Are you considering buying/leasing BMW i3 ?

Either as a replacement or in addition to the current plugin you have, are you considering buying or leasing a BMW i3 in the next couple of years ?

i3 is $41,350 before tax credits.
i3 w/REx is $45,200 before tax credits.

If you have both Leaf & Volt, pick "other plugin(s)" option.

I'm sorry but the car is unattractive to me. Really unattractive. I'm not one to normally care what a car looks like but... yikes. I describe it as BMW trying to make a better i-Miev.

I almost tried to take over an Active E lease just to have some time with a 'proper' BMW electric before they're crushed, but don't have space for two cars here...

Selection for me is missing - I have LEAF and Volt now and not considering.

evnow said:

Either as a replacement or in addition to the current plugin you have, are you considering buying or leasing a BMW i3 in the next couple of years ?

i3 is $41,350 before tax credits.
i3 w/REx is $45,200 before tax credits.

If you have both Leaf & Volt, pick "other plugin(s)" option.

Click to expand...

Is that not before all the standard BMW overpriced option packages and added dealer mark up? Wait to see how stupidly priced these are in the SF area. I would rather wait for a Tesla and give my money to a company that truly supports EVs. Besides, there is nothing compelling here.

mwalsh said:

Selection for me is missing - I have LEAF and Volt now and not considering.

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As I said ... "If you have both Leaf & Volt, pick "other plugin(s)" option." so,

The correct option is : I have other PlugIn(s) now - not considering i3

I want to see the 200 mile range Tesla that costs $35K that's coming out in 3 to 5 years.

I see some with Leaf, considering i3 or REx. I'd like to hear your opinion about lack of CHAdeMO - and how that might affect your decision.

I find it hard to justify the extra money this car would cost for a battery pack that is smaller than the LEAF battery pack.

I'm considering the i3, even though it fell into a big can of bugly on its way out the door. It's one of the few cars can make the Leaf look attractive by comparison. Really hope to have other choices in 2-3 years.

I will definitely consider an i3 when my Leaf lease terminates. I like the way the i3 looks. The Leaf isn't going to win any beauty pageants, either, though it is growing on me.

I'll take a look at the i3 assuming its available in my state, but from what I've heard so far I don't see anything as an improvement over the Leaf. I'm more interested to see what Nissan comes up with for 2015, the 2nd gen Volt (2015?), maybe the Mercedes B class if its sold here. Otherwise I'm just waiting for the Tesla Gen III.

The Leaf is a thing of beauty compared to the i3. Although I am not one to care much about looks, in this case the underlying BEV/PHEV functionality would have to be absolute gold for me to consider... and it isn't. If I am going to get another car with more range, it needs to be pure EV.

Not enough range, if it had the range of the RAV4EV, I would replace my LEAF.

I'm considering the i3 as a replacement for my 2013 LEAF when its lease expires in June of 2015. By that time, we'll be about a year on from the US release of the i3 and we'll know a lot more about the car's driving dynamics, range and quality of construction. I got lucky as an early adopter of the Gen 1 LEAF, but I'm not as optimistic about the i3's initial quality, given its radical new design, so I'm taking no chances. If the i3 turns out to be "less than stellar", so to speak, there are certainly other choices, especially in California. I could even decide to pick up a two year lease on a new 2015 LEAF.

My motivation for being interested in the i3 stems back to my first drive in an EV, the MiniE. Ever since that drive, I've wanted a small, sporty EV with good acceleration that builds rather than drops off after 30 mph. I'm not interested in a car as big or expensive as a Model S, and I need something with a reasonable back seat and four doors. The Chevy Spark is too small and too cheaply equipped for me.

The i3 will have the drive train from the ActiveE, which moves that much heavier car with satisfying alacrity, so the i3 should be fairly quick (about 7 seconds to 60 mph) and it'll feel quicker. The handling, though, remains to be seen with those very skinny eco tires.

As far as looks, I have no problem with the i3 and I expect that it will look quite a bit better in the flesh, or I should say, in the plastic, than it does in photos.

I probably won't get the REx version to avoid the extra expense and complexity, weight and reduction in EV range that it brings with it. As far as QC capability, I'll probably pay the extra fee to get the Frankenplug, expecting that I'll see one or two of them by the end of a three year lease in 2018. If I don't see any by then, then I'll have guessed wrong. At least the i3 will have a 7 kW on board charger, so L2 will be as quick as possible with public charging. I don't intend to drive this car on distance drives because we'll have some nice PHEV for long drives by then, so QC isn't a big deal to me.

My eventual goal is a Gen III Tesla, so the i3 would probably be a gap filler between the 2013 LEAF and the Tesla Gen III. One other qualification for the BMW is that while Tesla won't lease you a car to save their lives, BMW absolutely loves to do leases, so it makes the perfect gap filler.

The i3 is much more roomy than an imiev. They already stated it has the interior room of a 3 series which are not small cars. And remember...compared to the LEAF...the power to weight ratio is much better. And just like the LEAF..for those wanting better handling, it looks like wider tires would fit. Being rear wheel drive, you could put wider tires in the rear only, which wouldnt effect aerodynamics as much.

No. It's too small and it doesn't have enough range. I have small kids and the rear doors are impractical. It only seats four. There's hardly any cargo room. The i3 has nothing on the LEAF except a little luxury and a TMS.

I'd rather lease a few LEAFs while waiting on BlueStar.

Bicster said:

The i3 has nothing on the LEAF except a little luxury and a TMS.

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And a Range Extender... But I agree -- I hope Tesla can hit their price and range targets with the BlueStar...

Bicster said:

The i3 has nothing on the LEAF except a little luxury and a TMS.

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Luxury is debatable... the i3 looks pretty stark inside to me.

I neglected to give the i3 points for being more fun to drive. With RWD and better acceleration, it should be pretty entertaining. But Tesla will offer that too, eventually.

Have a '12 LEAF that we bought (not leased) and plan to keep for some time ... we are considering a 2nd EV but the i3 is not on that list simply because it won't fit where a replacement for an ICE '08 smart fortwo is now (tandem garage) so we're still considering the smart electric drive only on our short list for our next EV. In a few years out, we would like to see the VW Cross Blue Coupe (diesel or gas hybrid) as a replacement for our long trip car but by then there might be more choices --- we would not consider the range extender on this particular concoction of the i3 as the extra cost doesn't seem to get you much + complexity, etc. although this one (from the Cross Blue) looks pretty complex ... getting a mid-size utility vehicle to give you mid 40's + MPG would suit us fine driving from Chicago to FL, as with a lot of other prototypes we'll see. Have not seen the i3 in person yet so will reserve the ugly comment -- certainly reminds me a bit of an old Pontiac Aztec in the back