Any Tesla Model S owners also have an i3?
Discussion
And if so, how do they compare? The missus has decided she wants a new car, and having had the Model S for 6 months or so now, I'm loathed to buy another ICE vehicle (motorbikes excepted).
So the i£ seems to fit the bill in many ways - enough range, a high up driving position, which she likes (without buying a big SUV), and it's funky looking too.
On a day to day basis though, how do they compare to other cars, and how do they compare to the Tesla? For me, the Model S is such a well sorted vehicle, I am concerned there may be annoyances with the i3 in terms of charging, etc.? I had an i8 for a weekend and wasn't impressed...
Lastly, does it use the same charging connector as the Model S? I have a 7kw POD point installed at home for the Tesla, and obviously this is only going to work if the i£ can be plugged into the same charge point!
Thanks
So the i£ seems to fit the bill in many ways - enough range, a high up driving position, which she likes (without buying a big SUV), and it's funky looking too.
On a day to day basis though, how do they compare to other cars, and how do they compare to the Tesla? For me, the Model S is such a well sorted vehicle, I am concerned there may be annoyances with the i3 in terms of charging, etc.? I had an i8 for a weekend and wasn't impressed...
Lastly, does it use the same charging connector as the Model S? I have a 7kw POD point installed at home for the Tesla, and obviously this is only going to work if the i£ can be plugged into the same charge point!
Thanks
I would make sure you get a good long test drive before buying one, I test drove a Tesla S and loved it, I had a 24hr test drive in an i3 and was hugely dissapointed.
The ride is very weird, bouncy, wollowy with loads of dive when you brake but also quite rough, it made everybody who went in it feel ill and the salesman told me that it is a common problem.
The rear doors are a pain if you are parked next to anything, it is very unrefined with loads of road noise, the boot is too small for a normal sized push chair, the build quality is poor in places, the seats are uncomfortable and it is no fun to drive.
If you only ever drive in town and don't have kids it might be ok, I was seriously considering buying one and was shocked by how flawed it is as a usable every day car.
The ride is very weird, bouncy, wollowy with loads of dive when you brake but also quite rough, it made everybody who went in it feel ill and the salesman told me that it is a common problem.
The rear doors are a pain if you are parked next to anything, it is very unrefined with loads of road noise, the boot is too small for a normal sized push chair, the build quality is poor in places, the seats are uncomfortable and it is no fun to drive.
If you only ever drive in town and don't have kids it might be ok, I was seriously considering buying one and was shocked by how flawed it is as a usable every day car.
There are plenty of i3 owners who find the seats very comfortable indeed but some people do find the opposite. I am less enthusiastic about the i3 than most people on the fb group but I have found little to complain about in terms of ride or roar noise and certainly not felt sick. I think it probably is a better town car than for long journeys - the range isn't quite enough for my regular 77-mile round trip to be comfortable year-round. The size and turning circle are very handy - and regularly take children in the back - though i'd agree the doors are a pain in a carpark when trying to get in / out the back
oop north said:
There are plenty of i3 owners who find the seats very comfortable indeed but some people do find the opposite. I am less enthusiastic about the i3 than most people on the fb group but I have found little to complain about in terms of ride or roar noise and certainly not felt sick. I think it probably is a better town car than for long journeys - the range isn't quite enough for my regular 77-mile round trip to be comfortable year-round. The size and turning circle are very handy - and regularly take children in the back - though i'd agree the doors are a pain in a carpark when trying to get in / out the back
Fair enough, everybody is different, I drove it mostly on A roads and a motorway, with very little town driving. I had high expectations and was genuinely disappointed, with regard to the sickness, I was told that all the salesmen suffered from it but it did reduce as they spent more time in the car. Just curious, do you like the recycled dog hair trim material?
. The car has never made me (or any of my passengers) feel at all sick - but I have heard that some people do suffer from thatAs an i3 owner, if you were considering a new purchase I'd seriously look at a base Model S 60 instead of an i3. If a BEV i3 second hand is being considered then I think it's a great compromise as long as you realise you're buying it because it's cheap.
