The other day I was driving along and noticed that a 08 reg Toyota Prius was in front. I noted its number and thought here is an opportunity to see the MOT history of a 11 year old hybrid. It had done over 110k miles and was suffering from all of the usual things like track rod ends, suspension joints, brake pads etc. So no surprise there.
What I was really looking for though, was an old pure electric vehicle since the common mythology is that electric cars have hardly any moving parts to go wrong, no servicing costs etc and that the likes of Kwik Fit will close down. I suspect that things will in reality be no different apart from cost savings on oil changes. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Don’t understand that reasoning as apart from the drivetrain EVs have virtually all the same running gear as an ICE vehicle, the big savings as you say are drivetrain servicing and brakes.......I barely use the brakes on our i3 under normal conditions as the regeneration can bring the car to a halt easily when driven normally.

I know Nissan did a big push with “one pedal driving” when the new Leaf was launched but other EVs have been doing that for years!

Tyres can be eaten rapidly though, the generous torque applied instantly does tend to cost in rubber, just had a new set after just 15K miles.

Maybe I should drive it like I am trying to save the planet?  Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

What is more of interest to me is the BMW i3's body/ chassis structure which is in theory (almost literally) bullet proof, as it's construction should be rot-free.

Will it mean that you can buy an old i3 banger and bolt in a new battery and bits? FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Out of interest, have you seen these videos of the i3 factory?





 FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Indeed the drive module*(chassis) is alloy and the life module*(body) is carbon fibre reinforced plastic, body panels are all plastic (except roof panel which is also CFRP) so yes in theory the vehicle itself should last a very long time and of course there will be in the future companies doing conversions/upgrades etc to battery and drivetrain.

So it is possible the i3 could become a cheap to keep classic in many decades time or so, who knows?

*BMW speak  Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

Boxbrownie wrote:

Tyres can be eaten rapidly though, the generous torque applied instantly does tend to cost in rubber, just had a new set after just 15K miles.

Maybe I should drive it like I am trying to save the planet?

At an old WW1 airfield near where I used to live we had an old (very old) military battery lorry which was being restored for use at the museum, quite a few 12V lead acid batteries and a huge switching throttle control, not sure it had the torque to shred tissue paper let alone tyres  Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

Interesting article in FT today about the ZF factory in Germany and what they are doing about the onset of electric cars. It mentions JLR as one of their customers but the following comment caught my eye given the recent announcement of a collaboration with BMW on EVs

In April, ZF received the biggest order in its history — a multiyear deal worth around €20bn to supply BMW with 8-speed automatic transmissions which integrate an electric drive for hybrids. Production begins in 2022, at Saarbrücken.
 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

IanMetro wrote:

What is more of interest to me is the BMW i3's body/ chassis structure which is in theory (almost literally) bullet proof, as it's construction should be rot-free.

Will it mean that you can buy an old i3 banger and bolt in a new battery and bits?

I think that Land Rover will use the same type of technology, and now due to the cooperation agreement with BMW, it will be this actual gearbox/electric drive.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48525840

Perhaps there is a future for Land rover Lovers. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

I’d suspect BMW are much more interested in the power train of the i Pace

You might be right Tigger.



I was intrigued by this Electric Car Racing Series (I-Pace) although I am not sure about the sound (Continual Tyre Squealing)



Here is Jaguars own write up about it.

https://www.jaguar.co.uk/electrification/i...index.html FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Ok at the risk of going way off topic, but bearing in mind this is a FL2 forum


Why do a lot of people buy Diesel 4x4s - to tow a trailer / caravan.
So I asked the Tesla sales guy would the latest Tesla tow a caravan, answer is yes , how far? answer is 100 miles, so bearing in mind the vast majority of caravan sites are fields in the middle of nowhere and without suitable charging points, that gives a round trip range of 50 miles - a nice distance for a day out, but not the sort of distance I would contemplate all the faf of dragging the van out, putting up the awning, taking the awning down in the rain for.

Long live Diesel 4x4s I say Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

That’s easily solved - just take a nice 240v diesel generator with you and let it run all night...

A relative of mine runs a caravan /camp site on his farm and has dozen or so electric "hook up" points which are each rated at less than 3kw so tells people not to use domestic heaters or electric kettles etc. People are generally sensible about it and apart from a few instances which trip out the supply to the hook ups it works fine. However, he has had a couple of EVs arrive and he has had to tell them not to try and charge their vehicles. The farm transformer is only rated at about 20kw so there is no way that he can provide EV charging points without major investment in a new transformer. This is going to become a real issue in time with rural campsites. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE