“But I am quietly hoping though that it [the Doblo] lasts until the Tesla S launch in the spring. It’s ‘the best car in the world’ according to some big US car review magazine and with acceleration and equipment to die for at a bargain price (for what it is) and I am secretly hoping I can afford one…”
“…But the i3 is pretty damn attractive – although looks wise it’s a bit ‘toy town’…”
Well, I reply, there’s always the BMW i8 to consider as well, with its screamin’ 3 pot, sub-five second sprint time and catwalk looks, but I’m guessing that’s a big leap from a Doblo for a daily commute, and it’s going to carry a stiff price tag of c.£100,000…
Enough of this blokey tyre-kicking.
What about weekend usage patterns, I ask?
“I go to London by train when I need to. I go out on the town in Portsmouth (4 miles) and go to the New Forest and Bournemouth to see relatives (60 miles).”
This is all looking very good so far. BMW did a large field test of electric MINIs and they established that the average daily mileage of British drivers, drawn randomly from the working population, was 29 miles.
So how much?
Jonathan’s bang on trend. He can easily get to Bournemouth with the pure EV, non-range-extender version of the i3, get some juice while he’s there, and get home again.
If he needs to go into London to show off a cavitation effect ultrasonic homogeniser (juicer for Heston Blumental, to you and me), there’s no congestion charge and plenty of charge points, relatively speaking. The flat loading, 1100 litres-with-the-seats-down i3 load bay is much bigger than everyone thought it would be.
On the cost front, Jonathan was already well aware of the fact that while the £369 a month lease cost BMW is quoting (it’s actually £339 ex-VAT) looks steep, it tumbles when you deduct whatever your spend on fuel each month.
