Swapping the A2 for a BMW i3 - thoughts please

As an electric and hybrid specialist, I feel it is my duty to wave the i3's flag a little more. It's a fantastic car that really needs to be experienced and I think it is also a natural upgrade from the A2. I recently had the new 33kWh (94Ah) model on test and it was superb.
The extra range was useful and allowed more enjoyment of the powertrain, rather than forever backing off and playing safe with the range.
The best way to think of the rear doors and car is not as a five door, but instead as a three door hatch with improved rear access. As for breaking the windows in an emergency using the headrests, as amusing as that was to read there is a serious point to it and so the only quick alternative I can think of is to purchase one of those little plastic hammers with metal point ends you often see on coaches. Keep it in the back or glove box and surely that'll be just as 'handy' as a seat headrest. Additionally, the i3's carbon fibre tub should help keep occupants safer than whatever other car they choose to crash into. Land Rover and brick walls excepted.
I won't get into a full blown review or conversation on here, but if anybody is interested the new edition of AutoVolt magazine that I produce came out over the weekend and contains an article about the new i3. I'm happy to give forum members free access to the mag. If interested send me a PM - I can't post a freebie link publicly ;)
 
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These cars are just about starting to become Viable,a quick look at the autotrader and they start just below 15k.

I'm planning a new mazda2 but I need to read a bit more about the older models and its range.

Sytners has one with 5 miles on it for I think 19k,just a step too far for me however 15k would cut the mustard.
 
7 hours in an i3 - first impressions

Just spent last 6 days in Scotland where my son-in-law has a new 33kWh i3 with range extender. I spent about 7 hours in it as a passenger. Some reflections:

- very quiet and smooth ride
- road holding on bendy country roads and around roundabouts at speed felt good.
- the console with it's 2 flat screens is very minimalist - I liked it, but not the wooden veneer bits!
- I liked the smooth mirror black bonnet - as I like the original A2's mirror black inspection hatch.
- the rear lights are behind glass panel that goes across the whole rear. It looks very cool but if broken requires a whole new tailgate - like the A2!
- the acceleration is exhilarating but if too much then it can throw the head back and be painful in the neck.
- once when moving off sharply on ice the rear offside wheel spun and the traction control cut in with a big thump.
- the longest journey was 84 miles and the batteries were almost depleted. It was cold, wet and dark and the driver is quite a spirited driver! It was in eco pro mode.
- getting into a pre-warmed car is luxury!
- the need to open the front door to open the rear door is a pain as the front seat person has to take off their seat belt.
- I noticed that when my wife exited the rear seats her trousers rubbed against the sill (the blue strip) which was very muddy.
- the rear camera is very low down and the lens gets muddy.
- there is nothing to stop the front door being closed before the rear door. If this happened then the door card on the rear door hits the front door so probably no damage unless slammed hard.
- the boot seemed no bigger than the A2 - had to remove the parcel shelf to have 2 suitcases in the boot.
- we tried, for the first time, the self parallel parking, the i3 made a complete hash of it, driving at 45 degrees into the curb. Maybe because it was a drop curb.

I could be very tempted to buy one but the price tag (and depreciation) might make me think twice - the A2 has given me very cheap motoring.
 
A2Steve said:
But how many eV cars will be charged using solar power? Most will be charged using mains electricity which is generated from fossil fuels.
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So according to you, solar parks and wind farms are not connected to the grid? Blimey!

RAB
 
RAB said:
So according to you, solar parks and wind farms are not connected to the grid? Blimey!

RAB
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@RAB I made that post 7 years ago, i was probably talking about home solar panels or the like, who knows it was 7 years ago. Why on earth would you feel the need to re-post it with an aim to argue 7 years later. I appreciate that you have brought a lot to the club in supporting 1.2TDI owners with technical help, but it appears that you now remain only to poke holes in peoples comments regarding green issues. We all have different views surrounding the issues the planet faces but generally a online forum centred around a rare and unique car isn't that place.
 
