New car!

In my previous post Bye Bye Zoe, I talked about my last car, which was an electric car (a Renault Zoe) and how I had got it on a lease as an experiment to see how viable EVs were for me and to understand what it was like to own and use one.

That three-and-a-bit year long experiment came to a conclusion last week when the lease company came to take the Zoe back.

Since I posted it, I've had a few people ask me what I got to replace it. Did I go back to an ICE car?

The day my Zoe was taken away, my new car was delivered. I have it on a lease again for a number of reasons, but this will be the car I drive for the next 3 years or so.

And here it is, a shiny new BMW i3:

As you can see, it's another EV.

You see, three years of driving in the Zoe has made me realise how unpleasant and clunky ICE cars are. EVs are quiet, clean, and a pleasure to drive. And I really do not miss the visits to the petrol station.

So, why the BMW? The main reason was that the lease cost of the BMW, despite it being a more expensive car, was actually slightly cheaper than the Zoe. This is because lease costs are largely based on residual values of the vehicle at the end of the lease, and the BMW retains it's value more than the Zoe.

And, yes, I have it on a lease. The way I look at it, this stimulates EV usage. A huge number of the second hand cars on the road come are ex-fleet or lease cars. Most people don't get brand new cars and one of the complaints that I hear about EVs is that there are few "affordable" ones, by which people mean they can't get a second-hand one easily. People like me getting EVs on a lease eventually expands the pool of second-hand EVs in the long term.

Another point is EV technology is still in a relatively early phase of development. My new car has around twice the range of my old Zoe. In three years time, the battery technology is likely to improve significantly.

Plus it means I get a shiny new car every 3 years or so.

The BMW is a lovely car. I do miss the speed limiter that the Zoe had (the cruise control really isn't the same thing) and the passenger doors take a little getting used to, but in the week I've had it I'm very impressed so far.

The ride is comfortable and, if anything, it's even quieter than my Zoe was; I think the acoustic insulation against road/wind noise is superior. It's also a pocket-rocket! My Zoe was really responsive and quick-off-the-mark, but the i3 has noticeably better acceleration.

I also have the petrol range-extender. This is a onboard petrol generator, fed from a 9 litre tank, which kicks in when the battery is low to keep it charged. It can extend the range by around 70 miles and, of course, you can pop into a petrol station to refill it. I don't anticipate using it very much, but it's there if I need it. Again, the residual values factor meant the lease for the range-extender version was no more than the non-range-extender version.

One thing I love about the BMW is the remote control actually works!

The Zoe had the ability to check charge status and level, and to remotely set the preconditioning to heat or cool the car before a journey, but it never worked properly. The charge indicator worked, but it had an update resolution of about 20 minutes, which is useless when a charge may only take 30 mins. I could schedule or turn on preconditioning from the app, and it seemed to work, but the car never preconditioned.

The BMW app actually works. The charge status is relatively up to date, and the preconditioning (and other controls) show you the status, including communication with the car, so if it fails you know. You can also GPS locate the car, which is useful if you have parked in a large car park.

The bluetooth also works well. The Zoe bluetooth used to cut off the first few seconds of audio. In the last few months I've been using Android Auto with my phone. The bluetooth issue on the Zoe made it tricky to use as you always lost the first second or two of the audio responses. The BMW doesn't have this flaw.

However, I am a bit pissed off that BMW have withdrawn their plans to natively support Android Auto. Apparently it's because they want to "control the whole experience". What this actually means is they have committed themselves to a path of legacy, out of date infotainment systems. It's a shame as I would have happily paid them for an Android Auto add-on application.

One nice thing is that, when I have my phone connected, the voice control button activates Android Auto voice search, so I don't need to shout "OK Google" at it.

I will continue to use Android Auto on my phone and relegate the BMW infotainment system to being a bluetooth receiver.