Top Gear: Celebrating two gamechanging icons: the BMW i3 and Audi A2

Great response! Thank you Michael

The journey from home to visit my mother in Lancashire is 125 miles; rather an annoying distance in relation to i3 range :)

I think I will need to look for either the 94AH REx or the 120Ah BEV

I quite fancy a car with Apple CarPlay; from what I read that was introduced in 2018. Looks like I can't have zero VED (after 2025) .and. Apple CarPlay
 
You can always add wireless apple CarPlay to pre-2018 models. There's many tutorials on youtube.

Don't be swayed by pure distance of a journey either - 125 miles in an ICE car would mean a stop for a comfort break in reality, so just look for a rapid somewhere near the route, stop off for a top up and then away you go. This is what I mean about changing driving habits to make EV work well.
 
In fact, to illustrate your route, which would be from Beaumaris to Lancaster (or thereabouts), your charging options would be plentiful - in fact probably your best bet would be the MFG charger station 500 yards from my home, which has 8 rapids and 7 chademo available, or there's another MFG at Crow Orchard near the M6 in Wigan. Either way, stop for 20 mins or so, fully charge and then you can either top up at your mother's, or stop at the same point on the way back.

EV driving isn't the same as ICE - it's far more relaxing because you've generally planned it all out in advance.
 
Mike, glad you’ve found a way to make an EV work for you and like many of us, the i3 certainly appeals.

I have to say on the odd occasion I’ve done Cambridge back to Axminster in one hit (4.5-5h), with only 2 or 3 toilet breaks and to pick up a costa express to have in the car with me (say 10mins approx), I’ve really appreciated the A2s ability to wring 650+ miles out of a full tank!

As you’re pointing out, I don’t think it’s a massive change of how to approach a journey, I’ll make it one day.
 
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Skipton01 said:
You can always add wireless apple CarPlay to pre-2018 models. There's many tutorials on youtube.

Don't be swayed by pure distance of a journey either - 125 miles in an ICE car would mean a stop for a comfort break in reality, so just look for a rapid somewhere near the route, stop off for a top up and then away you go. This is what I mean about changing driving habits to make EV work well.
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I appreciate the changing driving habits. That particular 125 mile journey takes around 2 hours 15 minutes so doesn’t involve a break. On a longer journey I would take a break in any case, simply to reduce fatigue: I have never been comfortable driving for hours on end

I will look into the CarPlay retro fit
 
Don't get me wrong, a larger capacity range is certainly more helpful for long distances, but how often do we do trips of 150+ miles? When we holidayed in Cornwall last summer, we were in the Model 3 and had zero range anxiety. The trip from Warrington to Cornwall was done on a single stop at Bristol Cribbs Causeway and we then used the superchargers at Lifton and Cambourne for touring around the countryside.

When we visited Lands End, there was a charger there, Gridserve I think, but it was out of service. It's more the charging network which needs to improve than the cars - if there were only half as many charge points as petrol pumps, and they were kept in service, then there would be no issue at all.

And out of interest, a trip from Cambridge to Axminster should be perfectly do-able in an i3, with a single stop at Basingstoke for a charge up. Granny cable charge at the destination (Axminster is poorly served by public chargers) if you're overnighting, then you're good to go next morning.
 
Skipton01 said:
Don't get me wrong, a larger capacity range is certainly more helpful for long distances, but how often do we do trips of 150+ miles? When we holidayed in Cornwall last summer, we were in the Model 3 and had zero range anxiety. The trip from Warrington to Cornwall was done on a single stop at Bristol Cribbs Causeway and we then used the superchargers at Lifton and Cambourne for touring around the countryside.

When we visited Lands End, there was a charger there, Gridserve I think, but it was out of service. It's more the charging network which needs to improve than the cars - if there were only half as many charge points as petrol pumps, and they were kept in service, then there would be no issue at all.

And out of interest, a trip from Cambridge to Axminster should be perfectly do-able in an i3, with a single stop at Basingstoke for a charge up. Granny cable charge at the destination (Axminster is poorly served by public chargers) if you're overnighting, then you're good to go next morning.
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This would be the 120ah version I assume?
 
Nope - the 94 with a real-world range of around 120 miles. Routing info from ZapMap. Starting in Cambridge, stop for a charge at Feather's Yard, Basingstoke. Charge to 90% (approx 25-30 mins) then next stop Axminster.

The thing I've noticed about the i3 is that it's incredibly good at regen and maintaining charge when in traffic, possibly better in the last aspect than the Model 3. When I collected the car from Mayfair and drove back to Warrington, I was tempted to take the M6 Toll, as it was around 4.30pm approaching Birmingham. However, the toll is a longer route and the cost at £8 is now verging on the ridiculous, so I kept to the free route. The 45 mins of stop-start nose to tail driving hardly affected the range I found and this was with climate on and lights on.
 
Awesome to hear others are loving the I3 and yes the similarities between the two are probably why so many people own or have owned both models of car. I still have the white tdi sport a2 but it’s stored in a garage and hope to get it back on the road this summer. We both also have i3s’s both 120a Bev and they just perform so well and a pleasure to drive - they still cause a massive grin when you fully press the accelerator in sport mode 😊 cheers mike and Yvonne
 
Alan_uk said:
I almost bought an i3 a few weeks ago but got cold feet. It was a 3+ years old i3 with Interior world - lodge and Park assist packages at £25,620. So why the cold feet?

It had only done 840 miles - yes, eight hundred and forty and I was worried about the state of the battery.
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Easy to check yourself. Find out what the range would be with a full charge. When you get in the car, look at the state of charge and remaining range. Bear in mind that the range will be affected by the ambient temperature and how the car is driven but a test drive should tell you all you need to know about the state of the battery. You might need a calculator!

RAB
 
RAB said:
Easy to check yourself. Find out what the range would be with a full charge. When you get in the car, look at the state of charge and remaining range. Bear in mind that the range will be affected by the ambient temperature and how the car is driven but a test drive should tell you all you need to know about the state of the battery. You might need a calculator!

RAB
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It is now sold though it did hang around for some months. 2 weeks ago saw an i3 120Ah with 9500mls May 2019 for £16K in a main dealer nearby stating "coming soon". Rang them - "oh it's sold". 2 weeks later still says "coming soon".
 
Alan_uk said:
It is now sold though it did hang around for some months. 2 weeks ago saw an i3 120Ah with 9500mls May 2019 for £16K in a main dealer nearby stating "coming soon". Rang them - "oh it's sold". 2 weeks later still says "coming soon".
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I don’t know about the broader EV world, but BMW i3 prices are all over the place.

@Skipton01 , I think, bought from BMW Park Lane. What Michael didn’t reveal, and what it took me a little while to discover, is this prestigious address is the source of the least expensive used BMWs in the UK. The Sales Manager explained to me they have no space to display used vehicles, so their only way to generate used sales is to be the cheapest/least expensive.
I was about to buy from them, until another (more local) dealership seemed to spot the anomaly, and similarly undercut other main dealers by a couple of £thousand

I think it is fair to say, the bulk of the BMW main dealer network have i3 vehicles sitting around for weeks/months
 
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