Nissan LEAF Owner Reviews the i3 After 3-Day Extended Test Drive

I have always maintained that a good number of i3 buyers will be Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF owners that have just finished up the three year lease on their vehicle. Phil Tipper is an EV "early adopter" and leased a Nissan LEAF. His lease will expire next spring so he's trying to decide which plug in vehicle he'll get next. The i3 is on his list of possibilities and when BMW recently offered the i3 extended test drive Phil  jumped on the opportunity to get to know the car a little more. I love this extended test drive offering from BMW. I think it's a great way to give prospective customers a chance to absorb what the i3 is all about. Phil is already an experienced electric car driver so he could focus more on the specific features of the i3, but many others who have never experienced electric drive will find the extended time they have with an i3 intoxicating. Having more than a few minutes during a quick test drive at a dealership will absolutely help convince people that may have been on the fence. It's simple, the more you drive electric the more you like it. That extra time behind the wheel may be all they need to make the decision to go electric for the first time. Phil wrote of his experience and thoughts on his time with the i3 and posted it to his blog. I thought is was interesting to hear what a Nissan LEAF driver thought of the i3 so I asked him if I could post it here and he obliged. Below is the post from Phil's personal blog:

As regular readers of my blog know, I'm actively researching the next electric car to replace our 2013 Nissan LEAF SL when its two year lease expires next June, and that the BMW i3 is on the top of my list of contenders.

I like the BMW because of its light weight for an EV (because of the carbon fiber structure of its "life module"), giving it the potential for good energy efficiency and promising good handling around corners, because it has a relatively powerful and torquey motor making it quick off the line, because BMW has tuned in tight steering and minimal body roll, because it is a rear wheel drive design (for classic sports car handling), because I like BMWs and I like the personal service that a premium brand provides, and because I can get a model with a range extender that offers a total of about 150 miles of range, with more range available with a fill-up of a tiny bit of gasoline. I like the idea that a range extender will let us take trips as far as Santa Barbara and San Diego without worrying as much about the reliability of public charging and the time recharging would take.

I'm also fascinated by the concept that having a range extender as a cushion will actually let us, paradoxically, drive more electric miles because we'll be more likely to take the EV than to fall back on the Prius, and because we'll be comfortable dipping deep into the battery's charge because the range extender will be there as a cushion and we won't risk needing a charge to get home.

On brief test drives of the i3, I had been able to briefly sample the car's quick acceleration and tight steering, but I'd had trouble getting used to the strong regeneration when the accelerator pedal is released, and I had even felt a bit of vertigo, especially as a passenger when the car was driven vigorously. So I had some concerns to resolve. On Facebook and in person, drivers of the i3 had told me that these concerns would resolve themselves quickly after I had gotten more used to driving the car. A longer test drive was needed.

To my delight, some BMW dealers recently began offering three-day test drives of the i3. This was exactly what I wanted. I found a dealer within 25 miles of my home that was offering the long test drives, Shelly BMW in Buena Park, California, and I found their internet team responsive and easy to work with. I thank them and applaud their willingness to take on the bother and expense of offering this program. To me, the BMW i3 is a car that benefits from a longer test drive so that the customer can learn its unusual.driving dynamics. In fact, I think that brief test drives around the block can be misleading, mostly because of the strong regeneration. I picked up a base model "Mega" i3 with the range extender engine and the optional 20 inch wheels and tires last Thursday morning.
Here are some of the comments about my experiences that I posted on the BMW i3 Facebook group.

Random impressions from first 24 hours, 150 miles:
Regen braking:

It's pretty much a non-issue and I beg to retract all of my earlier doubtful and even downright negative comments about it. It is different, but it is manageable and you adjust fairly quickly. I would still like to have the regen strength adjustable for a more relaxed driving experience in certain situations. At low speeds with this car, you WILL brake significantly if you need to lift your foot to readjust its position on the accelerator, and it would be very nice to be able to reduce the regen power if you just want to relax and coast with your foot off the pedal for a few seconds. Also, as many have said, the regen strength is lower at high speeds, so you don't go into full-on braking at freeway speeds if you lift off. My wife's first test drive comes in a day or so, and I expect her to have issues learning to drive the car smoothly, and I also expect uncontrollable giggling at some point during her test drive (from her, not from me). But I was able to drive her on a day trip today without her feeling too jerked about. And that was in both Comfort and EcoPro modes.

Ride and handling:

The car does bounce around a bit more than I like on uneven pavement in situations when I want a smooth ride, especially when I have a passenger. When I'm out for sporty driving by myself, the ride is tight and just fine for me. I put a lot of this down to the short wheelbase that allows the car to bob over bumps, and the 20 inch wheels with low profile tires. I had mentioned getting just a touch motion sick on short test drives before, but I have to say that I really haven't felt that in my first full day of driving the car. I imagine that having a chance for my inner ear and brain to get used to the car has something to do with that. I'll just say that the car is less relaxing to cruise in than my Leaf is because the steering is very responsive to any turning input and I find that I have to pay more attention to where the car is in the lane than I do with the Leaf. Some would say that's the price you pay for responsive steering. Fair enough.