Pooh's comments on the ride are probably fair. The suspension is rock-hard and not particularly comfortable. I have no problems with the seats though. The drive isn't bad, but the traction control is pretty intrusive. (you can switch it off but I haven't tried). The dominant trait is understeer. If you have traction it turns in very sharply under regen and is good fun on the hairpins with that instant electric torque. I don't know about brake dive as I almost never brake without regen and the regen is good.
The rear doors are great if you have the space to open them properly but getting my children out in a confined parking slot isn't easy. Rear boot space is a few shopping bags - about a week's shop - and front storage is just for cables. For children it's SUV high to get up / down because of the tub / high seating position due to underfloor batteries.
You can order an S and probably not touch the options at all (you might want to but this is different). With the i3 lots of the stuff which should be standard are an option (DC chargers, heat pumps etc).
The iDrive system annoys me like no other car I've ever owned. It looks nice with the big floating screen (I have the Pro) but has the UI of a gen 1 iPod combined with a palm pilot. I'm currently looking to mount an iPad under the dashboard to bypass it. For example, there is no 'play' button so if your track stops playing (e.g. a podcast because you take a call) there is no way of starting it without going into the phone. You can program the 8 buttons but in my experience at some stage the car with 'forget' what you set up. The best thing with the voice control button on the steering wheel is that it will trigger Siri so avoiding the BMW system.
The fit / materials of the interior are probably better than the Tesla. As a geek and ex-Lotus owner I love what BMW has done with the plastic body. Running costs are seriously low - mine came with the remainder of a 10 year free servicing deal (standard in Switzerland but I believe the only service item is to replace the brake fluid). Tyre wear doesn't seem to be great however (probably linked with that intrusive traction control). I have a set of winter tyres and in the snow it had great traction.
If you were to think about a second hand BEV like I did then you'll probably get a great deal and at that price it's a fantastic car. However if I was looking at a new one I'd seriously consider adding the extra and getting another low-spec S.
Pooh's comments on the ride are probably fair. The suspension is rock-hard and not particularly comfortable. I have no problems with the seats though. The drive isn't bad, but the traction control is pretty intrusive. (you can switch it off but I haven't tried). The dominant trait is understeer. If you have traction it turns in very sharply under regen and is good fun on the hairpins with that instant electric torque. I don't know about brake dive as I almost never brake without regen and the regen is good.
The rear doors are great if you have the space to open them properly but getting my children out in a confined parking slot isn't easy. Rear boot space is a few shopping bags - about a week's shop - and front storage is just for cables. For children it's SUV high to get up / down because of the tub / high seating position due to underfloor batteries.
You can order an S and probably not touch the options at all (you might want to but this is different). With the i3 lots of the stuff which should be standard are an option (DC chargers, heat pumps etc).
The iDrive system annoys me like no other car I've ever owned. It looks nice with the big floating screen (I have the Pro) but has the UI of a gen 1 iPod combined with a palm pilot. I'm currently looking to mount an iPad under the dashboard to bypass it. For example, there is no 'play' button so if your track stops playing (e.g. a podcast because you take a call) there is no way of starting it without going into the phone. You can program the 8 buttons but in my experience at some stage the car with 'forget' what you set up. The best thing with the voice control button on the steering wheel is that it will trigger Siri so avoiding the BMW system.
The fit / materials of the interior are probably better than the Tesla. As a geek and ex-Lotus owner I love what BMW has done with the plastic body. Running costs are seriously low - mine came with the remainder of a 10 year free servicing deal (standard in Switzerland but I believe the only service item is to replace the brake fluid). Tyre wear doesn't seem to be great however (probably linked with that intrusive traction control). I have a set of winter tyres and in the snow it had great traction.
If you were to think about a second hand BEV like I did then you'll probably get a great deal and at that price it's a fantastic car. However if I was looking at a new one I'd seriously consider adding the extra and getting another low-spec S.
