Boomer23 said:
--Snip--
Con:
-- Very strong regen braking combined with a difficult-to-feel neutral band for coasting and no low speed "creep". Regen strength is non-adjustable, non-defeatable. Note that these are seen as positives by some EV drivers. See discussion below.
-- Odd exterior design. It has grown on me, but I must admit that I'm not drawn to the looks of the car. (And this is coming from a LEAF driver! LOL)
-- The lack of any on board SOC percent display. All the car has is a moving "progress bar" that diminishes as you use up the charge, and a range estimate (GOM) that is enhanced by the inclusion of elevation into the NAV calculations. (BMW is listening to customers and who knows, an SOC % display may be considered). SOC% is displayed on the remote smart phone app.
-- A too minimal dashboard array. While there are two tablet-type screens, I felt a lack of immediate EV information. Especially coming from the LEAF, I missed having the ability to display current and average energy economy, battery temperature range, and numeric kw usage and ancillary system power usage at the same time. Part of this impression might change if I had time to learn the i-Drive system and delve into some of the available displays on the center screen. But some of this information may just not be available at all in the BMW. But with the LEAF, these info screens are often just a push button away, while I find the BMW's i-Drive system daunting and distracting to scroll through while driving.
-- Seating position is too upright and high-feeling, even compared with LEAF. Seating position doesn't encourage sporty driving.
--Quirky door design, with front seat belts attached to the leading edges of the rear doors, requiring front seat passengers to open their doors and unbuckle to let rear seat passengers get out. With rear-hinged rear doors, if all passengers got out at the same time in a tight parking lot, well, think about it...
-- Rear seating limited to two people.
-- Rear side windows are fixed, do not open or tilt open at all.
--Snip--
I went back and drove the i3 on four laps of their street course today so that I could see how easy it would be to get used to the strong regen and lack of "creep". I'm pleased to say that I feel much more comfortable with the car after today's drives. Today I didn't even notice the lack of "creep" and it certainly wouldn't be a problem for me.
(By the way, if you have time to go there on Sunday morning, I'd still recommend it. The BMW i3 Experience tent is easy to access, costs nothing, wasn't crowded, and they trust you to drive alone without a BMW person with you. There are snacks and a barrista for free coffee drinks in the tent, plus some nice displays.)
As for the regen, I tried driving an entire street lap gently and sedately, the way I drive the LEAF when I'm trying for maximum passenger comfort and maximum economy. I found that it was pretty easy to drive the i3 that way, without needing to focus too strongly on finding the right angle position for the throttle to let the car "coast".
I also got used to the seating position. Yes, it's not set up like a sports car in terms of driving position, but you get used to it and it feels pretty good. The seat height adjustment control is awful, however. If you want to raise the driver seat height, you have to get your weight off the seat by pulling up on something like the steering wheel while pulling up on the seat lever with your left hand and letting the seat bottom rise up on its own springs. Not easily done without opening the car door. Lowering the seat is easy, just pull up on the lever and gravity does the rest.
I found the energy economy screen and I liked driving around with that screen open so I could see my average energy economy. If BMW changes the software and adds an SOC% display, the instruments should work ok along with the GOM to give a pretty good idea of range. Still not as good as LEAFs multiple energy economy meters and instantaneous power and regen kW displays, but acceptable. I'd miss the LEAF Scan or Gidmeter, though. BMW fans will need hackers like Gary, GregH, Turbo3, Ingineer, lincomatic, etc.
I'd remove the regen and lack of creep from my "Cons" list, and I'd also remove the display issue. Once I played with the i-Drive controller, it's fairly intuitive and easy to use. Still not as good as dedicated buttons and a touch screen, IMHO. I'd also remove the seating position from my "Cons" list. And I'm not concerned about the "stupid doors" problem. I played with getting out of the rear seat of the i3 in a normal parking lot situation, and it's not hard to step toward the front door in order to be able to close the rear door so that you can walk to the rear of the car.
At this point, I'm keeping the i3 (non-REx) on my short list for mid-2015, along with the Mercedes B Class EV and whatever Nissan comes up with by then. The Audi A3 E-Tron PHEV is interesting, but with less than 30 miles EV, I'm not really serious about it.
The screen shown below with an average energy economy of 2.2 mi/kWh was after I drove a fast street lap after resetting the meter. When I drove with economy in mind, I got something like 4.7 mi/kWh. I was expecting something over 5 mi/kWh with the car being fairly light.
On the bottom picture, that horizontal four part "reverse progress bar" is all that currently passes for an SOC meter on the i3. I envision people putting sticky numbers on the screen to mark approximate percentages of charge. :roll: