by "AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
Published 03/21/2017 at 09:47
by "AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
Published 03/21/2017 at 09:47
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STARS: 16
And it is glorious!
Shame it means my Leon has now been evicted from the drive, poor thing.
"random001" (random001)
03/21/2017 at 09:49, STARS: 1
Nice! We test drove one, but couldn’t handle not having the Rex version, and it wasn’t available at the time. They are pretty sweet, though!
"ToyotaFamily" (robbav35)
03/21/2017 at 09:52, STARS: 0
Nice! I drove one of these at my job and the interior layout was one of the funkiest/coolest things about the car.
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 09:53, STARS: 1
My brother has got a REX one but we didn’t need it having the Leon as well. The i3 is sooo much fun to drive!
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
03/21/2017 at 09:53, STARS: 0
Very nice. These things tempt me so much. I want the orange one.
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 09:53, STARS: 0
Yeah the interior is awesome!
"TysMagic" (twjeffery)
03/21/2017 at 09:54, STARS: 0
these are definitely my kind of weird! Good stuff man
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 09:55, STARS: 0
I would have loved orange but they have stopped doing it (in the UK at least).
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
03/21/2017 at 09:55, STARS: 2
Looks like you drove off with the pump still attached. Congrats on the Futurecar. I’ve only seen a small handful of these on the roads and they are definitely head-turners.
"random001" (random001)
03/21/2017 at 09:55, STARS: 1
Sweet.
"Milky" (jordanmielke)
03/21/2017 at 10:01, STARS: 0
Dope. Just saw your other post with the interior picture. Such a nice place to sit.
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 10:02, STARS: 0
Yeah it is getting more looks than when I had the Abarth and it popped and banged out of the exhaust, they aren’t even that uncommon here (Manchester), I see about 3 a day (granted normally the same 3 but still!).
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 10:03, STARS: 1
Yeah they are weird but somehow look exactly what a car of the future should look like.
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
03/21/2017 at 10:03, STARS: 0
Gone in the US too. Some bright blue took its spot, but only on some trims. I don’t think I’d buy a new one. Used electric cars are toxic in the US apparently. There are several used i3's with less than 20,000 miles for sale near me for $18-19k which is too much of a discount from new even with EV incentives for me to consider a new one.
"MonkeePuzzle" (monkeypuzzle)
03/21/2017 at 10:04, STARS: 0
of all the current EVs, I like these the best. quirky, but not so much that it doenst still feel like a car. grill-less, but not awkwardly. aggressive looking, but not off putting. small wheels, but skinny instead of small on the side.
I assume they drive well, but all I can comment on is the view.
"MonkeePuzzle" (monkeypuzzle)
03/21/2017 at 10:05, STARS: 0
what does the rex version offer?
"random001" (random001)
03/21/2017 at 10:08, STARS: 1
It’s a range extender, gives you like 60 miles of range on gas, just in case.
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 10:08, STARS: 1
Yeah the interior is one of my favourite things, along with all the instant silent torque!!
"MonkeePuzzle" (monkeypuzzle)
03/21/2017 at 10:09, STARS: 0
is it basically just an integrated generator, or does a gas engine power the wheels?
"random001" (random001)
03/21/2017 at 10:11, STARS: 1
I’m pretty sure it’s just a generator. That makes the most sense, since it’s considered an add-on to the all electric i3.
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 10:13, STARS: 1
Yeah we get that colour now as well, it is nice (I have seen a couple) but you loose the blue highlights in the grill and the side etc.
Used electric cars are cheap most places I think, I would never buy a new one (this is a business lease through my partners company), the tech is moving along so quickly that they are out of date after 12 months. Makes buying used very tempting if all you want is a city run about, don’t know about the US but in the UK electric cars have to have the battery warrantied for 8 years\100k miles to be eligible for the governments OLEV grant (£4.5k per car) so buying a 1 - 2 year old one with only a few thousand miles on it isn’t a worry.
"nermal" (nermal)
03/21/2017 at 10:15, STARS: 0
Awesome, congrats! Been looking at these as well, stuck between leasing new vs buying used.