Edited by chandrew on Monday 20th June 23:21
Thanks for all the comments guys, great feedback.
The car sickness thing is a real concern, as the missus does seem to be susceptible to that, so if anyone will suffer from it she will!
Cost wise, I was looking at leasing an i3 which you can currently do for £1,800 down and £205/month over 3 years. The base Model S (60) with no options is £410/month with £13,445 down, so quite a big difference for a runaround. Not to mention the width of the Model S is off-putting for her!
Another option would be to pick up a secondhand Leaf, a car I want to loathe for it's hateful dullness, but it could be a good stop gap for a couple of years until her Model 3 arrives.
The car sickness thing is a real concern, as the missus does seem to be susceptible to that, so if anyone will suffer from it she will!
Cost wise, I was looking at leasing an i3 which you can currently do for £1,800 down and £205/month over 3 years. The base Model S (60) with no options is £410/month with £13,445 down, so quite a big difference for a runaround. Not to mention the width of the Model S is off-putting for her!
Another option would be to pick up a secondhand Leaf, a car I want to loathe for it's hateful dullness, but it could be a good stop gap for a couple of years until her Model 3 arrives.
I was seriously looking to replace my commuting car with a new upgraded i3 with range extender - so I arranged to borrow an I3 to try it out on my normal journeys.
I liked the car but there are some drawbacks one of which was a showstopper for me.
The drawbacks are :
- the ride is hard and not great on our poor roads.
- the range was less than expected but still acceptable for my intended use.
The showstopper for me was the seats - they are constructed with a soft webbing back with no way to adjust lumbar support and as such after any journey over 40 mins my back began to complain. After my 1.5 hour commute into London, I was in need of chiropractic attention and ended up having to go to the chiropractor three times to sort out my back after the i3.
I liked the car but there are some drawbacks one of which was a showstopper for me.
The drawbacks are :
- the ride is hard and not great on our poor roads.
- the range was less than expected but still acceptable for my intended use.
The showstopper for me was the seats - they are constructed with a soft webbing back with no way to adjust lumbar support and as such after any journey over 40 mins my back began to complain. After my 1.5 hour commute into London, I was in need of chiropractic attention and ended up having to go to the chiropractor three times to sort out my back after the i3.
Mike_C said:
Another option would be to pick up a secondhand Leaf, a car I want to loathe for it's hateful dullness, but it could be a good stop gap for a couple of years until her Model 3 arrives.
If it's for the wife does it really matter, as a way to get from A to B in comfort, whilst saving £££ I cannot fault my Leaf. If your doing business miles the Leaf is so cheap it becomes almost a income generator. I cannot say I'll be sad to see mine go back to Nissan, but compared to a generic German 4 cylinder diesel barge the Leaf is far from dull.
I've had a REX for 2 month ... done over 3k miles now (3l petrol only). Averaging 4.7m/kWh. Very happy so far.
The ride is bouncy (probably less so in the BEV) , but I find it great fun driving around, especially the torque/acceleration and go-kart steering. The doors have pros and cons - I personally like them as they make the car a bit different and special. The turning circle is London Cab rivalling.
No issue with the seats, I find them very comfortable. iDrive, I've been using it for years so find it easy to use via dial, voice or short-cut keys.
^^^Comparing it to an S60 is ridiculous it's an urban car, not for pan-European travel .. plus 4x cheaper on a lease..
The ride is bouncy (probably less so in the BEV) , but I find it great fun driving around, especially the torque/acceleration and go-kart steering. The doors have pros and cons - I personally like them as they make the car a bit different and special. The turning circle is London Cab rivalling.
No issue with the seats, I find them very comfortable. iDrive, I've been using it for years so find it easy to use via dial, voice or short-cut keys.
^^^Comparing it to an S60 is ridiculous it's an urban car, not for pan-European travel .. plus 4x cheaper on a lease..
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