Help! '17 i3 secondary car for family of 5????

[Granchat27]

Hello,

Quite interested in the new i3. Great government incentives and amazing range. However I would like to know if anyone out there has one with a family of 5. My wife drives a minivan and is the primary driver. I do have one or max two kids in my current car but virtually never all three. Kids are 7,4,1. Any guidance or insight would be greatly appreciated as I love the car but not sure if I'm crazy for even considering this. I drive usually say 30-40 mostly city Kim's daily plus weekend.

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[user 3172]

It's only got 4 seats so if having all of you in it is a necessity, you're stuffed from the start. Otherwise it's a brilliant car in my opinion.

For the cons after 1500 miles of enthusiastic driving......

If you've got a charger at home and a parking space to charge it then for 30/40 kms per day it's a no brainer. Just charge at home and ignore the PITA public chargers. The charging infrastructure is patchy and fiddly to access and use in my area. It needs someone in Government to sort out a single access means for all charging points no matter who provides them. I've only tried to charge on a handful of occasions.

Problems have included

• Chargers not working (1 occasion)
• No spaces available when they are (2 occasions)
• Charge provider changed from that advertised and no app / RFID possessed for new provider (1 occasion)
• App based chargers don't initiate properly (1 occasion)
• App based chargers don't disconnect properly (2 occasions)
• Chargers not delivering charge at the capacity advertised (2 occasions)
• Charge worked (3 occasions)

That equates to a charging success rate of 37.5% and a problem free charge rate of 0% which is utter rubbish! Maybe I'm just unlucky or live in the backwoods but it hasn't been an effective use of my time or money :roll: If you have to drive further just get the Rex, it solves almost all those issues as long as you don't have any fundamental objection to burning gas occasionally.

The door layout can be a pain. With the rear suicide doors, you're buying a two door car with good rear access.

The boot is okay for a large weekly shop but you won't fit anything large in there.

But without a doubt, it's still very close to the top of the long list of cars I've owned or driven over the last 35 years or so and I'm still smiling when driving it :mrgreen:

 

[Granchat27]

It's only got 4 seats so if having all of you in it is a necessity, you're stuffed from the start. Otherwise it's a brilliant car in my opinion.

For the cons after 1500 miles of enthusiastic driving......

If you've got a charger at home and a parking space to charge it then for 30/40 kms per day it's a no brainer. Just charge at home and ignore the PITA public chargers. The charging infrastructure is patchy and fiddly to access and use in my area. It needs someone in Government to sort out a single access means for all charging points no matter who provides them. I've only tried to charge on a handful of occasions.

Problems have included

• Chargers not working (1 occasion)
• No spaces available when they are (2 occasions)
• Charge provider changed from that advertised and no app / RFID possessed for new provider (1 occasion)
• App based chargers don't initiate properly (1 occasion)
• App based chargers don't disconnect properly (2 occasions)
• Chargers not delivering charge at the capacity advertised (2 occasions)
• Charge worked (3 occasions)

That equates to a charging success rate of 37.5% and a problem free charge rate of 0% which is utter rubbish! Maybe I'm just unlucky or live in the backwoods but it hasn't been an effective use of my time or money :roll: If you have to drive further just get the Rex, it solves almost all those issues as long as you don't have any fundamental objection to burning gas occasionally.

The door layout can be a pain. With the rear suicide doors, you're buying a two door car with good rear access.

The boot is okay for a large weekly shop but you won't fit anything large in there.

But without a doubt, it's still very close to the top of the long list of cars I've owned or driven over the last 35 years or so and I'm still smiling when driving it :mrgreen:

Thanks very much. Yes charger in my house for sure. I live in Ontario and there are lucrative credits on this vehicle and charger - $14 k cdn. I'm considering this vehicle understanding it's not ideal but if there was ever a time I could pull this as is now with my youngest being 1. Once she is older I will need seating for 5 with activities, etc. As such I'm thinking get this vehicle then say in 3 years I'm hoping there will be a more appropriately sized vehicle for that time in my life. Just don't know if I'm being crazy even considering this with 3 kids as a secondary driver.