Sporty driving:

Oh hell yes! You owners know this, but I think that the best kept public secret about the i3 is that there is a little sports car demon hiding inside this little thing. When I'm driving alone on a twisty, hilly road, it feels as good as any sports car I've driven (remember that I'm in the Mazda, Nissan, 3-Series class, not the Ferrari, Porsche class). The skinny tires grip on curves like the devil and the torque of the motor just goes on and on. Very, very grin-inducing, and very BMW. For me, this is the one and only reason for ME to get this car. Frankly, a fully optioned Leaf SL or a Mercedes B Class EV would do as good or better job for family cruising duty. They are more spacious and more relaxing to cruise around in. But in my experience, the i3 is more fun to fling around than a Tesla Model S because of its small size, light weight and tight handling. And I've driven a Model S on some of the same twisty roads. Given that I'm limited on parking space and we can't really have more than two cars, my EV has to be my fun car as well as being practical. Since the FUN potential of the i3 is so high, I can probably live with the practical downsides of the car.

Performance on Rex:

I haven't had much time driving the car in REx mode, but I purposely ran the battery down so that the car would go into Rex. There is a slight, almost unnoticeable vibration in the cabin, and you can hear the two cylinder motor chugging a little back there with the windows up. I drove the car fast up a pretty steep hill with the REx running and there was no reduction in power that I could detect. I must say that I do like having the REx there as a cushion. I've been driving EVs for over three years and I know how to handle range issues, but it was very nice to see a 40 mile cushion on the dashboard as we finished our 70 mile trip today (Note: The gas tank was less than 3/4 full).

Driving efficiency:

If the mi/kWh onboard readouts are to be believed, I'm getting no better efficiency in the i3 than I do with similar driving in my 2013 Leaf SL. I expected something like 20% better efficiency in the i3, but as near as I can tell, Nope! (Note: see my revised comment on efficiency near the end of the article.) You might say that I must be pushing the i3 harder, but after a day of cruising with my spouse aboard, I got around 4.2 mi/kWh, which is what I'd expect from my (heavier) Leaf in the same kind or driving. This was a mix of suburban and freeway driving, in a mix of EcoPro and Comfort mode. Go figure.

Random minor observations:
I like having frameless windows on the front doors. Getting in and out of the car is a pleasure when I don't have to contort to get around the upper door frame.

I like the placement of the 12v power plug for a phone charger. My phone sits down there in that well with the charger plug and I don't have wires everywhere.

The door pockets are spacious and handy for carrying all kinds of small items.

Installing kiddie seats in the back seats was a bit challenging. We have two grandkids, a four year-old and an infant. I had to remove the rear seat headrest so that the bigger kid seat would fit properly down into place. The base for the infant seat takes up a surprisingly large amount of space front-to-rear, so when we put in the actual carrier cradle into the base, the front seat will have to be moved forward a lot. Since I'm long-legged and tallish, we'll have to put the infant base behind the passenger and have her move her seat forward, and we'll have the bigger kiddo sit behind me, the driver, and she and I will have to negotiate over leg room.

Finally (after first 24 hours): No electronic or mechanical gremlins, errors, CELs, nothing. Very reassuring.

And here is my summary of my experience after the end of the three day test drive:

I'll summarize by saying that I liked the car very much, and that most of my concerns were eliminated after a few days driving it.

Positives:

+ The strong regen is a non-issue. It took a long test drive like this to convince me, but I no longer see this as a problem. Even my wife found it manageable. (BUT I do have to mention that she did have a second of unintended acceleration when she wanted to use the brake and forgot that her foot was still on the e-pedal. This was after only ten minutes driving the car for the first time, and we're sure that with more familiarity, this wouldn't be a problem.)

+ The quick acceleration and tight handling were really rewarding and these would be the biggest reasons that I'd choose an i3 over any of the competitive cars. This is really a little sports car disguised as an economical city car, and it's the true standout, as far as I'm concerned, for sportiest small four-door EV. (I know that the Spark is pretty quick, but it's really a tiny little thing and wouldn't work for us as a family hauler.)

+ Material and build quality were very good, even in the base Mega model. I happen to find the interior materials interesting and even the compressed Kenaf panels are fine with me.

+ I liked the maneuverability and tight turning circle.

+ I happen to like the car's unusual styling.

+ We were able to install kiddie seats for our two grandkids and reassure ourselves that the car would work for kid transport duty. This included one rear-facing infant seat and one front-facing kid seat. Space wasn't plentiful. The infant seat base takes up a lot of horizontal (front-rear) space, so it limits how far back a front passenger can move their seat. So we put the infant seat base behind the front passenger so that as the driver, I can get my needed leg space.

Features that I found only so-so:

* Having no keyless entry on the base car is cheesy, especially since the car has keyless-go.

* No option for power seats. That really should be an option for those who want it, with full disclosure that it adds weight and might harm range.

* I still find the seating position too high, and I kept wanting to lower the seat below the lowest setting. Ditto the steering wheel. It feels too high even at its lowest, and the high steering wheel position gives me a kink in my right upper shoulder.

