Category Archives: BMW

News and reviews of BMW electric cars (including plug-in hybrids).

BMW 530e PHEV Test Drive Review

May 25, 2017530e PHEV, BMW, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

BMW’s new 5 Series now offers no-compromise plug-in power.

On a cold, foggy morning in the Alps southeast of Munich, right along the Austrian border, I don’t notice any of the BMW 530e’s hybrid wizardry working. It’s there, silently and effortlessly and unobtrusively switching between gasoline and electric power. But seeing as how I can barely see ten feet in front of me at this point, with unexpected patches of snow and ice tugging at my confidence during high-altitude cornering, it’s safe to say my mind’s focus is elsewhere.

Down at sea level, on the flat, winding roads leading back toward Munich, I’m hustling along like I would in any other version of the fantastic new 5 Series. Like the 530i and 540i, this is an executive sedan that’s packed with luxury and an overwhelming amount of technology. And this 530e only enhances the experience with a bit more fuel economy, to boot. This is definitely the kind of hybrid driving that I could easily, um, plug in to.

Electric boost. The 530e mates a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine to an electric motor with a 9.2-kilowatt-hour battery. The gas engine itself is good for 180 horsepower and 255 pound-feet of torque, with the electic motor generating its own 111 hp and 184 lb-ft. BMW’s official combined system output ratings are 248 hp and 310 lb-ft, exactly like in the smaller 330e sedan. The 530e makes just as much horsepower as its gas-only sibling, but it has more torque – again, 310 lb-ft here, compared to 258 in the 530i. And because the electric oomph hits right from idle, the 530e and 530i run identical 0-60 times of six seconds flat with rear-wheel drive, despite the plug-in model carrying an extra 520 pounds of battery weight. The all-wheel-drive 530e xDrive shortens that sprint to 5.8 seconds – same as the 530i xDrive.

Increased range. When Jake Holmes earlier reviewed the 330e, he rightly pointed out that its 14 miles of electric range seems like enough for daily travels, but in reality – turn on the air conditioning or go heavy on the throttle a couple of times, and that alleged 14 miles is gone before you know it. Good thing, then, that the 530e uses a larger battery pack (9.2 kWh versus 7.6), which means it’ll do around 15% more EV driving, making it much more usable (on electricity) day to day.

Wireless charging. I’m still getting used to wireless charging for my iPhone, but BMW will soon allow drivers to wirelessly charge the entire car. Equip your home with one of BMW’s charging pads, drive the 530e over it, and juice up the battery without using the usual plug port. The details are still being finalized, but in the meantime, should you choose to use a conventional plug, the 530e will charge in less than three hours on a 240-volt (Level 2) outlet.

The only plug-in option in its class. Competitors like the Audi A6, Jaguar XF, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class don’t yet offer a hybrid alternative. What’s more, the base price of a 530e is only $200 more than a 530i, so it’s not out of reach for most would-be 5 Series buyers.

BMW i3 Shows What Nissan Leaf & Chevy Bolt Are Missing

May 24, 2017BMW, Electric Cars, i3, News, Reviews and CommentJo

The priority in the EV market right now is for cars to offer the best driving range around and this is why many manufacturers are pushing for 200 miles as the new bare minimum.

The latest Chevrolet Bolt is already capable of offering 238 miles of EV range and the next-gen Nissan Leaf promises something similar. BMW, on the other hand, seems unbothered by it because the i3 is still viewed as a success despite not able to keep up with rival EVs on the sales front.

For BMW, they are targeting a niche market that wants luxury and exclusivity. While the i3 may be far behind its rivals in terms of driving range, it does come with a couple of features that reflects well on BMW’s luxurious status.

One of the features which many are pleased for is the suicide doors. As how you can see in the picture above, the door layout is just so rare to come by these days that it automatically became the single most attractive feature on the i3.

