Is the i3 for me?
Discussion
I was all set to change my company car for a Golf R but the i3 has caught my eye a little.
Firstly a bit of background
We have a BMW 335d car so the i3 would be used alongside that
It will be a company car and I can only spec the Rex
My round trip commute is 44 miles of mainly motorway
My wife's commute is 25 miles non motorway
We would both use the Rex but my wife would use it more (my car insurance allows for that)
We only have 1 five year old child so size wise the Rex looks fine
I've read the various threads but have a few (sorry) questions
I've calculated the company tax for a 40% tax payer as around £50 per month....does that sound right?
Can the Rex be charged using a standard household plug socket (albeit slower)?
Can I get a subsidy if leasing through the company car scheme for a home charger?
Are there many places outside London that have charging points...motorway service stations etc and are they often available?
Anyone found an i3 available for test drives in Yorkshire?
Apologies of the noddy questions but I seem to be missing/not understanding the above in amongst all the info out there.
On the face of it the Rex looks to save me a boat load of cash!
Firstly a bit of background
We have a BMW 335d car so the i3 would be used alongside that
It will be a company car and I can only spec the Rex
My round trip commute is 44 miles of mainly motorway
My wife's commute is 25 miles non motorway
We would both use the Rex but my wife would use it more (my car insurance allows for that)
We only have 1 five year old child so size wise the Rex looks fine
I've read the various threads but have a few (sorry) questions
I've calculated the company tax for a 40% tax payer as around £50 per month....does that sound right?
Can the Rex be charged using a standard household plug socket (albeit slower)?
Can I get a subsidy if leasing through the company car scheme for a home charger?
Are there many places outside London that have charging points...motorway service stations etc and are they often available?
Anyone found an i3 available for test drives in Yorkshire?
Apologies of the noddy questions but I seem to be missing/not understanding the above in amongst all the info out there.
On the face of it the Rex looks to save me a boat load of cash!
I will have a go at answering some of your questions.
Q. I've calculated the company tax for a 40% tax payer as around £50 per month....does that sound right?
A. Not sure.
q. Can the Rex be charged using a standard household plug socket (albeit slower)?
A. Yes, my i3 came with one - I have not taken it out of the bag
Q. Can I get a subsidy if leasing through the company car scheme for a home charger?
A. Yes - You do not even need to have an electric car to get a charger installed for free (3KW) or £95 7KW http://www.chargemasterplc.com/
q. Are there many places outside London that have charging points...motorway service stations etc and are they often available?
A. http://www.chargemasterplc.com/index.php/live-map/
Q. Anyone found an i3 available for test drives in Yorkshire?
A. No Idea, sorry
Q. I've calculated the company tax for a 40% tax payer as around £50 per month....does that sound right?
A. Not sure.
q. Can the Rex be charged using a standard household plug socket (albeit slower)?
A. Yes, my i3 came with one - I have not taken it out of the bag
Q. Can I get a subsidy if leasing through the company car scheme for a home charger?
A. Yes - You do not even need to have an electric car to get a charger installed for free (3KW) or £95 7KW http://www.chargemasterplc.com/
q. Are there many places outside London that have charging points...motorway service stations etc and are they often available?
A. http://www.chargemasterplc.com/index.php/live-map/
Q. Anyone found an i3 available for test drives in Yorkshire?
A. No Idea, sorry
If you are doing 44 miles a day and plan on electric only using Rex for emergencies as I do you just need to plan to charge overnight at home very night - real world range on electric is more like 65 miles (if you want to enjoy the performance ) .It takes a good 10 hours to fully charge on 13 amp but useful back up if you are staying at a friends. Obviously the Rex adds another 70 ish real world miles if you need it - but then you are burning petrol. You need another car for long journeys but you have that. My other cars include a Db9 ,a Lexus 4x4 and an SLK but I find I am using the i3 all the time - love it.
CAH706 said:
I was all set to change my company car for a Golf R but the i3 has caught my eye a little.
Can the Rex be charged using a standard household plug socket (albeit slower)?
Anyone found an i3 available for test drives in Yorkshire?
On the face of it the Rex looks to save me a boat load of cash!
I borrowed one on an extended test drive from BMW Sheffield. Awesome service and the i3 specialist at their dealership has been involved in the i3 project since it's inception. Really knowledgable guy! Can the Rex be charged using a standard household plug socket (albeit slower)?
Anyone found an i3 available for test drives in Yorkshire?
On the face of it the Rex looks to save me a boat load of cash!
Yes it can use the household plug without any changes. You have several charging options and it defaults to "cautious". This means it sucks leccy gently from the power supply so as not to overload whatever it is that can be overloaded.
If you buy one, have an electrician check that your house can cope with "Regular" (as apposed to Cautious) charging and if so, that will charge the car much faster.
You can also have the fast-charge socket (Chargable option) fitted to your house to charge even faster. From memory I think it might be something like 3 hours?
DC charging points, I've not seen many, but they take your car range from zero to hero in 30 minutes.
I loved it - really loved it. The only thing I didn't like was I thought the seat bolster was too intrusive in my lower back. But that aside, everything else about it was superb. As a REX model, looking at your travel you'd be fine with one and would likely get a lot of benefit from it. They do require an adaption to your driving style (i.e. you might visit the pump more often if you run low on leccy - but the fact you can only put in 10 of fuel is uniquely satisfying!).
Try BMW Sheffield though - my experience with them was excellent.
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