[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

I cut them off at they invariably are blocking the left lane going 5mph under the speed limit pushing up their glasses trying to see the navigation so they can find an electrical outlet.

Funny, the i3 is actually pretty quick to 40mph or so. I see a guy terrorize the SUV crowd most mornings in one. Torque, rwd, thin tires and one gear make them pretty fun to drive. I assume you haven't driven one?

[David70]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

When an environmentally friendly battery that recharges in 5 min and has a range of 300+ miles is invented I'll look. Until then these are impractical gizmos people buy to either look like they are hip, but really look like geeks, or by misguided ignorant tree huggers. The rest of us just look at electric owners and think lay-who-say-her!

It isn't a car for me but as a BMW coupe owner that is very impractical I would say there are a lot of reasons to buy something, making the best financial decision is only one of them.

Include me out in the name calling or "rest of us".

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Funny, the i3 is actually pretty quick to 40mph or so. I see a guy terrorize the SUV crowd most mornings in one. Torque, rwd, thin tires and one gear make them pretty fun to drive. I assume you haven't driven one?

0-40 mph it is the same as an M3. That covers most city traffic.

Would love to have one as a city car. See several in my neighbour hood nearly daily. Just wish it looked less, well, electric.

[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Funny, the i3 is actually pretty quick to 40mph or so. I see a guy terrorize the SUV crowd most mornings in one. Torque, rwd, thin tires and one gear make them pretty fun to drive. I assume you haven't driven one?

It's quick for a couple seconds. Yay. Why do you think they made interior parts from hemp. Hmmmmmm. Appealing to a particular crowd maybe?

[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by David70

It isn't a car for me but as a BMW coupe owner that is very impractical I would say there are a lot of reasons to buy something, making the best financial decision is only one of them.

Include me out in the name calling or "rest of us".

I'm from NYC originally. It's in my DNA.

[SunnyD]

I've got an i3 and absolutely love it. It works for my daily commute of 7 miles roundtrip and as previously mentioned, 0-40 is right up there with an m3. Its nice not having to worry about the engine/oil temps not being fully warm, or getting like 12 mpg in all city driving in my old m3. It's a different story on the fwy (top speed is only 94 mph), but this thing was made to be in the city. I end up only charging it on the weekends, as the charge lasts the entire week for my work commute.

[XM_Rocks]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

When an environmentally friendly battery that recharges in 5 min and has a range of 300+ miles is invented I'll look. Until then these are impractical gizmos people buy to either look like they are hip, but really look like geeks, or by misguided ignorant tree huggers. The rest of us just look at electric owners and think lay-who-say-her!

I applaud your bladder.

I can't drive more than 200 miles with taking a piss.

I think 200 miles and a 5-10 min charge would be acceptable for most folks.

[Red Bread]

Most of us have a normal car for road trips, or would just rent one. The i3 has an available 5er rental for longer trips available.

Not having to go to a gas station would be nice. We have some sketchy folks at just about every station I use. None of them seem to be in my garage.

I can say that in the last two years, I have driven more than 200 miles at once exactly zero times, and even in the last five, we've always taken the wife's car. An electric car with a 200+ mile range would not change any habits for me and would actually put my wife at ease since I like to drive until I have about half a gallon of gas left, long after the 0 Miles Until Empty has shown up. Being able to charge it like my phone would always leave me plenty of surplus.

[Fundguy1]

I drive 700 to 1000 miles a week. If you aren't driving those distances however, the savings in gas isn't paying for itself which is why it isn't economically feasible.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

I drive 700 to 1000 miles a week. If you aren't driving those distances however, the savings in gas isn't paying for itself which is why it isn't economically feasible.

Again, it's the instant torque and lift throttle braking. It's kinda fun. In the same way that an M3 is more fun than a Corolla but not easy to justify on a 'hey it's never gonna save enough gas to cover the cost differential' sort of way.

Now if only the Bolt was rwd and had defeatable traction control. But for a daily, it still would be an easy choice over something like a 320i or a CLA250.

[Fundguy1]

Um no.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

Um no.

Excellent response. Would read again.

[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Excellent response. Would read again.

Um, yes.

