So, I just purchased 2900 lbs of carbon fiber and aluminum...

2015 i3 REX with just over 15,000 miles and CPO warranty coverage out through March 2021 with unlimited miles.   

I’ve got a commute that puts 50+ miles on a car every work day, so the intent is to use it to roll on the miles.

It’s a bit of an experiment to see how this works out.  I considered these far too expensive for what you got new, but as the second purchaser, this feels a bit more like a deal.  This was a top optioned model, and the three year lease ate more than $30k of depreciation!

Notes so far— 

20x5 inch wheels are kind of silly. Staggered figment with 155/60s in front and 175/55 in back.  In those section widths, 55-60 aspect ratios do not look tall!

It takes a bit a faith bringing it home waiting for the scooter motor to kick in for the last 60 miles of a 120 mile trip at a battery capacity of 6%

That is pretty cool. I will be interested to see how this goes. I have an 85 mile round trip commute and something that can run mostly off the grid is tempting. 

So, my swag is that you got it for around $22k. 

So, 15-20k for a low mileage German Prius? Not bad. Any interior pics?

You swagged correctly!  And my BMW CCA membership is getting me an additional $250 rebate.

Charge times are pretty long at this point on a 20 amp 110v plug, probably longer than I have to charge it overnight after the commute.  As a result, I’ll probably be making 1 gallon gas purchases every day or two until I get the 240 volt charger installed. 

rustybugkiller said:

So, 15-20k for a low mileage German Prius? Not bad. Any interior pics?

I've driven the pure electric ones a few times. The instant torque is a blast!

Karacticus said:

rustybugkiller said:

So, 15-20k for a low mileage German Prius? Not bad. Any interior pics?

This is a good enough reason for me to think hard about one of these. That is cool. Like an Element but one that can manage better than 24 mpg (equivalent). Let use know what your actual range is in normal every day type driving please!

$2/3rds off with 15k miles? You sir are a used car buying king. :)

Those cars have intrigued me for a while now. For the driving I typically do, I would rarely have to put gas in it.

This is not lessening my interest in a PHEV for my next vehicle.

My next door neighbor recently got one of those to replace a Chevy Volt, but I haven't had a chance to talk to him about it yet.  I like the color combination on yours better than the blue/white that seems to be most common.

I know three people who have bought used ones now. They are a screaming deal.

How's the driving experience when it switches to the generator? And is the tank that tiny?

I should probably Google those, but last time I was poking around, it seemed like BMW was trying hard not to say anything literal or specific about the "range extender" AKA "engine".

Going to need the scooter motor to get home today. Driving over 70 mph in the dark needing to run defog, wipers, etc at 28 degrees may not exactly be its thing. 

Ransom said:

How's the driving experience when it switches to the generator? And is the tank that tiny?

I should probably Google those, but last time I was poking around, it seemed like BMW was trying hard not to say anything literal or specific about the "range extender" AKA "engine".

It's a 2 cylinder motor that I'm given to understand is out of a BMW motorcycle or scooter.  Supposedly about 34 hp.  Transition is seamless, though it can be heard at less than highway speeds.  

The gas tank really is that small.  Designing the car in an attempt to make it compliant with California HOV lane rules constrained the tank capacity to give less than or equal range to the battery.  US vehicles were constrained to 1.9 gallons (I've put in 1.7) while other markets got 2.4 gallons.

Supposedly, there's no hardware difference and you can recode the car to get the extra half gallon capacity.  You can also recode the car to give you a charge hold mode enabled outside the US that allows manually selecting the extender on anytime the batter capacity is less than 75%.  

It really is just a range extender-- the electric motor can pull up to 175 hp out of the battery, but the scooter motor only has 34 hp to put power back in.

Oh, and for fun, ordered vanity plates for it to go with the Z4 Coupe (HANSEL) and the 328xi (GRRETEL).

This is going to be plated DI3TER.  You may touch my monkey.

These have been on my radar for a while.  Well, at least since I heard they were leasing them for $199 per month for a while.  Seems like it would pay for itself in gas savings.

Even with my daily driver Subie almost paid off there's an i3 nearby at a dealer for ~13,000 I've been looking hard at. I sometimes hate being frugal.

And MAN those suicide doors rule.

Here’s where things are after making my way home. 

Without the level 2 charger, battery won’t be fully charged for the trip to work tomorrow. 

Cool cars, battery anxiety kills any ambition towards ever wanting one. Maybe pack a bicycle in back just in case? 

I like these cars, wish they sat 3 kids in the back.

I believe the engine does not really power the car but its only used to charge the battery, is that correct?

In reply to Slippery :

Yep-- the motor just runs at a constant speed to feed the battery.

Karacticus said:

Oh, and for fun, ordered vanity plates for it to go with the Z4 Coupe (HANSEL) and the 328xi (GRRETEL).

This is going to be plated DI3TER.  You may touch my monkey.

I wasn't expecting a "Sprockets" reference today. Well done sir. 

gearheadmb said:

Karacticus said:

Oh, and for fun, ordered vanity plates for it to go with the Z4 Coupe (HANSEL) and the 328xi (GRRETEL).

This is going to be plated DI3TER.  You may touch my monkey.

I wasn't expecting a "Sprockets" reference today. Well done sir. 

So, been using the vehicle for a week now.

I've not made it to work and back (26.7 miles each way, the car keeps track of it) yet without the scooter motor firing up, but it looks like it should be possible once the weather arms up and I've got the wall charger hooked up.  Without the wall charger, I'm leaving for work no more than about 80% charged unless it's Monday.  I've had no problems finishing the trip on the range extender, even climbing the hills I need to at 70+ miles an hour.

Wall charger is mounted and ready for the electrician to hook up.  I could do it myself, but I'd really prefer to have a pro responsible for burning my house down on a bad job of a 40 amp load that's going to be running 4-5 hours a night.

Two changes in driving style out of using the car so far--  first is doing the single pedal driving with regen braking using only the accelerator pedal.  It takes a while to learn how to use that and still stop exactly where you want.  I don't really find it aggravating in any way, it's just kind of a game to play.

The second is that when the road speed limit is 65 mph or higher, I'll pretty much stick to the speed limit.  Traveling at 75 mph or more is possible, but it burns through the battery in a pretty big hurry.

Other likes so far include being able to "precondition" the car so it's already warm when I get in the car to go to work.  I'm also a lot bigger fan of the active cruise control than I thought I'd be.

Biggest negative so far was discovered during this latest of the weekend winters we've been having here-- it wasn't great in the snow.  Not dangerously so, but not great.  Found out that the only tires available for the 20" wheels on the car are a single offering, and they are "Grand Touring Summer" tire.  Have to get a set of 19" wheels to put snows on the car.  And they use a new flavor of TPMS sensor, so those are more expensive if I install a set of those as well...

I've looked at what my electricity billing is, and it works out to about $2 to recharge the battery ($0.09/kwh), as opposed to a minimum of about 2 gallons of premium gas in what I have driving.  It's a pretty fair savings, but it will take a while at that rate to pay for the wall charger.