Tony Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 It takes two people to open the bonnet and you need two screwdrivers to keep the bonnet open. The gas tank can take up to one-and-a-half minutes to open. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTNKiTrX0Vk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 The bonnet is on purpose, BMW doesn't want anyone opening it because of all the electrical gubbins - I believe it invalidates the warranty if you do. Don't understand the fuel cap thing but can't see the vid at work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 So they want you to take the car to BMW to fill up the washer bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 So they want you to take the car to BMW to fill up the washer bottle. As far as I know none of that stuff is under the bonnet, it's at the back somewhere I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Not according to the vid but they could be wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Not according to the vid but they could be wrong? Seemingly at the bottom of the windscreen rather than the back: http://www.just-auto.com/analysis/bmw-i8_id150763.aspx Just googled the fuel issue as well - it has a pressurised tank to keep the fuel fresh in case you run the car on electric all the time and don't use the fuel too often. The time to open the flap is to allow the car time to equalise the pressure again. A friend of a friend just got one of these, hoping to have a nose around it at some point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Don't get me wrong it's a stunning looking car but things like screwdrivers to hold the bonnet up is a bit odd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMARTLY Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 and there's the mpg advertised at 150mpg but realistically in the low 30's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Doesn't that defy trading standards R&R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMARTLY Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 No it's because they can achieve 150mpg under specific conditions, not daily use on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 To be fair to BMW, a lot of people drive 10 miles to work, and 10 miles back. On that sort of usage 150mpg is probably quite achievable. If the 22 mile range on electric is accurate, I could drive mine to work and back (theoretically) without ever firing up the engine meaning a lot more than 150mpg! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Somewhat juggling of figures in BMW's favor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Somewhat juggling of figures in BMW's favor. Not really, every car goes through exactly the same test to get an MPG figure. Perhaps the test is inadequate, but nothing is being fiddled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 They should be real world tests though.... If i recall correctly the test parameters are set by the motoring body so one could think there's a slight bias. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 It wouldn't be feasible to have real world tests though. That would mean all the manufacturers would have to use the same roads with the same parameters every time, even down to the same other traffic / cars being driven on the roads at the same speeds by the same drivers for every test of every vehicle. The only reasonable way is to do it on rolling roads etc. as they do now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyelcomb Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Agree with Viking. The best bet is not to be taken in by published figures from manufacturers - look at "real people" reviews and make your own decisions based on those. This goes for anything really, not just vehicles. You don't believe anything you read in the papers do you? Its just the same! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I just hate the feeling we're getting mugged off all the time with unrealistic claims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I just hate the feeling we're getting mugged off all the time with unrealistic claims. We aren't really though, if you use the car for long distances running on the engine all the time, yes you'll probably get mpg in the 30s. If most of your journeys are short and you charge every night, then your mpg could be 300+. In reality it will be somewhere in between, so the quoted 134mpg seems reasonable. If I had one and compare it to the way I've used my Ferrari, I think I might actually average better than the quoted mpg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 To be fair to BMW, a lot of people drive 10 miles to work, and 10 miles back. On that sort of usage 150mpg is probably quite achievable. If the 22 mile range on electric is accurate, I could drive mine to work and back (theoretically) without ever firing up the engine meaning a lot more than 150mpg! I hear the plug in Prius would do that but still starts the engine from cold to warm everything up so you still be using fuel for some of the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I hear the plug in Prius would do that but still starts the engine from cold to warm everything up so you still be using fuel for some of the time I think I remember reading something similar about the Volt/Ampera in that every so often it will run the engine so I'm not sure if you can run these cars as electric all the time. Personally other than the outlandish looks I'm slightly more impressed by the Tesla Model S than the i8 if I was spending my own money, as I struggle to see how the i8 would be a completely thrilling drive, while the Model S is a practical car you could use every day but then is just unbelievably fast when you want it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 We did consider a Nissan Leaf for my wife as she only does 35 miles each day but occasionally has to drive a 90 mile round trip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 The leaf is a fantastic buy second hand, can't believe you can get them for less than £10k. When you consider how little the running costs will be it makes even more sense. 90 miles is probably a bit too close to the range limit to take the risk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Yeah especially in winter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sagitar Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 To be fair to BMW, a lot of people drive 10 miles to work, and 10 miles back. On that sort of usage 150mpg is probably quite achievable. If the 22 mile range on electric is accurate, I could drive mine to work and back (theoretically) without ever firing up the engine meaning a lot more than 150mpg! I hear the plug in Prius would do that but still starts the engine from cold to warm everything up so you still be using fuel for some of the time Not entirely true. Whether the PiP starts the engine to warm the engine depends upon what other things you have switched on and how hard you drive it. So on a temperate day when you don't need heating or cooling in the cabin, switch off the air con and it will start and stay in EV mode up to about 55 m.p.h and as long as you treat the accelerator gently. On short summer journeys in town I often drive without the ICE ever starting and get 999 m.p.g indicated (the highest that the indicator reads). There is a limit to the number of miles that can be driven continuously without the engine starting after which it runs anyway so that the engine doesn't "dry up" completely. I have never managed to drive this far continuously on EV so I've never experienced this event. I get enormous mileages in the summer because I do a lot of short journeys with high percentages of EV. In the winter it's an entirely different story. The heating and AC depends upon heat from the ICE. With AC or e.g. screen heating on the ICE starts up almost as soon as I have reversed from the garage and stays on for a significant period. So short journeys are pretty inefficient (for the PiP) and my average mileage per tank commonly goes down to the low 80s. It averages out over the year of course as you can see from my Fuelly record. My best summer tankful was 255.6 m.p.g last August. My worst winter tankful was 85.9 m.p.g last January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sagitar Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 I have an acquaintance who drives a Leaf. He likes it a lot and does long business trips in it. He seems to have mastered the journey planning necessary to get in-trip recharging done pretty efficiently. It's not of much interest to me so I haven't pursued it, but it does appear that it can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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