M444TTB Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Today was my first 100% electric car experience. My employer has three BMW 1-Series ActiveE cars, which are in essence test mules for the new BMW i3. I believe the motors and gearbox are the same as the i3 although I'd assume the 1-Series is heavier. Looks normal on the outside, bar the Tron-style graphics! Something is up with the rev counter though! Driving it was quite a strange experience. For one it's left hand drive! You pop the key in the dash and press the start button hurt as normal. Only nothing audible happens. The cluster springs to life and confirms the car is 'Ready'. Then you shift to D (exactly as any other BMW auto box of that generation) and it goes! Slow speed is where I think you get the best of the electric motor. It moves off the line very quickly considering the weight. It feels like it's running out of puff a little by 50 but I'd say it would beat my old 323 (also with 170bhp) to 80. After about 20mph there is no noise beyond tyres & air rushing by. Below this there's a whine from the motors that I quite like! Around town there is virtually no need to use the brakes. Take your foot off the accelerator and there's quite a lot of retardation as it moves into energy recovery (needle move to 'Charge' on the dash). I think I used the brakes no more than twice each way in my 16 mile round trip! On the motorway the acceleration was subdued (I believe it may be limited to 90 but didn't check!) and you can see it making a real dent in the battery charge. I suspect the 80 mile range wouldn't be achievable on the motorway. Perhaps 60 miles might be closer to it unless you're driving it exclusively round town. Would I buy one? Affordability aside I think I would yeah. However this would depend on a few things: - Having a car in the family for the 1% of drives where we do need a range beyond 80mph (my commute is 10 miles each way) - Also owning something for driving pleasure. Great short distance travel but not fun at all. - Provision of a dedicated parking space with free / very cheap charging at work. The latter is a possibility for the near future although I'd doubt it would be a long term proposition if these things go mass market. I believe this would suit a lot of people at work who are driving round Swindon only while clogging up their nasty diesel's particulate filter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Everall Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 The electric has to be produced by coal, gas or nuclear power plants all of which cause pollution. If the govt cannot get tax income from diesel and petrol they will just introduce another tax to hurt us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M444TTB Posted December 9, 2013 Author Share Posted December 9, 2013 But of course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KugaWestie Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Apparently the new i3 is quicker from 0-30 than an M3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M444TTB Posted December 9, 2013 Author Share Posted December 9, 2013 That video is on YouTube I think! I can believe it easily. Edit: Here it is (hopefully) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User0083 Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Thank you for a full review! I'm with Terry though. It's a bit of publicity and good press for governments and manufacturers. I've owned a couple of auto's and been driving one for about six weeks now. But I still don't like them off motorway or out of city and I feel electric will be the same issues with feel on corners and driveability. I like changing gear, the feel and the pantomime of the exhaust note. That whole sensation would be lost. Like going from to the Volvo T5 Auto... Half the time I have to check the engine is running and there's no sensation to the speed you're doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M444TTB Posted December 9, 2013 Author Share Posted December 9, 2013 Day to day driving I just don't care really. Make it as easy and relaxing as possible please! The good thing about the electric car is that there's no kickdown etc like you get in an auto car with an IC engine. It's like you're always in the right gear. To an extent anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wile E. Coyote Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 One of the Cheshire members recently had a Nissan Leaf for a while and was raving about how good that was too. From memory, he reckoned the range was over 100 miles (can't help but think that 80 miles on the BMW is cutting it a bit fine) and the performance really rather good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Algar - Competition Secretary Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Terry is right about how we generate electricity. For me, they seem good if you are doing short journeys, but then you need another car if you want to go long distance and I just don;t see how that can be a "green" benefit ?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FILFAN Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 I cant help but feel that all these electric and hybrid cars are just a gimmick. they cost more to start with the cost of replacing the batteries counteracts the saving in fuel you know you will wake up one morning and realize u forgot to plug it in the night before think the prius does around the same mpg as i use to get out my xr3i and i know which would be more fun and cost effective. until the big polluting countries do something to reduce the co2 they put out all these novelties remain quite pointless the government wont let you save money for too long before getting it back somehow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Chase (NICO) - Shropshire & Mid-Wales AO Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Don't get me started on the "green" cost of producing the batteries. How long are they likely to last and how much will they cost to replace?This is not the future!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wile E. Coyote Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I cant help but feel that all these electric and hybrid cars are just a gimmick. they cost more to start with the cost of replacing the batteries counteracts the saving in fuel you know you will wake up one morning and realize u forgot to plug it in the night before We run a diesel hybrid as one of our cars - it's actually a better drive than the diesel-only equivalent and for its size/performance is surprisingly efficient. Engine cutting out when cruising or at low speeds is disconcerting, but more than outweighed by the fact that the electric motors cut in at the same time as the engine to give extra boost if needed. Cost of batteries is also falling as the technology matures (it was one thing that worried me). Looking at about £1k on a Prius, 150k miles life. The only drawback is that they're not common round these parts. Ours was the first one the main dealer had ever sold or worked on and I've only ever seen one other (in a dealer's showroom) but we think they understand the need to get it right if we're not going to be brutal with friends/colleagues if they get it wrong. guest - auto technology is improving too: was having a poke round the A8 at a dealer's last year and was told that, along with other electrical witchcraft, the gearbox is now linked to the sat nav in order to help gear selection (e.g. no changing just as you're about to go into a quick corner). Not driven one yet so can't comment on how effective it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I've always had a thing against these short-term headline grabbing things. I fail to see where any of this battery-based stuff is ultimately headed. Need a better solution as this one is fatally flawed. Quite telling was the EPA dust to dust survey a few years back. They made a pertty fair and honest stab at calculatiing the environmental impact of 100 cars based on the whole package, including digging up the raw materials, manufacture, life, servicing and ultimately disposal. The Prius came in at 75 I think it was. Says it all really - all that high-tech with exotic (and rare) materials and those batteries has a massive impact on the end result. I think the winner was the CJ Jeep of all things. One benefit of being as sophisticated as a crow bar I guess. I'd use a fuel-cell powered car. Quite like the Honda 'Energy Station' thing as an idea, but no knowledge of the true costs of the thing. Still a fossil fuel burner though, but lets face it, we don't have an answer to that one yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dommo Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I'm not too fussed about the environmental claims and the such. When an electric car makes financial sense, I'll happily take the plunge. Most of my commuting is around town in a 12mpg Land Rover so I'm not too far off. I'd imagine I'm the exception to the rule in it being close to making financial sense though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cast iron Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 our leafs at work are charged up from wind turbines. Great fun to drive. Max torque from 0 rpm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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