Electric Vehicles

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Electric Vehicles are a key part of our tomorrow and how we get there. If we can get all the fossil fuel vehicles off our roads, out of our seas and out of our skies, we'll have a much better environment. This community is where we discuss the various different vehicles and news stories regarding electric transportation.

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Is the BMW i3 a decent city commuter EV? (piefed.zip)

submitted 2 weeks ago by scytale@piefed.zip to c/electricvehicles@slrpnk.net

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I see a couple of i3s in buy&sell sites in my city. They're usually 2016-2018 models selling from $9k to $15k and mileage ranging from 40k to 80k. Some of them are pure EVs and others have the range extender (~80 miles of gas range). Some have upgraded infotainment that supports wireless Apple carplay, and some have only like 80 miles of range left.

Just from the visual POV, it looks like a fun little car to use for general city driving (work, groceries, errands, etc.). An EV for less than $15k that isn't an older generation Nissan Leaf is pretty rare to find too. Are these models any good?

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[–] tooq@piefed.ca 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

We had one in Edmonton and it was great in the winter with proper tires. Heavy and low set weight did well. Unfortunately, that carbon fiber frame resulted in a write off after a fairly minor collision.

I've got a RWD i4 going into my fourth winter and it's amazing in the winter.

[–] Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

If you tried an Xdrive version, you would probably be shocked at how much better it is. I am actually surprised BMW even sells a RWD version in Canada. Like the SUVs, here in Canada you can only buy an Xdrive version, while in the US, you can get RWD only versions. We almost never sell RWD anything anymore. Even the 3 series and 2 series are AWD only now.

Edit: and the i4 is being discontinued, and the new i3 is coming out, which I believe will be AWD only here.

[–] tooq@piefed.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I have no doubt AWD would be even better, but the weight of the i4, low centre of gravity, and traction control make it surprisingly excellent in the winter. Not sure if I'll ever buy new again (depreciation is a bitch), but I'd definitely look to jump to AWD electric. Plan right now is to drive this one for another ~6 years at least. The new i3 looks pretty damn nice.

[–] Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Ya, we just had a really nice loaded i4 M50 traded in that I tried to buy, but a customer scooped it up before I got the chance. The i3 is a giant leap in EV tech over all our current offerings. Be a while before I can get one though. 😉

Bonus, the i3 is much cheaper than a comparable i4 was new.