Even those that have purchased the i3 cannot get bored of the suicide doors hence we are not expecting the feature to go away on the next-gen BMW i3.

Source: NSE Voice

BMW 530e iPerformance review: Come in from the cold – this is the plug-in hybrid worth scrapping

May 24, 2017330e PHEV, 530e PHEV, BMW, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Drive a diesel car in London? Monster! Recent emissions revelations have turned you into an outcast. It doesn’t matter that you quite like your powerful diesel BMW 5 Series, and you’re not going to buy a bloody Prius – so what can you do?

Right on cue, BMW has launched a plug-in hybrid version of its astonishingly capable new 5 Series, called 530e iPerformance. The name’s a mouthful – we’ll stick with 530e – but the figures are jaw-dropping: more than 140 mpg, 46g/km CO2 and NOx emissions so minuscule, they don’t even come into it.

And, as if it couldn’t get any better, the government will give you £2,500 if you buy one, taking it down below £30k – not far shy of the best-selling BMW 520d.

BMW took us to its spotless and very Germanic Munich garage for a trial drive. While BMW’s reps were light on the details, we did learnt that the car, is in essence a 2.0-litre turbo petrol 5 Series hooked up with a BMW i3 electric motor and a battery with enough juice to do 31 miles on electric power only.

Once the battery is flat, the engine kicks in, as it does in the plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. There are several driving modes to give you different styles of eco-ness, including one that will fully charge the battery on the move. BMW’s done this with potential future city centre legislation in mind – if combustion engines are banned from certain areas, the 530e will still be allowed in.

Sensibly, you’ll just leave it in auto, and let the system work out what’s best. I did this and found the engine was off more than it was on, allowing me to cruise through Munich in silent, futuristic electric-assist serenity. It’s nothing like having a grunty old diesel clattering away: even a posh V8 5 Series isn’t this silent. And 0-62mph in 6.2secs is pretty fast, too; it’s a Tesla experience in an executive BMW.

2017 BMW i3 REx (94 Ah) — Modern-Day Sci-Fi

May 24, 2017BMW, Electric Cars, i3 94Ah, News, Reviews and CommentJo

Twenty years ago, if you had asked me what cars would be like in 2017, I’d probably tell you they’d be able capable of flight.

I always had this image in my head, as a child, that cars be able to just hover and fly around by the time I was old enough to drive. Maybe I watched too many sci-fi movies as a kid but that was always my vision. Fast forward to today and the automobile is a lot less sci-fi than I had previously imagined. Eight-year old me would be crushed. However, if there was ever a car that could get close to my childhood dreams, it’s the BMW i3 and I just spent a week indulging my inner child’s imagination.

Before we talk about that, let’s take a quick look at what’s new about the i3. BMW launched the i3 2013, as a 2014 model, and back then it was absolutely state-of-the-art. It had almost 100 miles of range, which was about standard for the time, but it was made almost entirely of carbon fiber and had looks like something from Minority Report, both inside and out. So it shocked the world and put BMW on the EV map.

Since then, though, the i3’s charms have wained in the EV community. Other cars had surpassed the i3 in terms of electric range, such as the Chevy Bolt and updated Nissan Leaf. So BMW was forced to give its i3 an update of its own, bumping up its range to over the 100-mile mark, which seems to be the point where customers’ range anxiety becomes less of an issue. So BMW swapped the standard i3’s battery out for a larger, 94 Ah battery that packs a very solid 114 miles of total range. The Bavarians also added some new colors and “Worlds”, as well as some new options, such as a moonroof in North America (finally). And now, the BMW i3 is more competitive in its current market. Though, it still gets some flak for its range. But I’m here to tell you that none of that matters. At least not to eight-year old me.