A2Steve said:
@RAB I made that post 7 years ago, i was probably talking about home solar panels or the like, who knows it was 7 years ago. Why on earth would you feel the need to re-post it with an aim to argue 7 years later. I appreciate that you have brought a lot to the club in supporting 1.2TDI owners with technical help, but it appears that you now remain only to poke holes in peoples comments regarding green issues. We all have different views surrounding the issues the planet faces but generally a online forum centred around a rare and unique car isn't that place.
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Why not? Just trying to put you (and others) right! If you have solar panels and are connected to the mains, any excess will go the grid. Why should my comments be limited to 1.2Tdis?

RAB
 
I think you take joy in being an antagonist Rab. Not the most helpful trait for a public forum.

And your general opinions on green issues, are just that, your opinions, that don;t need to be forced on others.
 
A2Steve said:
I think you take joy in being an antagonist Rab. Not the most helpful trait for a public forum.

And your general opinions on green issues, are just that, your opinions, that don;t need to be forced on others.
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I could say the same about your opinions. I'm not forcing my opinions on anyone. Just ignore them if you wish.

RAB
 
For the sake of completeness this is the current state of electricity generation in the UK.
Renewables provided 43.8% of electricity generation by Major Power Producers, with gas at 37.6%, nuclear at 15.6% and coal at 2.2%.30 Mar 2023.
I honestly don’t think the forum should be about putting people right or forcing our opinions on others. Having a reasonable discussion sure, I’m all for free speech.
One huge problem with electric cars is that they can only be in the minority until there is sufficient electricity generation and just as importantly enough infrastructure in the right places.
 
I had no issue with being corrected at all, what I take issue with is a post I made 7 years ago being brought back up to give a snide comment on.
 
George Hogg said:
For the sake of completeness this is the current state of electricity generation in the UK.
Renewables provided 43.8% of electricity generation by Major Power Producers, with gas at 37.6%, nuclear at 15.6% and coal at 2.2%.30 Mar 2023.
I honestly don’t think the forum should be about putting people right or forcing our opinions on others. Having a reasonable discussion sure, I’m all for free speech.
One huge problem with electric cars is that they can only be in the minority until there is sufficient electricity generation and just as importantly enough infrastructure in the right places.
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Spot on George, the problem is that there is no money to spend on charging infrastructure, any such investment has too long a payback period for any investor, wether private or state/council.
Mac.
 
PlasticMac said:
Spot on George, the problem is that there is no money to spend on charging infrastructure, any such investment has too long a payback period for any investor, wether private or state/council.
Mac.
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Hi Mac, thank you. We have 50kW of solar panels and a 30kW battery on our farm, commissioned Feb this year. It was not inexpensive! Our nominal power utilisation is around 24kW between 10.00 and 15.30, 6kW base load. Our solar has provided around 34% of this since installation.
Even with this there’s no spare for a car.
 
A recent BBC programme showed pop up chargers being installed kerb side, in a residential area, the installation was, allegedly, funded by the local authority. Is that the same local authorities that have no money for libraries, support for the vulnerable? Imagine the cost of installing those charging points, new cables, new sub-station transformers, all the civils, trenching, ducting, relaying the pavements, we're talking about hundreds of thousands not tens, for one street.
A neighbour who has had a fast charger, (3 phase etc), installed for his Tesla paid, (or his employer did), quite a few thousands. It's connected to the existing supply cables for our cul-de-sac, so, should a few others do the same, a new cable back to the sub-station will be required.
Our local bus co has a fleet of electric buses, but there is not enough capacity in the electricity supply to charge the fleet overnight, so they have a battery bank, virtually duplicating the entire bus fleet's battery capacity, that charges up during the day, and charges the buses overnight. Imagine the total cost of that bit of infrastructure. No wonder they're reducing bus frequencies and routes.
It's just the general lack of realism from both local and national government that is frustrating. Don't bother with the facts, just tell'em what they want to hear.
Unless money is found, and lots of it, the EV revolution is simply an illusion.
Mac.
 