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
03/21/2017 at 10:17, STARS: 0
No such requirement here. I think hybrids in some states have reasons to have longer warranties (the battery being an emissions control device for the engine), but not pure electrics.
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
03/21/2017 at 10:18, STARS: 1
An engine. (Specifically, the C650 scooter engine, detuned, for use as a range extending generator.)
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 10:19, STARS: 3
Yeah depending on the angle you look at them they can go from being a bit awkward looking to really good, also very colour dependent.
TBH it just drives like a tall BMW, is very smooth and quiet, very quick off the mark, suspension is very firm but well damped and controlled, nice direct steering, handles a lot better than you would expect with those tall skinny tyres. Driving using one pedal most of the time is cool as it has very strong regenerative braking.
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
03/21/2017 at 10:28, STARS: 1
I don’t know if it is a Gov’t requirement, but most EV batteries in the US seem to have a 7+ year warranty. The i3 is warrantied to hold 70% charge at 8 years/80,000 miles. So a 3 year old model with 20k miles still has a lot of warrant coverage left.
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 10:31, STARS: 0
Oh thats not good. TBH I don’t think the failing battery apocalypse that everyone was worried about hasn’t happened (at all) so it’s not really a major concern I’d think.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
03/21/2017 at 10:35, STARS: 0
I’ve always wondered what people do with electric cars if they don’t have an indoor parking space with a charger there. Do you just run an extension cord from inside?
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
03/21/2017 at 10:38, STARS: 0
For the Nissan Leaf, it is an issue, especially in hotter parts of the US.
No battery thermal management whatsoever + parts of the US where summer days often get over 100 F/38 C + long distances requiring CHAdeMO usage + parking on hot asphalt = you’re gonna have a bad time.
The warranty on the 2011-2012 Leaf was 8 years, 100,000 miles against battery defects, and after a lot of degradation, Nissan ended up adding a 5 year, 60,000 mile warranty against capacity loss - 70% being the threshold at which they’d replace a battery.
Nowadays I believe the capacity loss warranty is 8/100 as well.
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 10:48, STARS: 0
We don’t have an indoor parking space but we do have a drive, which a company are coming to fit a 240v 32amp charger soon, the UK government also pays £500 towards that (new or used car up to a maximum of 2 per house) so we only have to put a couple of hundred towards it (can do it cheaper but we want a higher spec (more reliable) one with some cable going under the drive etc. The get the grant you must have a private\offroad parking space that you can run a 16 or 32 amp feed to.
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 10:52, STARS: 0
Yeah Nissan cheaped out on the batteries on the Leaf, the i3, Tesla’s etc all have temp control for them and you can do things like set battery pre-conditioning so they are at optimal temp before setting off in the morning etc. I would think the new Leaf out later this year will also have it. Still it is only really an issue in places of extreme temps (so not the UK!! lol).
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
03/21/2017 at 11:14, STARS: 0
The e-Golf is another one I’d be worried about, too, as it doesn’t have any thermal management either.
Even fan cooling helps a lot with degradation in high temperatures.
"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse)
03/21/2017 at 11:14, STARS: 1
Generator only. It maintains battery charge but doesn’t increase the level of charge. It has the downside that in US spec in particular the car won’t maintain a decent speed going uphill on the engine alone because it doesn’t produce enough power. That’s less of an issue in the rest of the world because you can keep more battery in reserve by starting the engine manually.
"ToyotaFamily" (robbav35)
03/21/2017 at 11:27, STARS: 0
Does yours have the light colored bamboo like trim?
"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
03/21/2017 at 11:38, STARS: 0
Do you ever find yourself wishing that the front windows were as low as the rear?
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 12:00, STARS: 0
No it’s a few hundred quid extra, ours is dark grey of indeterminable material (probably plastic), though we did get the “Loft” interior over the standard one.
"AndyG_UK" (ajg1974)
03/21/2017 at 12:01, STARS: 1
Not really, though I think it would bother me if it didn’t have the dark tinted rear glass.