41000 miles in 2 years - our i3

[PixelpeepS3]

Just wanted to give a brief update for those that are interested.

we bought the i3 range extender new in September 2017. its got the standard 'dustbin' 19" alloys which i hate the look of but understand it rides better.
we had moved from essex to cambridge so the idea was we could save some money on the commute.

anyway, some interesting stats

- tyres replaced - 0
- brakes replaced - 0
- services carried out - 0
- cost of ownership (other than electric and the car itself) - 0
- average 4miles per KwH, roughly 4.5p per mile
- loss of range due to battery age/use - 0
- average daily usage - 100ish miles

we never got round to installing a proper wall charger at home so we are using the supplied 13amp plug charger. 12 hours from flat which is a pain for calculating using the car the next day but thats our fault, not the cars.

favourite hobbies are:

- upsetting people at the lights (usually those that are in the wrong lane thinking an odd looking EV is easy meat)
- overtaking tractors (live in a village which has single lane roads in and out) is a breeze... 40-70 is smile educing..)
- creeping up on pedestrians walking in the middle of roads in towns (usually on their phones or chatting away in a world of their own), waiting for them to turn round and jump out of their skin.

Do i regret being an early adopter ? No, not at all.
am i planning on keeping it?, no, there's better EVs out there now for the same money.

[Frimley111R]

Great, so at 4.5p is that about £18k on 'fuel' costs over 2 years?

EDIT: No (maths not my strong point) £1,845 over 2 years. Wow.

[PixelpeepS3]

Frimley111R said:

Great, so at 4.5p is that about £18k on 'fuel' costs over 2 years?

EDIT: No (maths not my strong point) £1,845 over 2 years. Wow.

Just did a rough calc on a 35mpg car for the same distance - £7189.32
60mpg - £4193.77

based on fuel being £1.35p/l

edit - on both the golf r and s3 i had they needed a full set of tyres after 20k so further saving there..

[jjwilde]

Best use for them, the ENV200 saved us stupid amounts of money as a high mile local(ish) vehicle.

ENV200 over 88k: Tyres 8.

'Servicing' - none, decided not to bother, no issues.

Android head unit to replace rubbish nissan one: £220 (fit it myself)

Electricity cost: None(ish) (local free chargers, van parked at them over night and during the day - not blocking, 20 of them) Paid to charge it maybe 10 times in emergency at rapids, probably cost £10.

Van cost £8999 inc vat Ex demo @ 1000 miles (hahaha, just before the EV boom).

Train ticket to collect van from Liverpool: £65

As a result of this we were able to undercut our competition and get a lot more business.

Amazing.

[Frimley111R]

There a courier in E/London with about 100 of those and other types of EV vans. God knows how ICE vehicles can compete.

[bluezedd]

PixelpeepS3 said:

- upsetting people at the lights (usually those that are in the wrong lane thinking an odd looking EV is easy meat)

They've obviously not heard this lovely chap's opinion of it:

https://youtu.be/M4lXthHJUw4?t=32

[Durzel]

bluezedd said:

PixelpeepS3 said:

- upsetting people at the lights (usually those that are in the wrong lane thinking an odd looking EV is easy meat)

They've obviously not heard this lovely chap's opinion of it:

https://youtu.be/M4lXthHJUw4?t=32

Salt of the earth chap

(bruv)

[granada203028]

PixelpeepS3 said:

Just wanted to give a brief update for those that are interested.

we bought the i3 range extender new in September 2017. its got the standard 'dustbin' 19" alloys which i hate the look of but understand it rides better.
we had moved from essex to cambridge so the idea was we could save some money on the commute.

anyway, some interesting stats

- tyres replaced - 0
- brakes replaced - 0
- services carried out - 0
- cost of ownership (other than electric and the car itself) - 0
- average 4miles per KwH, roughly 4.5p per mile
- loss of range due to battery age/use - 0
- average daily usage - 100ish miles

we never got round to installing a proper wall charger at home so we are using the supplied 13amp plug charger. 12 hours from flat which is a pain for calculating using the car the next day but thats our fault, not the cars.

favourite hobbies are:

- upsetting people at the lights (usually those that are in the wrong lane thinking an odd looking EV is easy meat)
- overtaking tractors (live in a village which has single lane roads in and out) is a breeze... 40-70 is smile educing..)
- creeping up on pedestrians walking in the middle of roads in towns (usually on their phones or chatting away in a world of their own), waiting for them to turn round and jump out of their skin.

