekend. That always used to infuriate me. Only caveat is you need to code your car if it is a Rex and get rid of the stupid carb controls, unlocking the Rex provides a very big improvement in the useability of the Rex.

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

Almost 4 months into ownership and I can confidently say that we be buying another electric vehicle at some point in the future. The i3 Rex has been excellent in size, performance and execution as a family vehicle. As a downsizer from an S class Merc with lots of toys I can't say that I miss it at all now. The only problem I have is fighting for the Keys with Mrs PP. :lol:

 

[jpklmartin]

Our family of 2 agrees. Bought our BEV-Giga-with all extras except 20" wheels December 2014. It is our only car. Now has only 3K miles because we minimize our driving and have no commute. One car, two mountain bikes, two road bikes! One retired, other works from home. Especially like the preconditioning and active cruise control. Also especially like driving past gas stations. Clipper Creek HCS-40 in our garage. Free L2 chargers in places we usually go (Georgetown and Charleston, SC). We would not consider buying another gas car. Our last car was a 1999 Lexus RX300 which we bought new. We keep our cars if we like them and plan to keep the i3 a long time. Maybe upgrade batteries in about 5 years.

 

[barrychan]

upgrade battery? There's such a thing? Higher range?

 

[jadnashuanh]

upgrade battery? There's such a thing? Higher range?

Eventually, the i3 will come with better batteries. Whether swapping them is an economical thing or not is still up in the air. Technically, it is possible, but financially, it may not be. Everyone will just have to wait and see. It will probably be at least a year or two before they make their introduction. My guess, it probably won't be particularly cheap, and thus, probably not a viable option.

 

[barrychan]

Guess thats the only disadvantage of buying the first generation of anything

 

[jadnashuanh]

Guess thats the only disadvantage of buying the first generation of anything

It's always fairly expensive to swap the engine or fuel tank for a larger unit, or one that has been tweaked to higher capacity. Swapping batteries is no different. I'm sure that there will be some core exchange value to them, and it is entirely possible to drop the battery compartment cover and replace them (needed for maintenance of a failed unit), but whether the cost of the materials and resulting labor (about 1/2-day at most dealerships = about $500) is worth it to you is entirely a personal decision. BMW has plans to make use of the old batteries, which will still have significant capacity for things like grid power storage, but nobody yet knows how much value they'll retain doing that. Few cars have been totaled, and few battery modules have been replaced, so there's not a huge experience on their usefulness, or value.

THe battery modules are somewhat special purpose, unlike a common 12vdc storage battery, so things need to be developed for the old ones that are no longer viable for vehicle use where range is an issue, to where they can be stacked to provide power storage, and space and weight are no longer an issue.