* Loud and uncomfortable wind buffeting with the windows down above about 55 mph. I like to drive with the windows down, and without rear windows to open (or a sunroof) the "air hammer" that happens with the windows down is severe. I found that raising both windows to within about 4 inches of closed helps a lot.

* There was an annoying "reciprocating" thrum that I heard/felt at moderate to low speeds. I was never sure whether it was tire noise or drivetrain noise, or both, but it wasn't a typical EV driveline low howl that changes pitch as you slow to a stop. It was more of a cyclical thrum that got slower in its cycle as I slowed down. Is this typical for the i3, is it unusual, or could it have been specific to the 20 inch tires? (Update: Tom Moloughney, our i3 online guru, told me that he had confirmed this sound in his own i3 to be coming from the 20 inch tires.)

* The short wheelbase (five inches shorter than a LEAF's) makes the car rock and bob over road imperfections. It's tolerable but it sure isn't a serene riding car. For most of my personal driving, it's no problem at all, but for times when I want to treat my passengers to a smooth ride, it's intrusive.

* I won't get into complaints about the crippled USA REx implementation, but the EV range that I got with the car was an unimpressive 72-ish miles. That's fine for most of my driving, but I'm used to getting about 85 miles with my Leaf, so this felt a bit limited. I do like having the cushion of the REx, though, and I think it would let me drive more EV miles, because I'd choose to take the i3 more often when planned trip lengths are a bit long, and a total range of about 150 miles with the range extender is very attractive after driving a Leaf for three years. It will make the difference between being able to use the car fully and not being able to in the spread-out LA metro area.

* Energy economy was poorer than in my Leaf on the freeway, but better than the Leaf on suburban streets, including with spirited driving. I find this rather disappointing because if I get an i3 REx, I'd like to do more regional driving trips with it, and I was hoping for better freeway economy. OTOH, with the good economy at lower speeds, I can drive it around like a hooligan without any misgivings (free energy from our home's solar roof).

- The "coach" doors. Awkward to move kiddie seats in and out of the back seats unless you have plenty of space on the side of the car. We had to back the i3 out of the garage into the driveway to have enough space to swap the kiddie seats in and out. The maneuver also required removing one rear head rest because it interfered with the upper part of the forward-facing child seat, and this requires partially folding that rear seat forward to be able to remove the head rest. We found that it was also necessary to slide the front seats forward and flip the back rests forward so that we had enough room to get to the child seat restraints and belts.

We wind up needing to swap out the child seats a couple times a week because we have two cars and only one pair of child seats. So this will become a frequent exercise. Not a huge deal, but if it's raining (if it ever does around here again), I'd be either doing this drill in the rain in the driveway, or back the Prius out in the rain to be able to get the i3 doors fully open and move the kid seats in and out. First world problems, to be sure.

- The placement of the charge access door on the right rear fender. I was lucky that I chose a 25 foot cable when I bought my Aerovironment L2 EVSE. Since I mounted the EVSE near the left front fender of a headed-in car, my choices with the i3 are to back the car into the garage or to wrap the cord around the car to get the plug to the i3 charge port. The latter choice was the more appealing one to me, and it worked fine, aided by the i3's short overall length.

* And of course, I find the car's price and value for money proposition disappointing. I'm going to want a good sized discount AND a boost to the residual percentage to feel okay about the lease pricing. We'll see how things are next Spring, when I'm in the market. But BMW really needs to kick in the whole $7,500 Fed rebate, or price the car to make up for the difference. OCF (Owner's Choice with Flex - a purchase program with a guaranteed buy-back at the end of the term) programs are less attractive in California because you're charged sales tax on the car's full cost, even though you're only using it for a portion of its life. Leasing would be more attractive to me, but not at BMW's current pricing, rebate amount and residuals.

Lastly, the only issue or problem I had in three days and 265 miles was a problem with " low cost charging". Even though I had set the car in that mode, it insisted on charging immediately. This was with Level 2 charging with about 15% SOC remaining.

And by the way, my existing Aerovironment Level 2 home EVSE with Nissan badging worked great with the i3.

Born Electric Guest Blogger: Meet Harold From California

My name is Harold and I was born electric on August 19^th, 2014. 

There are two parts to my story here. The first is about my path to selecting and buying the i3, and the second is about my experiences owning and driving the i3.

PART 1:  

“IF YOU’RE NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION, THEN YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.”

When it comes to global warming, I’m embarrassed to say that for far too long my wife and I were part of the problem.  We’re a two car family, and over the years we’ve driven a series of big, luxury, premium fuel guzzlers. As recently as 2007 we each had one of the full-size Range Rovers. Yikes, and yuck!

I gradually realized this was not tenable, but I found it very, very hard to give up the comfort (I’m 6’3 and don’t fit in most cars) and sportiness of a big luxury SUV. The very thought of shoehorning myself into the ugly and painfully boring Prius hybrid was enough to make me puke.

So my first tentative step in the right direction was to sign up to make annual contributions to one of those carbon-offset charities. I even got vanity license plates that said “I OFFSET.” Wow, how big and how brave of me!