PlasticMac said:
A recent BBC programme showed pop up chargers being installed kerb side, in a residential area, the installation was, allegedly, funded by the local authority. Is that the same local authorities that have no money for libraries, support for the vulnerable? Imagine the cost of installing those charging points, new cables, new sub-station transformers, all the civils, trenching, ducting, relaying the pavements, we're talking about hundreds of thousands not tens, for one street.
A neighbour who has had a fast charger, (3 phase etc), installed for his Tesla paid, (or his employer did), quite a few thousands. It's connected to the existing supply cables for our cul-de-sac, so, should a few others do the same, a new cable back to the sub-station will be required.
Our local bus co has a fleet of electric buses, but there is not enough capacity in the electricity supply to charge the fleet overnight, so they have a battery bank, virtually duplicating the entire bus fleet's battery capacity, that charges up during the day, and charges the buses overnight. Imagine the total cost of that bit of infrastructure. No wonder they're reducing bus frequencies and routes.
It's just the general lack of realism from both local and national government that is frustrating. Don't bother with the facts, just tell'em what they want to hear.
Unless money is found, and lots of it, the EV revolution is simply an illusion.
Mac.
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Or you could do it like this, on the M6. Yes that is an Agreggo diesel generator at the back. It needs some grown up thinking that has some reality injected. Moto has six sets of charging stations installed but no chance of getting mains to them within 6 years. So they’ll lie unused or be connected to thumping big diesel generators.
I’m an organic farmer, I care deeply about the environment but greenwash and tokenism get in the way of actual solutions. Imo
 

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A quick Google search gives this published 13 Apr 2023 "An annual survey of over 4,000 EV drivers by the UK's go-to EV charging app Zapmap has revealed that 29% have solar panels installed at home, seven times the 4.1% national average. The findings of the EV Charging Survey also revealed that more than one in 10 EV drivers also has a home battery to store electricity."
Another search finds the mix of renewable electricity produced in the UK in 2016 was circa 24% which has risen to circa 32% in 2022. Going the right way but, if CO emissions are to be reduced the most, renewable power generation would need to rise massively to meet the needs of the Govt's desired ever expanding EV fleet. I feel they will have to fall back on additional nuclear generation if EVs are as successful as Govt hope.

I rather like the i3, the wood dash elements rather appeals to me as well. Just wish the quirky suicide doors had been consigned to the designers bin, seems too much form over function. However the overall shape still makes me take a second look. Quite a rare sight, even after nine years of production, just 25000 models in the UK, around 7000 more than our aluminium friend peaked at.
 
I'm quite close to buying an i3 and I do have solar panels and batteries. Obviously, part of the plan is to charge it with surplus solar but in addition to that with Octopus you can get super cheap (between 7-11p per Kwh) electricity to charge it and your batteries. So in the winter that is quite a cost saving all round.
 
We are lucky enough to have an A2 and and i3 - the combination works v well - off road parking does make overnight charging a doddle and I can see electric car ownership not so great if dependent on the ‘work in progress’ of public charging.
i3 is quite A2 like in character- such fun to drive around the region but we’ve chickened out of driving to north of Scotland or South of France on electric when the FSI takes over.
I’m sure petrol A2s will be safe for years and years - in cities I can see diesel ownership becoming trickier and trickier - despite being wonderful to own and drive (we’ve had two) but air quality is a real, not made up, health threat that we can’t really ignore.
 
My daughter's partner has an i3 Rex since new and when he wants some serious work on it will drive from Aberdeenshire to Wisley Automotive in London (an i3 specialist). He travels quite a bit around Scotland and has managed OK. I been a passenger and it has a nice ride excepting he is a bit addictive to the fast acceleration - hurts my neck after a while!

I do feel tempted sometimes to get one, the last 120Ah 2022 models with under 10k miles can now be had for £23k from main BMW dealers with the BMW usual warranty. What holds me back is the price of VW id3 is falling rapidly. For the same money one can get a 58 kWh ID3 with under 10K miles but 2020, so 2 year older. It can go twice the distance of the i3 but is more conventional and has a cheaper interior.

But then I think of the depreciation compared to my A2, especially when people say it looks like a new car. A passenger said to me the other day that they were surprised the car did not have start/stop. I had to explain it was 19 years old!
 
I borrowed an i3 from BMW for an afternoon with a view to getting a REx version. Last year, it was £23k. This year, the same car is £13k. My A2 I subsequently bought after the i3 left me cold (but was a lovely car) is never going to depreciate. I understand spares are probably cheaper for the A2- even for the unobtainable stuff. Look up i3 tyre prices, and other prices such as wing mirrors. They are a geeky alternative, and I'm a proper geek, but my A2's carbon offsetting was done a decade ago. The i3 has just begun that journey, and its still depreciating- hard. My A2 will stay.
 
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