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Bought a BMW i3


Travis

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Morning,

 

So after a few years of using my Land Cruiser as a daily driver I decided to bite the bullet on a electric car.

I have chosen the BMW i3 REX

It has a 22KW (18.8KW usable) 60Ah Lithium battery giving you a range of 130-160km (200km in ECO PRO + mode) and with the REX (Petrol range extender) you get 260-290km

I got the model with all the drive assist options, so it has active cruiser control and can drive itself in traffic upto 60KM/h

I ran the battery to 6% yesterday as a test. Drove 157km. Used 18kw to charge. At the peak price of 0.81c per KW, it cost R15. That is 1.1L of petrol equivalent or 0.7L per 100km

I am chuffed. As a bonus it is comfortable to drive and quicker off the line than most car at the robots!

 

Shout if you guys have any questions of want a test drive :)

IMG_7144.jpg

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Would love to have one... but it's a half-a-mill car (either of them, the i3 is closer to 600k) and I just don't buy cars that costs as much as a small house. Maybe when my ship comes in, maybe if they age well and reach the second hand market, maybe if the investment property that cost about that much back in 2008 starts showing a profit... maybe  :-)

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Morning,

 

So after a few years of using my Land Cruiser as a daily driver I decided to bite the bullet on a electric car.

I have chosen the BMW i3 REX

It has a 22KW (18.8KW usable) 60Ah Lithium battery giving you a range of 130-160km (200km in ECO PRO + mode) and with the REX (Petrol range extender) you get 260-290km

I got the model with all the drive assist options, so it has active cruiser control and can drive itself in traffic upto 60KM/h

I ran the battery to 6% yesterday as a test. Drove 157km. Used 18kw to charge. At the peak price of 0.81c per KW, it cost R15. That is 1.1L of petrol equivalent or 0.7L per 100km

I am chuffed. As a bonus it is comfortable to drive and quicker off the line than most car at the robots!

 

Shout if you guys have any questions of want a test drive [emoji4]

IMG_7144.jpg

For interest the 2016 i3 in the USA has had its battery updated and now boasts a 200 mile range. SA still has the 2015 spec i3's.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

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15 hours ago, plonkster said:

Would love to have one... but it's a half-a-mill car (either of them, the i3 is closer to 600k) and I just don't buy cars that costs as much as a small house. Maybe when my ship comes in, maybe if they age well and reach the second hand market, maybe if the investment property that cost about that much back in 2008 starts showing a profit... maybe  :-)

I had the same feeling about cost. But then I considered I would be saving R4k a month on fuel + zero maintenance cost and suddenly the instillment for example R9500pm (R535000 on a 2016 REX used with 9000km + R100000 deposit on a trade, just an example) becomes R5k pm which is a bit more reasonable.

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14 hours ago, Gerald_db said:

For interest the 2016 i3 in the USA has had its battery updated and now boasts a 200 mile range. SA still has the 2015 spec i3's.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Yup, knowing the 94Ah 33KW model was coming helped me negotiate the price on the one I bought down by R75000.

BMW SA already has the 94Ah model on their website.

Range on the BEV 94Ah is 183km EPA vs 130km of the 60Ah. In the most efficient mode the 94Ah will get 290km vs 200km on the 60Ah

Under the right conditions you could push the 94Ah REX to 430km (290EV+150REX) and the older 60Ah to 350km(200EV+150REX)

Also interesting that the new Samsung 94AH model is 160KG heavier, hence the 50% increase in capacity not being an exact 50% increase in range.

Also interesting is that the new battery will fit the old models if you have R100000 sitting around. But you can get a credit of R34000 on the old battery + it will come with a new 8 year warranty

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I so nearly paid my $1000 deposit on the Tesla 3. Think we are living in exciting automotive times. Tesla has moved the goal posts re distance and others who are producing currently are rapidly moving eo the 200 mile range. My next car will be electric. I have surplus solar on my shop grid tie so will recharge there hence 100% free power. Just need to wait and watch the market for a year or so.

