How far can the i3 drive on one charge?

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This video is for entertainment purposes only. If you use the information from this video for your own projects then you assume complete responsibility for the results.

[joemckeown]

another thing you didn't mention, you end up paying shit loads in coffee and food while your waiting for it to charge all the time.

[kyester]

You'll be saving some charge in the battery, from not having to use the indicators.

[tonystamford]

When you lock the car it locks the cable in place.

[__Ben]

The car locks the cable in when the car is locked, so unfortunately your ploy of stealing electric car charging cables won't work.

[evilutionltd]

Most people work longer than it takes to charge so if you can't make a round trip on 1 charge, find a charger near work. It's early tech remember. There was the same problem in 1900 where people had a car but the refuelling stations hadn't been built. People said they wouldn't catch on and they'd never sell their horse.

[andrewwright]

30p per kwh and then 20% for VAT! I think home charging for 11p per kwh and 5% VAT will be the winner there.

[Stronic]

EV's are great about town, or within return range of home-ideally if you have a 3/7 kWh charger installed & off-street parking; plug it in at night, ready in the AM.

Long range/motorway driving at anything over 50Mph/80Kph eats battery charge, so 50kWh pack size plus is a minimum for such usage. Factor in the fact that cold weather affects the amount the battery pack can charge (unless you have an actively heated & cooled pack), Rolling resistance is increased on wet roads, rain means wipers & lights on etc.


BTW ex-sparks here, love the video's.

[colinharvey]

This seems like the car handover didn't explain much to you. Most people would charge car over night. When charging you don't charge to 100% as that will be slow, all you charge to 80% and head for next charger which is much quicker. When charging the car locks cables in so they don't get nicked. Like a petrol car depending on speed and temperature a electrics range will very. I know people that have had near to 200 miles out of that model in summer and worst there people that have had as little as 110 miles out of it in freezing conditions.

[crashk]

EV technology is 100% there, BMW just isn't 100% there. The whole multiple subscription thing IS a nightmare.. Only Tesla have their own supercharging (rapid charging) network (90~300kw real world) which just works automatically by plugging in the car. No phaffing about with cards and subscriptions. At least not while using Tesla's own system. That is what needs to happen with ALL EV charge points. The car should handle the negotiation and payment over PLC Ethernet or PLC CAN bus over the charging cable like a Tesla does.


Design range of the vehicle is a huge consideration for practicality. The i3 is really a city car for people who rarely make long journeys. Ideally you want a design range of 1.3 times (1.5 in colder climates) the distance of your longest typical one-way trip. In other words, the ability to make a full round trip with your daily driving. That way any charging you do along the way is opportunity charging only, and not really required to complete your day.


Longer trips beyond your normal daily travel can be taken using rapid chargers.



The Type 2 cable, like what you had in the boot, is indeed locked in while charging, when you lock the car.


The Type 1 cable like on some earlier single phase EVs in Europe does not lock to the car and is utter design rubbish, sorry Japan, but it is rubish. Of course the whole of North America choose Type 1 (Condolences to My Canadian friends, you are all to nice to deserve that horrible connection standard). Thankfully Tesla's north American spec vehicles use a much better single phase connector (proprietary) than the "National standards". Though a modified type 2 is being adopted for "heavy vehicles where three phase is available". With some luck North American spec Tesla vehicles might in future shift to type 2 (HEY ELON!!), and create a de-facto, nearly global standard. Since it's easy to plug single phase into a Type 2, but impossible to plug three-phase into a Type 1



Aside from Tesla (who leads the industry), other auto makers are slowly catching up to what is sensible and functional. Range of the vehicle and charging speed being the chief two issues overall. Most every company can make comfortable vehicles that are pleasant to drive.. that isn't really a problem.


Since I'm already on a bit of a rant, this notion of you rocking up to Jobs on a bike or moped sound like another exercise in inappropriate vehicle choice misery... just say no!



Entertaining as always, Thanks for the video mate!

[JasonDurelofan]

Love this. Tom Nagy for next Top Gear presenter please

[Garry.Anderson]

3:15 - i got the postman pat reference!

[tormenting]

This is the very reason I wont go electric yet.
The infrastructure is flawed and instead to think what subscriptions will he out there.

Great video thanks

[friedrichvonziegler-schick]

How much does it cost to recharge at one of the stations? That's another important consideration, particularly for somebody in a lower income bracket. If it turns out that the annual electricity costs associated with an electric car outweigh the costs of petrol, that person is going to say screw it. Here in Québec, our code now requires installing a dedicated circuit for a car recharging station in any new residence, on at least a 40A breaker. You can even go higher, with additional installation of a downstream electric disconnect required for 60A breaker and above. That means that even if the new homeowner doesn't yet have an electric car, the cable and dedicated breaker have to be there just in case.

[stevedouglas]

I know this video 2 years old so don't know if anyone will read this now but the EV infrastructure has greatly improved. Lots more rapid chargers and more importantly most if not all now able to use without stupid apps or RFID cards etc just contactless credit/debit card. I have a BMW i3s and it's superb. A real hoot to drive and I get around 160 miles per charge. However, these are not Mway cars, for long regular journeys you really need a Tesla or similar but for local driving the i3 is brilliant. I charge from home 99% of time so it's cheap, easy and convenient.

[jwb]

Here in NL electric vehicles are becoming more popular, but I will stick to my patrol car (Hyundai Atoz, 2007, consumes 1 liter of petrol on 18 km (11 miles)) . I don't have a drive way, so I cannot even charge the car at home. I also don't have a 3 phase connection, so charging would take days, while you have to work every day (cycling for 2 h is too far, especially in rain and temperatures below 0 degrees). The CO2 emission will be even more as well than my current patrol car. Now I can recycle parts from the car yunk yard and be green. The batteries of an electric car will end up in Africa and pollute more. Maybe H2 (hydrogen) will be the future?

[Sammo-wy]

Got a mate with a little electric car (Renault), he described his journey from South London to Devon on holiday. Had to stop 3 times to charge 45 mins each time. Definitely not there yet

[philipjeffery]

i3 Range Exender (REX) second hand is the only option for a good few years until a hell of investment in charging points to meet demand.

[Equiluxe]

Great for town runabouts but not much else. Some far better battery technology will have to come along before anything much more than a runaround is practical especially as far as bigger vehicles like vans and trucks are concerned.

[steveurbach]

After driving my Leaf, I found when I later drove an ICE car, I got 50MPG. Driving electric does change your driving style if you don't own a Tesla sized range EV.
And YES, Broken DC Chargers are the bane of distance driving. Also note that those add 80% (it take lots of time to squeeze in the last 20%. Physics)

[HudsonLighting]

I've had an electric van for the last 3 years it's the ENV200. I live it but it's got the older battery, realistically only 85 miles at most. Fine for London but not really for anywhere else. Mind I did drive from Sutton to Farnborough once