EV Owners Shun ICE Loaners

Hopefully more dealers will understand that their EV customers want an EV loaner when their car is in for service and add them to their loaner fleet.

I've been lucky enough to own some nice cars in my life. Like most people, bringing my car in for service was never something I looked forward to. However one thing that I did like was when I got an interesting car as the service loaner. I remember one time when my Mercedes ML430 was being worked on I got a black E430 4matic and I liked it so much I almost told the dealer to keep my car and trade it for the loaner.

Today, many dealers have only a small fleet of in-house loaners and use rental car agencies for the overflow of cars that they need. They do it to save money, and I'm sure it does, but they do miss out on the opportunity to show off the other cars that they sell. I still don't fully understand why a BMW dealer for instance would want to put their customer in a car from another brand while they are getting service, it just seems wrong.

I tried plugging in the 135i loaner I had a when my ActiveE was being serviced. That didn't work too well.

However dealers that are beginning to sell electric cars are now finding they have another problem to deal with. Their EV customers don't want to drive a gas car while their car is in for service, regardless of the make or model. I wrote a blog post about this over two years ago when I was driving my ActiveE and now that the i3 has launched I'm watching many i3 owners say the same thing.  One person recently posted this in the i3 Facebook group:

"Most people would love to drive a new BMW 3-Series for a few days as a loaner. Not me. It vibrates, burns gas, I have to use the brake pedal, makes noise and is slow. All this found during the 2.1 mile drive home. Very much so ‪#‎firstworldproblems‬. Think I'm going to bribe my wife for a ride to and from work."

A 2014 BMW 328i loaner? No thanks.

 Imagine that. The BMW 3-Series is considered one of the best cars on the road. In fact, it has was recently awarded Car & Drivers coveted "Ten Best Cars" distinction for the 23rd consecutive year. One would think just about anyone would love to have a new one for a few days while their car was in for service. That's not so if your car is an i3. After driving an electric car for a while, ICE vehicles seem antiquated. You feel the engine vibrations right up through the steering wheel, you hear the engine noise when you accelerate, gear shifts feel clunky and jerky. Yep, once you get back in an ICE vehicle after driving electric you realize what you've left behind and you don't miss it. You've evolved now, and you don't want to go back to the dark ages of the ICE.

Some BMW dealers have already realized this and are including i3 loaners into their in house fleet. This is a great idea for a couple of reasons. First, they can keep their i3 customers happy while their car is in for service, and secondly they can expose some of their other clients to the electric driving experience. Any electric car owner can tell you, getting people to try electric drive is the hardest part. Once they experience the smooth linear acceleration, the quiet vibration-less cabin and the excitement of the instant torque of an electric motor they too will be thinking about going electric. I'm happy to report my dealer (JMK BMW in Springfield, NJ) - perhaps with the help of some encouragement from me ;)  has decided to include an i3 to their stable of loaners. I think this is a great move and will pay dividends for them in the long run.

Like your Model S loaner? Just keep it!

However this certainly isn't just a BMW issue. I've seen Nissan LEAF and Chevy Volt owners lament the fact that they get an ICE loaner car and wish they had an electric option available. Tesla only sells electric cars so they only have electric loaners. In fact, not only do you get a Tesla loaner, but all Tesla loaners are the top of the line P85 Model S. Plus, if you really like the loaner, Tesla allows you to keep it. Of course you have to pay the difference in your car's value and the P85 loaners that you want, but it's a simple process where you just tell them your keeping that car and they tell you how much you owe them for the difference. That's another example of how Tesla is bringing new ideas and improved customer service to the industry.

I am sure that the savvy dealers who provide electric loaners for their EV customers will definitely benefit. The electric vehicle community is pretty close-knit and does communicate amongst themselves. It doesn't take long for a specific dealer to be labeled a "bad" dealer for not being very "EV friendly". Conversely, the dealers who have provided good service to their EV customers have benefited from a high number of referrals. The dealers who train their staff to understand these new cars, provide free on-site charging, and offer electric loaners are the ones who are really going to succeed in the new electric frontier.

BMW Slowly Undressing the i3

The most recent spy shots of the BMW i3 show more of the car than ever before, continuing the trend BMW has set of slowly exposing more and more of the car as we approach its official unveiling at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

A production-looking nose is spotted

When the very first spy shots were captured two years ago, the car looked very boxy and was completely covered in the blue and white swirly camouflage. It was also clear that BMW had even added fake panels under the "camo" to further obfuscate the real look. As time progressed the fake body panels were slowly dropped and now we are seeing what looks to be pre-production i3's during testing with parts of the body exposed as some of the camouflage has been removed. There was even one picture of what looks like the nose of a full production version i3 which was taken during a photo shoot in California recently.

BMW is still holding back on releasing much information on the car but we have learned a few things recently:

1) BMW will offer gas loaners for customers who need to drive further than their i3 will conveniently take them. The full details haven't been released like how many times per year you are offered the loaner or if there is any fee, time or mileage restriction. Can you take the loaner for a two week vacation on a 1,000 mile trip? Answers to these important questions are still unknown.

2) The optional range extender will not operate like Chevy Volt, allowing the driver to continue driving for hundreds of miles after the battery is exhausted without any noticeable difference. The details are still very unclear, but BMW had said the i3 will have reduced performance when in range extender mode. While BMW is quick to say the car will not be in any kind of "limp home" mode while utilizing the REx, it is not meant to extend your range on a daily basis. In fact Herbert Diess BMW’s global R&D chief was quoted saying “The range extender is not intended for daily use. It’s for situations when the driver needs to extend the range of the vehicle to reach the next charging station,” said Diess. “Therefore, the i3 probably won’t be the choice for customers with a need for an extended range.”

3) The i3 will first go on sale in Europe (November 16th has been rumored to be the launch date) and come to the US in late December. The first batch of i3's that do make it to the US will have the range extender option, as BMW expects the majority of the initial sales to have the option included. Although some i3's will arrive in late December, the speculation is that the official US launch will occur in early January when the car becomes widely available.