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24 minutes ago, Gerald_db said:

I so nearly paid my $1000 deposit on the Tesla 3. Think we are living in exciting automotive times. Tesla has moved the goal posts re distance and others who are producing currently are rapidly moving eo the 200 mile range. My next car will be electric. I have surplus solar on my shop grid tie so will recharge there hence 100% free power. Just need to wait and watch the market for a year or so.

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As soon as an electric car can easily do an Eshowe - Durban return without causing range anxiety I will be there.

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27 minutes ago, Gerald_db said:

I so nearly paid my $1000 deposit on the Tesla 3. Think we are living in exciting automotive times. Tesla has moved the goal posts re distance and others who are producing currently are rapidly moving eo the 200 mile range. My next car will be electric. I have surplus solar on my shop grid tie so will recharge there hence 100% free power. Just need to wait and watch the market for a year or so.

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Then you can open a garage (charging station)  for those who make from Durban to your place:)

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I had the same feeling about cost. But then I considered I would be saving R4k a month on fuel + zero maintenance cost and suddenly the instillment for example R9500pm (R535000 on a 2016 REX used with 9000km + R100000 deposit on a trade, just an example) becomes R5k pm which is a bit more reasonable.

The moment I saw your post I actually started crunching the numbers. I came to a similar conclusion, that if I was spending upwards of 4k a month on fuel it would totally change the picture. But I spend R800 on fuel in a month, the car is paid off, the kids are in schools 5 minutes away, work is 25 minutes away on roads passing through wine farms with never a traffic jam... maybe the occasional slow down because of a tractor... :-)

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11 hours ago, plonkster said:

The moment I saw your post I actually started crunching the numbers. I came to a similar conclusion, that if I was spending upwards of 4k a month on fuel it would totally change the picture. But I spend R800 on fuel in a month, the car is paid off, the kids are in schools 5 minutes away, work is 25 minutes away on roads passing through wine farms with never a traffic jam... maybe the occasional slow down because of a tractor... :-)

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I often spend R4K/m on fuel, but don't think a battery car will handle the 1Ton - 2Ton load I often have to carry around.

That, and the fact that we don't have electrical charging stations all around Gauteng yet makes me still use a turbo diesel van. Although the roof if big enough to fit 2x 260W panels. i doubt it would be enough to drive an electric car at this stage. So, patiently waiting for storage technology to improve, both in price and density.

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Travis, lekker man!

One day when I am grown up I will get a electric car for the wife. Maybe one day I can get my Isuzu to be electrically assisted to get to 20km/l. ;)

With Eskom having spare capacity trips to and from the office / schools / office make electric cars are a no brainer in cities. 

Just hope the price will comes down or that a solid 2nd hand market is created for these cars.

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On 2016/09/18 at 11:06 PM, SilverNodashi said:

I often spend R4K/m on fuel, but don't think a battery car will handle the 1Ton - 2Ton load I often have to carry around.

 

36 minutes ago, bmeagle said:

I think a fairer comparison would be to an VW UP or Toyota Ay go.

If you're going from a Land Cruiser (presumably a 4 liter V6) to an i3, that sort of exaggerates the price difference in fuel. If the cost is not down to a thirsty vehicle but rather on actual distance covered, then your i3 will be in the charging dock half the time and won't make a good substitute anyway.

But... it's still very nice when you can do something like that without spending more money (or at least not much). I can't do that, since I'm not starting with a V6 land cruiser. :-)

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i3 can't do what a land cruiser can, so that is an apples oranges comparison.

If you want to compare the total cost of ownership of an i3 to something else then you need to compare it to another car with the same limited capabilities in moving a certain amount of people and weight.

The cheapest mode of transport for a single person might be an electric scooter.

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11 hours ago, Carl said:

How about Power Forum SA forming a team and entering the Sasol Solar challenge in 2017?

I think it is every second year.

