As some of you know, I took advantage of an insanely cheap 24 month/10k miles per year lease on a fully optioned i3 REx; unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and today I turned it in. The return process was very simple and I was not dinged for any wear and tear.
I would definitely consider another electric in the future(RWD of course). The reliability was flawless and the car did not require any unscheduled trips to the dealer. In fact, the car only saw the dealer service bay twice- for two 10k/annual mile oil changes and inspections, for which I paid nothing. One door gasket was replaced under warranty due to a tear and I replaced one tire after hitting a pothole. I refueled it twice, both times requiring @1 gallon. We ran the battery down to the point that the IC engine kicked on a total of four times. If the IC motor hasn't run for 2k miles/90 days the car automatically starts it and runs it a 10 minutes in "maintenance cycle"- and when the IC motor was running it was almost always due to the maintenance cycle.
The i3 was perfect for my wife and I; we used it for our short commutes to work and to run errands around town. That allowed us to just use the Level 1 110v volt charger, which was able to fully charge the car overnight- longer commutes and tripswould have required a Level 2 charger. It handled much better than you would think due to the low center of gravity, and the instantaneous torque from 0 rpm was a lot of fun- I surprised more than a few cars at the Stoplight Grand Prix. The only downside is the price; if I wanted to own an i3 I'd pick up a used one that was 2-3 years old for under $25k- I think that's a great deal. Just remember that the car is a suburban/urban runabout, not a long distance cruiser. For most Americans, an i3 couldn't serve as an only car, but for my wife and I it made for a very entertaining 2 years.
I would definitely consider another electric in the future(RWD of course). The reliability was flawless and the car did not require any unscheduled trips to the dealer. In fact, the car only saw the dealer service bay twice- for two 10k/annual mile oil changes and inspections, for which I paid nothing. One door gasket was replaced under warranty due to a tear and I replaced one tire after hitting a pothole. I refueled it twice, both times requiring @1 gallon. We ran the battery down to the point that the IC engine kicked on a total of four times. If the IC motor hasn't run for 2k miles/90 days the car automatically starts it and runs it a 10 minutes in "maintenance cycle"- and when the IC motor was running it was almost always due to the maintenance cycle.
The i3 was perfect for my wife and I; we used it for our short commutes to work and to run errands around town. That allowed us to just use the Level 1 110v volt charger, which was able to fully charge the car overnight- longer commutes and tripswould have required a Level 2 charger. It handled much better than you would think due to the low center of gravity, and the instantaneous torque from 0 rpm was a lot of fun- I surprised more than a few cars at the Stoplight Grand Prix. The only downside is the price; if I wanted to own an i3 I'd pick up a used one that was 2-3 years old for under $25k- I think that's a great deal. Just remember that the car is a suburban/urban runabout, not a long distance cruiser. For most Americans, an i3 couldn't serve as an only car, but for my wife and I it made for a very entertaining 2 years.
