What's it worth?

[Stu B]

Hi Kev, I was dead set on my next car (after my V70) being a BMW i3, preferably the 33kwh REX model, preferably pre April 2017 as they attract zero road tax despite having a small petrol engine under the boot floor which works as a generator for extra range if needed.

I wasn’t interested in other EVs but specifically one of those due to the interesting engineering and construction, plus obvious EV benefits of low running costs for my moderate commute, the fact I could charge at home, and lack of general maintenance required for a daily car. I have several other vehicles I could use for longer trips, carrying loads etc.

I asked several owners who all raved about them, did a lot of research and scoured the used market for them for months in my budget. I read lots about the relative lack of battery degradation over time too and all seemed positive.

However, for my use case, ultimately I couldn’t quite get my head around having a car with compromises of an EV, even though as an economical daily driver I’m sure it’d be great. I was also keeping an eye on smaller more modern 5 cylinder Volvos too around the same budget and went for a 2017 V60 Cross Country D4 AWD in the end and got the dealer to add Polestar for good measure

Haven’t regretted it but I would still love an i3. If your reasons are entirely financial/running cost related I’d say an EV make sense if it fits your use case, but if they’re not - mine weren’t and I never drive in London or intend to, then to me a decent petrol or diesel car still has the advantage with the freedom to go anywhere, refuel in 5 mins and keep going. I generally do all my own maintenance so that’s a factor too.

Keep us updated with how you get on, through researching the i3 I became very interested in EVs generally though not enough to buy one yet as clearly I can’t quite shake the desire for 5 cylinder engines…

Cheers,
Stu