Then BMW came out with a diesel version of their X5 so I dumped my Range Rover in favor of that on the theory that at least I would be burning a lot less fuel. As nice a car as the X5 was, it ended up only getting about 16mpg, and I also came to understand that the diesel wasn’t as clean as I had thought it might be.

Meanwhile, there were more hybrid cars coming on the market, but all still seemed to frumpy for me.  I’m sorry, but I live in California and I spend a ton of time in my car and I want it to look and feel great!

And then Audi launched their stylish little Q5, and I dumped the X5 in favor of this smaller, more fuel efficient vehicle. But even that only got around 20mpg. 

So about a year ago I started the search for my next car. I did my first exploration of EV’s. The RAV4 was too clearly a Toyota. The Leaf, which a neighbor of mine happily drives, drove like a turtle to me.  The Volt was claustrophobic – and a Chevy to boot. The Tesla was way cool, but I actually don’t fit very well in it and, at least in the San Francisco area, driving one has already become interpreted as a sign that you are an obnoxious snob.

So, I had resigned myself to getting the new edition of the X5 diesel, which promised to deliver significantly better – and cleaner – mileage than the original one. And then one day while I was checking out the new X5 on one of the BMW forums, I saw something about the coming of the i3. It looked weird as hell in the photo, but it sounded intriguing. I started to follow stories about it. 

I went to a car show in San Jose to see it in person. I fully expected to discover that I could not fit in it, but when I sat down in the model on display I discovered that it had more head room and leg room and better visibility than my Q5. (Of course at this point, BMW was showing it with a sunroof – more about that later….). Plus, the interior design was stunning. And the exterior, while weird, was weird in a sexy way.  So I was hooked.

When the test drives started happening in the Bay Area, I went to them at three different dealers.  Driving the car was a total blast (all the more so with the sunroof open…..) and I had to have one. I went to my dealer and said I’m willing to pay MSRP for one of the first ones you get, I just need to get two key options – the sun roof and the REX. Can you arrange that please?

And then things started to fall apart. For one, it turned out the sunroof was not going to be offered in the US.  No reason for this has ever been provided, but that alone was enough to put me off.  I’m claustrophobic, and I always felt I needed a sunroof to have the feeling of openness they give. And then some negative stories started to appear about the REX – a review in Europe said driving with the REX was like driving in limp-home mode, and then it was revealed that the REX was being modified in the US in ways that made it seem even less desirable.  And,  being new to EV’s, I was at that point too chicken to go the full BEV route.

So, I abandoned my quest for an i3. I signed off of the i3 forums and facebook group. I went back to my dealer and started haggling over prices on the X5 diesel again. But the x5 diesel remained in hot demand,  and I couldn’t get what I thought was a reasonable price. And then the i3’s actually arrived. I saw two in one day “in the wild.” I went behind my dealer’s back and went to another dealer to test drive an i3 again.  I found that even without the sunroof it still felt very open. And it was just as fun to drive as I had remembered. 

So I went back to my CA, said you’re not going to believe this, but I want the i3 after all. He laughed very heartily. We worked the numbers for a while. I ended up doing the two year version of “owner’s choice.” (Went with owner’s choice vs. lease to get the full advantage of the federal tax credit,  and went two years rather than three just because I expect the EV technology is going to advance pretty rapidly over the next couple of years and I may want to move to the next edition sooner rather than later.) And within just a few weeks I was driving my new Andesite Silver Terra i3, loaded up with everything except for the 20” wheels.  And, surprise surprise, I even got over my fear of running out of juice and went with the BEV instead of the REX.

PART 2: 

“WHO SAYS MEDICINE HAS TO TASTE BAD TO BE GOOD FOR YOU?

As I mentioned earlier, a key factor that kept me from switching sooner to a more environmentally correct car was that they all just seemed too ugly, too uncomfortable, and too boring. I wanted to do the right thing for the planet – but I wanted to still be able to enjoy driving at the same time.

Thankfully, my i3 has solved all three of those problems for me. 

While I will admit that the exterior is a bit of an acquired taste, there can be no denying that the interior is stunning. Yes, the materials are all very environmentally friendly, but more important to me – they are gorgeous. The design is very fresh,  very high tech,  and yet very simple. Among the features I like most are the floating high definition screens (one for the instrument cluster stuff, one for the navigation and multimedia stuff) and the eucalyptus dash. I also really appreciate the openness of the cabin and the great sight lines.

The interior is also quite comfortable. I was initially skeptical about the thinness of the seats.  As a veteran business road warrior, I have equated the steady thinning down of airline seats over the years with an equally steady decline in the comfort of those seats. Well, I can only hope that the designers at Boeing and Airbus get to drive an i3 soon so they can see how to make a thinner seat super supportive and comfortable.

And as for the driving experience, well, I haven’t had so much fun driving a car since the very first one I owned.  First comes the peppiness. As the folks at BMW are fond of saying,  the i3 is the fastest car they make from 0 to 30 mph.  And I believe them now!  Zipping in and out of city traffic is as easy as can be – aided by how tight the turning radius is. Likewise, accelerating on to freeway ramps and passing at freeway speeds is also quick and easy. When we had a meet up of Bay area i3 drivers recently,  I had t-shirts printed up for everyone that carried this message: “I drive a BMW i3.  So you can eat my dust, not my exhaust. You’re welcome.” Trust me, the message is appropriate: this car hauls ass.