11 hours ago, SilverNodashi said:

I have actually been thinking about entering as well. Just need some people / sponsors / help / etc. So perhaps, from the forum, we could make a good team?

Talk to the organisers. There is a Gauteng school that received a sponsored vehicle that had been  used in a previous race from one of the teams. The vehicles are pricey. The motors alone cost R250k (and there are four of them).

 

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On 9/20/2016 at 0:56 PM, plonkster said:

 

If you're going from a Land Cruiser (presumably a 4 liter V6) to an i3, that sort of exaggerates the price difference in fuel. If the cost is not down to a thirsty vehicle but rather on actual distance covered, then your i3 will be in the charging dock half the time and won't make a good substitute anyway.

But... it's still very nice when you can do something like that without spending more money (or at least not much). I can't do that, since I'm not starting with a V6 land cruiser. :-)

I am keeping the cruiser for weekends. Lucky for me its a 100 Series 4.2TDi, not a barbie Prado 4.0V6

I cover 2-3000Km's per month. Cruiser sits on 11l/100km, not terrible, still R4000 per month. 

I think the electric car adoption requires a total mind shift. You go from driving a car with gears and vibrations and noise ( even the best mercs have a litttle bit of it) to absolute silent, smooth drive, with instant power. Driving has become relaxing, and at the same time I am consuming 100% renewable energy. It's a good feeling. I encourage you all to take one for a drive.

Comparing this to a VW UP is wrong, Interior quality is on par with a 5 series, the interior passenger space is better than a big SUV, Can comfortable seat 4 fully grown men. It is quicker off the line that a GTI+ it drives itself in traffic!

 

Fully charges in 3.5 Hours. 78km per hour charge rate on the wall charger. Or DC quick charge to 80% is 20min

Bonus that it is free to charge at BMW garages.

 

No fuel requirement means to affected by petrol attendant strikes, Carbon fibre/lightweight construction means no possibility of hail damage. No Oil means no oil changes+Filters+Air filters+++. You change the brake fluid+cabin filter every 3 years. Regen brakes means no brake pad wear or disk replacement in the life of the car+your wheels don't get covered in brake dust. Electric AC means the cabin is always the right temp where most cars AC gets slightly warm in traffic.

 

This is the future. I can only imagine the Tesla Model 3 is going to be even better

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41 minutes ago, Travis said:

Lucky for me its a 100 Series 4.2TDi, not a barbie Prado 4.0V6

LOL. I love the Cruiser, but I don't think I'll ever be able to afford one :-)

42 minutes ago, Travis said:

comfortable seat 4 fully grown men

Because the electric motor(s) take up much less space, so the packaging is a lot more spacious.

I'll be honest. I'm jealous as hell. Thing is, the old Corolla is paid off. I had a R2300 installment on it, which in itself is small change compared to what people shell out on cars now (new BMW X3 2.0 Diesel is R13200 a month according to the ad, I can literally buy a house with that kind of money), but that is sort of what I'm prepared to pay on an installment.

13 minutes ago, TinkerBoy said:

nobody can tell me how much it will be to replace the batteries

Given that I'm a bargain seeker who religiously buys second hand, this would also be something I would like to know. When electric vehicles start coming up on the second hand market after say 5 years, would it make sense to buy it, do a battery swap, and drive it another 5 years?

This is somewhat like timing belt services. So your average petrol car needs a timing belt at 100 000km. I know lots of people who will sell the car just before 100 000km because 1) it went out of motor plan at 90 000km and 2) I want to avoid the expensive timing belt service. In my experience, you can save a LOT of money by trading on people's fear of this expensive service. Buy the car, swap the belt (which costs much less than the depreciation the first owner suffered), and enjoy many happy motoring miles.

So would I be able to trade on people's fear of a battery swap, buy it dirt cheap, swap the battery, and enjoy? That's sort of what I would like to know, and I suspect only time will tell, and if it works, I'll have to compete with a bunch of clever people who had the same idea.

:-)

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