Pure-electric experience
We’re commuting like we’re in the future with the BMW i3s, writes David Linklater.
There’s so much talk about plug-in cars at the moment, we’ve decided to take the plunge and run a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) as a daily driver for a few months. So no fossil fuel for us thanks: we’ve got a BMW i3 in its purest form, without the range-extender engine and the consequent ‘‘flap of shame’’ (otherwise known as the fuel-fill aperture for the twocylinder backup engine in the REX version).
Yes, yes I know – a used-import Leaf it’s not. We’re very lucky. Luckier still because ours is the new $85,900 i3s version, with
10kW/20Nm more grunt (is ‘‘grunt’’ an appropriate word for an EV?), an extra Sport drive mode, 10mm-lower suspension, a
40mm-wider track and 20-inch wheels. Check out those flared guards.
Lucky platinum-edition even, because our car has a few extras: Melbourne Red exterior with Frozen Grey accents ($990), sun protection glazing ($700), ‘‘Suite’’ interior design with Dalbergia Brown Stellaric leather ($1750), seatbelts in ‘‘BMW i Blue’’ ($300), Harman Kardon sound system
($1400) with Apple CarPlay preparation ($300) and a heat pump that increases the energy of ambient air in winter for 50 per cent greater efficiency ($1100).
All-up price: $92,640. Which is a lot if you think of an EV as something you buy to slash your vehicle running costs. But you can surely see the value for a cuttingedge, premium product that makes you feel like you’ve arrived in the future.
The i3s is a pretty special car and actually, if you’re an EV driver of any kind you’re pretty special anyway: the reality is that there are only about 8000 EVs on the road in this country (that includes New Zealand-new and used-imports), which is not many in a combined annual car market of around 300,000. If your car has a plug, consider yourself a Kiwi pioneer.
I decided to do the special thing with the i3s and get the full customer handover at our local i-brand dealership, Auckland City BMW. It’s not something we generally do for long-term test vehicles, but this one’s a bit different.
EV technology is so new, and the i3s is so hi-tech, I wondered how much information could realistically be imparted to a customer who was potentially trading in a 3-series and had very little knowledge of this brave new world.
It’s true I had a bit of a head start because I’m familiar with these kinds of vehicles already. But in the interests of research I put all that to one side and played dumb, which was quite easy because it was strangely similar to my usual modus operandi.
Anyway, this new i3s ‘‘buyer’’ got the works in an intensive 90-minute handover session.
The car was presented motor show-style under a cover in Auckland City BMW’s customer delivery room.
Sales consultant Dylan Boddis talked me through all the usual stuff you’d do with any new car, like getting the driver’s seat set up, setting stations on the audio system and working out where the wiper controls are.
But there was also a lot of time devoted to i3s-specific stuff, including a thorough explanation of how charging works, what of type of connector to look for and where to find them.
Boddis got my mobile phone set up with a couple of apps: Plugshare, which hooks you up with the EV community and shows the nearest chargers – including those available at private homes, if you enjoy meeting new EV people.
The app can also be configured to show just the plug types suitable for your vehicle: Type 2 and CCS Combined (for DC fastcharging) in the case of our i3s.
Then more phone time as we
set up the BMW Connected app. Like all new BMWs, our car is ‘‘live’’ because it has a SIM card embedded, which means you have remote access – anything from the current state of charge to whether it’s locked.
Or maybe you need to beep the horn or flash the lights if you’ve lost it in a car park.
Then yet more phone time as we set up a ChargeNet account. ChargeNet and BMW are in partnership with the ‘‘electric highway’’ of chargers being developed through New Zealand. Anybody can use them, but you need an account and swipe card.
Although you do get 10 per cent discount as a BMW owner and a special ChargeNow BMW-branded swipe card.
Hey, it’s the little things.
It’s early days and I’ve only had one weekend in the i3s, during which I explored some charging options.
Yet to plug in at home because a 200km range means you don’t have to do that every night, but I’ve had a look around the closest ChargeNet machines.
I’ve also been strangely drawn to sources of free electricity, despite my earlier claim of being all about the premium EV experience. Free is good no matter how posh you think you are.
There are a couple of Vectorfunded free fast-chargers close to me, although my first couple of tries were unsuccessful: first the machine was out of service, then the available spaces were full of Nissan Leaf owners standing around their Nissan Leafs, charging their Nissan Leafs or waiting to charge their Nissan Leafs and talking about their Nissan Leafs.
While I’m enthusiastic about EV driving, I’m not really ready to join that world. Or have I become a BMW snob already?