It's hard to see in the picture, but the blue T-Shirts everyone is wearing are the shirts Harold made up for the Crissy Field i3 meet. He was even gracious enough to send me a couple in the mail. Photo credit: Dino Ignacio

The steering is also very tight. I’m sure it has some degree of electronic assistance, but it doesn’t feel in the least bit mushy or vague. If anything it’s too responsive – you have to be attentive or it’s a bit too easy to oversteer.

The ride is firm, but in a good, BMW way. If you don’t want to feel the road at all, then this is not the car for you. But if you like to get some feedback from your driving, you should like this.

I really like the quietness of the car. If you keep the windows rolled up, it is super quiet; there is of course some wind noise at higher speeds, but I have not found it to be objectionable. And, at the same time, if you drive with the windows open, you can actually hear the sounds of nature!

I’m still learning all the fancy new tech tools.  Love the Harman Kardon stereo, love being able to use apps like Pandora and TuneIn. Appreciate that iDrive has gotten clearer and more manageable, though it still requires a learning curve. Love the collision avoidance system and the adaptive cruise control.  Haven’t yet tried the self-parking thing – but haven’t felt the need either, as this is the smallest car I have driven in ages and I would feel like a total wimp if I couldn’t park it by myself.  : )

As for downsides of the i3, anyone who buys this car has to accept that they are on the bleeding edge of technology and that things may go wrong. And they have for some of the early owners. But, knock on wood, after just about 1,000 miles, the worst thing that has happened to me so far is that one morning while I was driving along a nearly empty six lane freeway a warning message popped up on my screen that said something about “Danger – objects detected in roadway.” There were no objects to be seen, so I ignored the message and kept on driving and the message ultimately disappeared.

Also, if you choose as I did to go with the BEV instead of the REx, you will probably find yourself being more than a little bit paranoid about monitoring how much charge you have left. I have been running somewhere around 75 miles per full charge – a little less than what the EPA says, but then I drive with a bit of a lead foot and I leave the AC on all the time. So far I’ve only once gotten the dreaded verbal warning “you have 15 miles of range left,” and thankfully that happened when I was only about a mile from my house.

One other downside is that, to my way of thinking, the i3 is not practical as a family car. The “suicide”  doors (aka coach doors) make access to the back seat just too awkward for regular use, especially if you are trying to cope with child seats.

OK, so the i3 is good looking, it’s comfortable, and it’s fun to drive. But how does it do on my original overall reason for getting it, which is to help address the problem of global warming?

Well,  for one thing I have not been to a gas station since I got the car. And will never have to go to a gas station with it. Take that, Exxon and BP and the rest of you big oil companies! (The vanity plates I have on order for my car will read: “I86DGAS”) And, at least according to the i3 mobile app, so far I have already saved 530 pounds of CO2 from being pumped out into the air.

So,  in sum, thank you BMW for giving birth to the i3 so that I can at last do my part for solving global warming – but do it in a way that fits my own selfish needs for style, comfort, and fun!

PS- The i3 may not be right for everyone, but there are now plenty of EV’s on the market – surely one of them will be right for you!
_________________________________________________________




Thanks for participating Harold! If you drive an i3 and want to share your Born Electric story here, just send me an email and we'll set it up! tom.moloughney@gmail.com

Born Electric Guest Blogger: Meet Fred From California

My name is Fred and I was born electric on July 30, 2014. 

Today I have just a little over 1,000 miles on my i3 REx—over 1,000 happy miles I should add. I live in Huntington Beach, California and use my i3 regularly for running local errands, for meetings of 80 to 120 miles across the Los Angeles basin, and for pure pleasure. Indeed, it is now the only car I own. I sold my Lexus LS460L and my Lexus SC430 for the i3, and while both are great cars, the i3 meets my needs so well that I have no regrets about giving up either of them.
  

I never intended to own an electric vehicle and paid little attention to them believing that they were in general impractical. I was raised on the internal combustion engine and had no intention of doing anything other than sticking with what I knew and what worked for me. Adding to my mind set were two facts:  first, America is awash in fossil fuels with the potential of freeing us from the importation of foreign oil; second, cars that once swigged gasoline are now increasingly fuel efficient.  So, why change?

Then one sunny Sunday morning my son, who traded in his Hummer for a big Infiniti SUV, came knocking on my door, roused me from bed, and said, “come with me,” informing me that we needed to be somewhere in a hurry. Before I could find out where we had to be, we were racing down Pacific Coast Highway to what I discovered was the BMW dealer in Newport Beach. My son wouldn’t tell me where we were going or why we were rushing to be somewhere, keeping this news from me until we arrived. As we pulled into Sterling BMW, my son informed me that I was going to do a test drive—a drive so I learned that he took the day prior.   