 

[user 3172]

As a secondary driver it's probably fine for 4 or less. I am thinking the same regarding the sizing. If BMW bring out the much rumoured i5 in SUV form, then I think that's my next car sorted for sure. The i3 will go in and that will then be my only car. Fingers crossed that they can bring it to market within the next two or three years and maintain the Rex option in some form as I think this is a must with charging infrastructure in its current dire state.

 

[gt1]

We can stuff 3 people into the rear seat for short trips. We put the booster seat on top of the cupholders in the middle of the seat. We don't do it often, the rear seat has only 2 seat belts.

 

[Schnort]

You could do that with a car seat that has its own restraining system, but a booster generally depends on the car's seat belts.

Even with a car seat, It may also be sub-optimal because the restraint that goes back and latches on to the back of the seat wouldn't be directly in line with the connection point on the car seat and would redirect force left/right when trying to restrain it from going forward in a crash.

 

[Tirpitz]

If BMW bring out the much rumoured i5 in SUV form, then I think that's my next car sorted for sure. The i3 will go in and that will then be my only car. Fingers crossed that they can bring it to market within the next two or three years and maintain the Rex option in some form as I think this is a must with charging infrastructure in its current dire state.

BMW have already announced an all electric X3 for either 2019 or 2020. I would expect Tesla level prices though.

 

[jadnashuanh]

The i3 can carry 4 adults just fine, so children aren't a major deal but you can only install two child seats easily. I find mine quite fun to drive and use it for nearly all of my driving, only using my ICE for trips that need more space (rare) or longer range (more common). In fact, my ICE needs to sit on a battery maintainer, otherwise, it would have a dead battery nearly every time it is needed!

I look forward to what I hope the i5 will be when I can replace both cars with one - primarily electric, but with a long-range capability using whatever (probably gasoline) to make it just keep going quickly with a refuel.

In my normal driving, my car is always 'full', and only takes a bit over an hour or so. You might need a bit more with your projected range needs, but still, it's nice to always start with a 'full' tank, so to speak each morning.

 

[user 3172]

A big ditto to that lot Jim. My ICE was on its charger yesterday as I'm just not using it now I've got the i3. I'm seriously considering selling it to halt the depreciation and banking the money towards the i5 when it appears. I'm just praying it's got a Rex of some sort for that long range security.

 

[johnnylingo]

I don't have children, but have heard it's a common complaint that dealing with a child seat and shuttling kids in and out the back with the suicide doors is a headache that some people don't want to deal with. Not saying the i3 isn't a great car, but I'd at least go through that exercise before buying, and compare it to 4 door models like the e-Golf, Soul, and Volt.

 

[Schnort]

It wouldn't be a pain except you have to open the front door to open the suicide door. In a tight parking spot, it's a weird dance to get the door open, made worse when carrying a child.

 

[user 3172]

Agree entirely. It's even a puzzle to retrieve something off the back seat sometimes

 

[gt1]

When parking space is not a problem, we like the suicide doors. Makes it easier to put a kid in the seat and fasten the seatbelt without running around the rear door.

 

[TheMewster]

I've just ordered an i3 REX as a new company car (downsizing from an MB E300 Estate), and we're a family of five as well, two 8 year olds and a 10 year old.

My wife actually drives a VW T5 Combi Van (we do a lot of cycling and canoeing) so we have that for family and active stuff. The i3 will primarily be for me commuting to work, meetings etc.

I took the view that we'll only ever need four in the i3, as the only time the boys will be in it will be when I'm using the van for canoeing, then my wife will need transport for her and the boys.

Time will tell if that actually works, but I got it on a two year lease just in case (and because tech will develop rapidly, so I'm sure we'll be looking at double the range again in two years.