[Fundguy1]

Chevy bolt is $34-38,000 and a cruze or Malibu can be had for high teens to mid 20s. There is no way you save money with a volt. It's no better than a cruze, the Malibu is better in every way, and it's flexible for longer trips, carrying more, and better for the environment. The BMW or Mercedes give you a much higher amount of luxury that if Chevy added would add another $15,000 to the sticker so that's an unfair comparison.

[Red Bread]

Wait, you drive how much? Jeebus. 35-50k a year is certainly a different league than my 8-10k.

But no, a giant, soft car like a Malibu has zero appeal to me. A small, agile hatch, much more. Not every thing is a value play. Many cars can't be justified when compared to a Corolla/Camry/Sprinter, whatever. But they still sell for other reasons. And bigger and softer isn't a good sell for many of us.

[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Wait, you drive how much? Jeebus. 35-50k a year is certainly a different league than my 8-10k.

But no, a giant, soft car like a Malibu has zero appeal to me. A small, agile hatch, much more. Not every thing is a value play. Many cars can't be justified when compared to a Corolla/Camry/Sprinter, whatever. But they still sell for other reasons. And bigger and softer isn't a good sell for many of us.

That's you I put the cruze there which is the same amount of car for half the price. Same size, maker, quality etc At 9,000 mIles a year yout hAve to drive iy for 22 years to realize any savings vs the cruze. Make that 25 because you'd need a battery pack replacement along the way. .

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

That's you I put the cruze there which is the same amount of car for half the price. Same size, maker, quality etc At 9,000 mIles a year yout hAve to drive iy for 22 years to realize any savings vs the cruze. Make that 25 because you'd need a battery pack replacement along the way. .

But power delivery is nothing alike, nor is interior volume.

[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

But power delivery is nothing alike, nor is interior volume.

If it's for the fun factor, then OK.

[Pheonix]

I just signed a lease on the VW eGolf (also checked out the i3 but it was expensive and too fugly for me). The eGolf's design is as closed to a normal car as it can be.
I love instant torque;-). However, one only achievez the specified range of 85 miles/charge if drive in optimal road and weather conditions and stay under 65mph (with light acceleration)
E cars are not for everyone.
The mains reasons i got the car are:
-cut down on commute time as i get to use the HOV lane.
-the costs of the lease and insurance are less than i currently spend on gas (i dont think gas price will stay low forever).
-i get free charging at work.

[Fundguy1]

Third point us fine.
No HOV lanes here thank god. They added them and realized the under utilization of them combined with the extra traffic in the other lanes actually had the opposite effect of what they were intended for. The idea of them was to have more people carpool to cut down on traffic and reduce fuel consumption. The reality is this never happened and they actually increase fuel consumption so everywhere I've lived they've been removed.
Gas will stay low forever, or for the next few decades, if the government lands closed to oil production by Obama to pump up gas prices are reopened. That takes a Republican president.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by eric@helix

We couldn't even call this a controversial car on F30 post. It's unanimous, folks, people hate it. My comment: Meh. Cool that they're trying. I wonder if the i3 design team is pissed at the shameless design-cue copies: look at the window treatment and BMW shifter.

As I predicted...

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

I drive 700 to 1000 miles a week. If you aren't driving those distances however, the savings in gas isn't paying for itself which is why it isn't economically feasible.

But I do drive that much. I've done many financial comparisons with EVs and hybrids vs. ICE cars, and depending upon the car chosen and at level of mileage it is used for, some EVs or hybrids at least do pay off within the lifetime use of the vehicle. A few years ago I ran a life cycle financial comparison of a Tesla S vs. my E90 to 200,000 miles. The Tesla came out about $20K more expensive to run to 200,000 miles. Get that $20K out of the price of the Tesla, and things even up. Get more than $20K out of the price, like the Bolt possibly will, and the equation reverses. For me, if the financials work out to be even or slightly in favor of the EV, then it's on my list for consideration. But the situation is I have several cars to drive long distances, so a 200-mile range EV just for my daily commute makes sense. And as anyone who owns a BMW knows, the reason BMWs are expensive to own is because the need to have a 2nd car to drive while the Bimmer is in the shop.

But like I stated before I like EVs because it's plain to see the manual transmission is on it's way out and EVs mostly are single gear transmissions, so they don't shift at the wrong time. And because the price of electricity remains constant over time (yeah I know, O'Bama is trying to screw that up too) unlike gasoline, which is priced purely based on political reasons.