 

Smelling the roses

I had trouble believing that this was what all the fuss was about. My son has owned big vehicles for many years. He is a diver, and carts around lots of dive equipment. Also, we used his vehicles for towing our boats. Why in the world was he interested in this little car?  Besides never giving a moment’s thought to an electric vehicle, I never considered a small car. Except for the BMW 320i that I owned in the 1980s and my little Lexus sports car which I used on weekends, my driving experience consisted mostly of large cars--heavy metal objects that surrounded me with lots of steel and horse power. I assumed that I would be safer in an accident in a large car than in a small one. Once behind the wheel of the i3, my fear disappeared.  It is not true that in all things, small is beautiful, but in the case of the i3, it truly is.

The test drive was badly organized and although my son had signed us up for a specific time, we sat around for what seemed to be forever until we got our test car. Wanting my breakfast, I almost left. Further, when I tried to engage officials in charge of the test drive with questions about the vehicle, they seemed to know as little as I did. We were not off to a good start.
 

Once behind the wheel, everything changed. I immediately liked the clean lines and the airiness of the cabin. I especially liked the elevation of the seats with a firmness that secured my poor body against the discomforts of my arthritis. I abhor soft seats into which you sink, seats that require lowering yourself into position and then hoisting yourself out. I also liked the easy adjustment of the seats. While the seats in my Lexus vehicles are powered electrically, moving me like a belly dancer into every conceivable position, I  never got the setting I wanted. By comparison, once into the i3, I knew I found a home.

The clincher was the drive itself. As we pressed the button to start the “ignition”, I listened for the rev of the motor only to hear quiet, blessed quiet. I thought to myself, this is too good to be true. My son took the wheel first. He likes to drive fast and once onto the road way, we took off with a punch that left everyone on the road in our rear view mirror. As a senior citizen I drive more cautiously, but when it was my turn at the wheel, I couldn’t help but accelerate to the max. What a ride! I also liked the steering—firm, nimble and responsive. The slightest turn moved the car decisively, making me realize that it needed two steady hands on the wheel. A quick U-turn in the middle of Pacific Coast Highway—something not recommended by good sense or the police—was a delight.  I also liked the tight, firm ride—nothing spongy about it. The regenerative braking, I confess, made me nervous. Would I need a  learning curve to master it? Well, as it turned out, I didn’t need much of a learning curve. Once I obtained my car, I felt comfortable and in control of the braking by the time I got the vehicle home.

This test drive made me know that the i3 offered a superior way of driving from anything I had known before. By the end of the drive, I announced to my son that I would put down my deposit early in the week and surrender my Lexus vehicles to CarMax. My son said he would also do the same and give up his Infiniti SUV.  The decision to downsize and to go electric was a big one for our family, but after driving the i3, it left us little choice. The joy of driving the i3, the interior space and comfort, the responsive steering, the firm ride and the  regenerative braking sold us on our first electric vehicle. In every respect the i3 felt, looked and drove like a BMW. We both decided on the REx, knowing that it would meet 90% of our driving needs—and indeed it has.

The drive’s the thing and that’s what sold us. Since I had zero knowledge and experience with electric vehicles, just to make sure that I hadn't confused lust with love, rushing into something I would later regret, I arranged a test drive with a Volt later the same day. The Volt had good acceleration but nothing like the punch of the i3.  Also, the seats were a tad too much like all the GM seats I had known before as was the ride itself—a tinge on the soft side. Further, the interior seemed old and not very inspiring. Driving the Volt reaffirmed my decision to purchase the i3.

Only after the decision was taken to purchase the i3 did I begin to investigate the world of EVs and their multiple advantages. Entering into an intensive period of study, I became like all converts something of a zealot which I continue to be at the time of this writing. I am in conversation with several solar panel companies to get the best equipment at the best deal. My son and I each put down our deposit on the Launch Edition of the i3 believing that this was the only vehicle that would be available in the states in the near future.  The roll out was long and contained all too many disappointments; near the end of our wait, my son decided to throw in the towel and purchased the John Cooper Mini Countryman in place of the i3. At least he is driving a more efficient gasoline powered engine than when he was behind the wheel of his SUV. 

All the things I liked about the i3 that led me to buy it I still like—and like even more than when I did my test drive. I’ve come to appreciate the Harmon Kardan sound system which in a cabin that is quiet (except at freeway speeds), enhances my listening pleasure. Speaking of the quiet cabin, it is not always as quiet as I would like. At city-street speeds, its as quiet as a church mouse. But on the freeway, especially as I approach 70mph plus, wind noise is noticeable, sometimes quite noticeable. If BMW can dampen that in the next iteration of the i3, it would make the drive even more enjoyable. 

Sometimes it’s the little things that are most distressing. My biggest problem and that of my guests is getting the tongue of the seat belt into the buckle. While I am older and have lost strength in my hands, younger and abler persons also have difficulty. Sometimes it takes quite a bit of hard pushing to buckle up. Do I wish for a battery with greater range, of course, but I’ve learned to live with it. I like the light weight of the vehicle which contributes to the i3’s acceleration, handling and efficiency. If there was one thing I would say to BMW it is, resist all the calls for significant additions if it means making the vehicle heavier. 