Do i regret being an early adopter ? No, not at all.
am i planning on keeping it?, no, there's better EVs out there now for the same money.

So you bought a rex but never use it? Would it still work after 2 years? Presumably waste heat from the rex is useful during occasional very cold conditions.

And the battery really not suffered any degradation at all?

[Mr. White]

Good to know, I've done 24k in one year so am on a similar use schedule.

[Mikebentley]

Great stats and I accept all new cars would also depreciate but....I just searched for 2017 i3 REX and the only ones I could find had 18,000 miles at most on and they start at £18950.00 so you might need to factor in £20k+ depreciation also.

[Frimley111R]

Mikebentley said:

Great stats and I accept all new cars would also depreciate but....I just searched for 2017 i3 REX and the only ones I could find had 18,000 miles at most on and they start at £18950.00 so you might need to factor in £20k+ depreciation also.

i suppose so but normal cars will depreciate too AND have much higher running costs. I guess the OP is really pointing out these running costs as the big win, and they are.

[Mikebentley]

I get that point Frimley but the Ev market is relatively new and 50% depreciation at best is a lot. The other issue is Cps car has 41k and no services which means he could be looking at much less than £18 k if traded or sold.

[covmutley]

It hasn't been serviced because it hasn't needed it. It is condition based. And 50% depreciation is roughly average.

Doing over 20k miles a year is why I got my i3. It becomes a cheap way into a brand new car.

But I changed job and cut my commute by more than half so it was out with the i3 and in with the 3 litre v6

I'm thinking my next car will probably be electric. They are ace, just lacking character though.

[Mikebentley]

Please don’t read any negatives into my reasoning. I actually think the i3 is a great package with stand out looks within the small car sector. I don’t know the market particularly but if I were buying used I would be put off if car had not been back to dealer. It is actually something I might consider for work.

[ahenners]

How much has the depreciation been? On a 20k/year car this is probably one of the biggest costs.

[Mits]

My March 17 i3 had exactly the same mileage before I part ex it for a i3s a couple of months ago. It was sold on again by the main dealer in a couple of weeks for not a lot more than they gave me.
I probably used a couple of hundred pounds worth of fuel, mostly used the wall charger overnight.
Very easy to use and not a single thing went wrong. I was still getting the same range as when new.

[oop north]

covmutley said:

It hasn't been serviced because it hasn't needed it. It is condition based.

I thought it was fixed two years from manufacture

[uknick]

Just to clarify a couple of points;

Yes, it is 2 year servicing regardless of mileage.

The REX has a maintenance cycle. If it's not used for 8 weeks it automatically cuts in for about 10 minutes when the battery level is less than 75% (as with normal use of the REX)

[PixelpeepS3]

Yes, depreciation is a factor if we sold the car right now. It’s not the greatest, but certainly not the worst. The GFV after 48 months is £9k ish so if we don’t see a good deal before hand it would have cost us £22,800 for 48 months ownership, £5700 a year.

I don’t think that’s too bad,

35mpg car over 2 years (41k miles) fuel cost £7189.32
Same duration and distance in the i3 £1,845
= 5974 fuel saving
over 4 years 11,948

gives you a net outlay of £2713 a year for a brand new nippy bmw.

(critique my math lol)

[Otispunkmeyer]

what battery is in these ones? is it the 60 or the 90 Ah?