Write me a review of your i3 (to be published)

[MichaelBoxwell]

Hello, my name is Michael Boxwell. I've been driving electric cars for the past eight years, writing and broadcasting about them for the past five and developing electric vehicles with various manufacturers since 2009.

I guess you could say that I've been bitten by the EV bug!

I have a new book coming out at the end of this year - the 2015 Electric Car Guide. It's written for people who are considering buying an electric car for the first time and who want to know what it is like.

One of the most popular chapters in previous editions of the book has been the chapter entitled 'Me and my electric car'. It's been written by various electric car owners, recounting the experiences they have had with their electric car, both good and bad. I would love to get some experiences from BMW i3 owners. I am particularly interested in having reviews from people who have the pure-EV version of the i3 rather than the hybrid.

You can write as much or as little as you like - anything from 150 words up to a couple of thousand if you really want to. In return, you'll get your work in print and you'll get a free copy of the book once it has been published.

If you are interested, drop me a private message with your e-mail address and I'll get in touch.

 

[Surge]

Off topic, sorry, but what do you expect the range reduction will be in severe winter weather?

By severe I mean -10 to -15C and snow.

Assume the car isn't preconditioned.

You can draw from experience with other EVs too.

The lack of data on this topic is the "elephant in the room" for people who live in these winter areas.

 

[MichaelBoxwell]

It is really difficult to be precise, because there are so many different EVs and they all handle cold weather differently.

A Mitsubishi i-MiEV, for instance, in an ambient -18°C (and yes, I have tested it personally) has about 50% of the range. In 0°C, range drops by around a third. The Nissan LEAF range drops by around 20% in similar circumstances.

The Renault Fluence ZE range drops by around 15% at 0°C. It is marginally better than the LEAF because of better battery packaging for colder climates. The Renault Zoe has a similar drop but has far lower drain for heating and so therefore is probably the best of the mainstream EVs that I have used in winter testing.

The little G-Wiz (which, incidentally was one of BMW's inspiration for the i3) had a range that also dropped by around a third. I redesigned the battery heating system for that vehicle and virtually eradicated range drop due to cold weather. I've since done it for a prototype commercial vehicle which is being launched next year.

Hope that helps.

Anyone want to write me a review now?

 

[Surge]

Tom's blog has many owner reviews. You should ask him if you can use them.

Thanks for the cold weather info. Any idea where the i3 will play out?

 

[Anonymous]

If you want to know anything about the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive, see my blog
http://mysmartelectricdrive.blogspot.ca/

or ping me over at the Smart ED forum:
http://www.mysmartelectricdrive.com/forum/index.php