In light of the limitations of the battery, the REx has been indispensable to my driving needs. The smooth transition from being on the battery to the point when the REx kicks in is quite remarkable. I never feel or hear it nor do my passengers (actually one passenger in the back seat thought he heard a slight hum).  I did have a significant loss of speed coming up a long, steep incline at the end of a 211 mile round trip. My companions and I couldn’t help but laugh as we knew this might happen but had not experienced it at any time earlier in the trip when we encountered steep inclines and were still on battery. What this means is that, understanding the limitations of the REx (all cars have their limitations in one respect or another), I need to plan my trips more carefully which I will in the future. The “slow down” neither diminished my ardor for the car nor my appreciation for its overall abilities and quality.

I’ve set the vehicle to charge at midnight when electricity rates are at their lowest. I purchased a ClipperCreek HCS 40 which works like a charm and cost me considerably less than the charger BMW is selling.  From the standpoint of technology, this was the easy part. I confess that I find the i3’s software daunting and even after 1,000 miles, I am still only half way through learning the software’s mysteries.

One of the most delightful aspects of owning the i3 is the number of people who wave me down on the street, or give me a thumbs up on the freeway, or stop me at my favorite coffee shop or at the market, or encounter me in other ways asking me questions about the car or just admiring it. Recently an eight year old English boy on vacation in California approached me with his mother gushing facts about the i3. He is a devotee of Top Gear and knew much more than I about the car. I know that some commentators think the i3 is an ugly little beast, but the people who come up to me all seem to be intrigued by its looks. I hope that their inquisitiveness turns into sales. 

My own private "gas station" in my garage. How great is that?!

Several people helped me throughout the roll out of the i3. My dealership went out of its way to find answers to all my inquiries even when they had little experience with the vehicle. Stephan, my Client Adviser (salesman in ordinary English) actually knew something about the i3 and was an anchor keeping me from drifting away. BMW North America, despite the glitches in the roll out, was enormously helpful when I reached out to them. No sooner did I reach out to them than they reciprocated frequently, reaching out to me. I want to thank Jacob Harb of BMW North America who, put in charge of the roll out, became the focus for everyone with a grievance, all too many of which were legitimate but many of which were not of his making. Jacob reached out to me after I contacted BMW, giving me reassurance and easing the process.  Good communication is more than fifty percent of addressing problems even when solutions are not readily available. Like the oak in a gale, Jacob may have bent but he did not break and he saw the roll out through to fruition. Finally, without Tom Moloughney who captained the ship during the long process, leading the charge for the i3 against its frequent critics, providing answers to questions no one else seemed to have, defending the vehicle even while the process was discouraging, providing a communication link to BMW and giving us certainty that there would be an i3 in our future, I say without Tom I would have and I think many others would have said, nice try BMW but now I am going back to what I know and can rely on--a gasoline engine. Thank you Tom.

_________________________________________

And thank you Fred for participating in the Born Electric series. For those that don't know, Fred has been a  follower for a while now and has commented on this blog and it's really great for me to see him finally take delivery of his i3 and now tell us his story here. I appreciate the kind words he had for me at the end but honestly I wanted to remove that part. Fred insisted it remain and told me that he didn't want me to post the story if I deleted it. I know I've said it before but one of the great things about maintaining my electric car blogs has been the interactions I have with the followers through the years. I'd like to take a moment to thank all of my followers for their continued support. Without your comments, emails and encouragement I would have stopped doing this a long time ago!  

Mountain Climbing With an i3 REx

Loveland Pass, Continental Divide, Colorado. Elevation 11,990 ft

A few weeks ago Don Parsons of Denver, Colorado took his i3 REx on a 128 mile road trip from his house to Loveland Pass (Continental Divide, Colorado). On his way up to the 11,990 ft elevation of Loveland Pass he stopped at Beau Jo's Pizza for lunch and to charge on their public ChargePoint EVSE where his i3 REx accepted 8.9kWh's of juice to help with the rest of the climb up the mountain. 

The car showed 18 miles remaining at the top of Loveland Pass, and he nearly made the trip entirely on electricity when 62 miles later the range extender kicked on and he was only 2 miles from his home. 

The trip summary: 
-64 miles each way
-8,960 feet of climbing, 2329 Feet of descending on way out
-2329 feet of climbing, 8,960 feet of descending on way back

Having heard about this Continental Divide conquest, I asked Don if he wanted to write a guest blog post about the trip, but he offered to do one better. His next challenge was to take his i3 REx up to the summit of Mt Evans which is the highest elevation paved road in the US. The trip would take him over 14,000 feet above sea level and would most certainly push the range extender beyond its limit. This was not the kind of road trip BMW envisioned people taking the car on when they designed the REx, but nonetheless they have to expect some people like Don would do just that. So what happened? Read Don's words below to find out:

I’ve had my BMW i3 REx for almost two months now and haven’t really used or tested the REx engine.  Before today, I’d driven about 1750 miles total with only about 10 miles using the engine.  I decided to drive from my house in Denver to the top of Mt. Evans and return without stopping for gas or topping off the charge.  Using the REx engine in the mountains can be tough because the output of the small engine can’t really put out enough power to go both highway speeds and climb uphill.  However, the road to the top of Mt. Evans is pretty narrow, has steep drop-offs, no guardrails and a lot of cyclists sharing the road so you really don’t want to go much faster than 35 mph.  For this reason, I thought the small engine could hopefully handle the climb.

For those that don’t know, Mt. Evans is the highest paved road in North America with an elevation of 14,130 feet above sea level!  I live in Denver which is at 5,280 feet above sea level.  It’s 63.5 miles from my house to the top Mt. Evans.  With some up and down hill climbing, the total ascent is 12,446 feet and the total descent is 3,686 getting to the summit.

I set the car into Eco Pro+ and set out on city streets of Denver, then I-70 west up the mountains to Idaho Springs.  Mt. Evans highway winds its way south from Idaho Springs to the Mt. Evans summit in 28 miles.  When I originally entered the destination into the navigation system, the guess-o-meter said 61 miles of range.  I tried to keep the cruise control set to about 5 miles over the speed limit.

I was surprised to find that the Rex engine didn’t turn on until about 52 miles into the drive (about 10 miles from the summit) with a total trip average mi/kWh of 2.8 when the REx kicked on.  However, about 1 minute after the REx turned on I got a Brake error message that ended up making the brake pedal feel stiff and pretty much unusable.  Fortunately, I was still heading uphill and the regen seemed to be working normally.

I could hear the engine speed up during the straight parts of the switchbacks and as I slowed down for the sharp curves, the engine almost immediately slowed down as well.  I never really wanted to travel faster than 35 mph so I didn’t notice any performance hit until near the summit.  On the last few switchbacks, I put my foot to the floor and couldn’t get the car to travel faster than 26 mph.  At close to 14,000 feet of elevation, the engine was probably severely limited from its usual output at sea-level.  I’ve heard people say that an ICE reduces power output by 5% for each 1,000 feet of elevation.  In any event no other cars were traveling any faster than 25 or 30 mph so I didn’t feel unsafe.

I finally made it to the top at 14,130 feet!  The temperature had gone from 68 degrees in Denver to 35 degrees and quite windy.  This road usually shuts down for the winter sometime in September so they will be expecting snow to start accumulating up there pretty soon!

As I was getting ready to head down, I was worried about whether I would have any use of the brakes since I had turned off the car and walked around the summit for about 5 minutes hoping the error would reset but it didn’t and I still had a stiff brake pedal.  Since it was 35 degrees up there, I was pretty cold and didn’t feel like waiting any longer so I thought I would start to head down and see how well the regen worked to keep the car in control.  You can imagine how happy I was to have such a high regen rate because I felt like I was in complete control all the way back home.

During the descent from the summit down to Idaho Springs I was excited to see that the regen had built up a full 25% of the battery SOC and the guess-o-meter said as high as 28 miles of range on the battery.  I drove home significantly on battery but the REx kicked in a few times where there was some climbing.  It also stayed on once I got out of the mountains but I was easily able to maintain 75 mph on the highway leading east back into the city.

Here's a screenshot of the elevation and speed of the whole trip

Some stats on the whole trip.  I traveled 127.6 miles and averaged 4.9 mi/kWh and average speed was a total of 39.6 mph.  I used a little over a quarter of the rex tank which I think is pretty minimal for traveling almost 130 miles! As you can see from the picture, the brake error was still in place when I arrived home.  However, after being on my EVSE for a little over an hour, everything was cleared out and a quick trip to grab lunch showed that everything was back to normal.

I should point out that I haven’t gotten any software updates yet as I haven’t been able to set aside the time.  Until this trip, the only error I’ve seen from the car is the Check Engine Light, which remains illuminated. There is a software update that will eliminate this waiting for me at my dealer, so I guess it's time to get the car into the shop for the updates.  Hopefully the brake error is related to the 12v battery issues that others have discussed and will also be fixed with the latest software version I'll be getting. 

When I thought about getting the i3 Rex, I figured that I would use the battery over 95% of my driving miles.  So far, it seems like I’m using the battery over 97% of my miles.  That said, I’m still happy to have the Rex as it completely takes away any range anxiety when I’m traveling in the flats of the front range of Colorado.

What about the mountains?  I was concerned about using the i3 REx in the mountains and still believe that having a REx hold mode similar to the European version of the i3 or the Chevy Volt would make this an even more enjoyable car in Colorado.  That said, a couple CCS fast chargers placed strategically off I-70 would go a long way to helping the issue.  Locations in Idaho Springs, Silverthorne (where the 8 Tesla Superchargers are located) Copper Mountain, and Vail would be ideal spots to get a quick top-off and be truly useful in the mountains.  I’ve also kept my 335xi for long distance ski trips since it has all wheel drive and is still a great car. However, even without the fast chargers I was able to make it to the summit and home without a problem.

I’m very happy with the the i3.  The performance, handling, smoothness, and quietness all contribute to a great experience.  Like others have said, it’s hard to go back to a regular internal combustion engine after experiencing electric!