Stepping into the i3 is an experience unlike anything else in the automotive world. Firstly, just look at it. Nothing else on the road looks even remotely as funky, futuristic or interesting as the i3. It looks like it’s from another world and my eight-year old self would go insane over it, especially in the new Protonic Blue paint color. I know this because kids love the i3. They point and jump around, trying to get their friends to notice what seems like a spaceship to them driving down the street. When it’s parked, people take pictures of it at all angles, regardless of if anyone’s inside of it. It’s a head-turner, like it or not.

Cheap Car Lease

May 23, 2017Blog, BMW, Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, FAQ, Hyundai, i3, i3 94Ah, IONIQ Electric, Leaf, Leaf 30kWh, Leasing a new car, Nissan, Renault, Sales, ZOE Z.E. 40Trevor Larkum

Cheap Car Lease

Many people are in the market for a cheap car lease, and that’s something we can help with. We source our cars from around the UK and have negotiated some great deals, so talk to us.

We provide all of our cars on a monthly contract so it’s much like a mobile phone tariff. These contracts take two different forms and it’s worth outlining them:

Personal Contract Hire (PCH) or Business Contract Hire (BCH). These are straight leases, also known as contract hire. Essentially they are a form of long term rental, and are becoming increasingly popular.
Personal Contract Purchase (PCP): this is like a lease. However it has the benefit that at the end of the lease you can choose to keep the car. This is done by making a large one-off or ‘balloon’ payment. A PCP is now the most popular way for people to buy their new car.

Cheap Car Lease – Electric Car

We specialise in selling electric cars. With an electric car you get a new car at a low monthly cost, and it’s also especially cheap to run. The technology of electric cars is developing very fast with new models coming out all the time with longer range and greater performance. Our advice, therefore, is always to expect that you will give the car back at the end of the contract. Then you can upgrade to a new and better model.

Most popular electric cars on cheap car leases (Image: Fuel Included)

Essentially you don’t want to be in a situation like someone paying off an iPhone 4 contract when everyone else is upgrading to an iPhone 8. That’s why for our purposes you can consider leases and PCP to be equivalent. They are just finance contracts where you get a new car with an initial upfront payment plus a regular monthly payment. The key thing is what the car is costing you per month.

The beauty of electric cars, of course, is that you can save a lot of money each month on fuel and road tax. This can virtually pay for the car, i.e. you can get a new car for free. It’s because of the low ‘fuel’ costs (i.e. charging with electricity) that many of our cars are offered with free charging. Specifically we provide the first 10,000 miles of charging at home for free. This, along with email and telephone support, is the Fuel Included service.

Cheap Car Lease – Saving Money

If you’d like us to work out how much money you can save with a cheap car lease on an electric car, try out the Fuel Included ‘total cost of ownership’ service.

If you just want to see how much an electric car would cost check out our most popular deals below. We provide both fully electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV):

Electric Cars For Sale

May 22, 2017Blog, BMW, Buying a new car, Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, FAQ, Hyundai, i3, i3 94Ah, IONIQ Electric, Leaf, Renault, ZOE Z.E. 40Trevor Larkum

Electric Cars For Sale

If you’re looking to buy a new or used electric car then you’ve come to the right place. Electric cars are getting very popular very fast and we have lots of electric cars for sale from a wide range of manufacturers.

We are a leading independent broker with wide experience of electric cars so we are able to advise you about all the ones on the market and which ones would suit you best. We are based in Milton Keynes in the East Midlands and are able to supply electric cars throughout the UK.

In addition to pre-sales support we offer our special Fuel Included service with many of our deals. This provides ongoing telephone and email support as well as refunding the cost of your first 10,000 miles of charging.

Going Electric

If you don’t know whether an electric car would work for you economically then talk to us. We provide a ‘total cost of ownership‘ (TCO) service, for free, to help you calculate how much you might save by going electric compared to a fossil-fuelled car.

Just get in touch with us or fill in the form on our TCO page.

Widest Range of Electric Cars For Sale

We source electric cars from all the main manufacturers including BMW, Nissan, Renault, Volkswagen, Kia and Mitsubishi. We get good deals and pass them on to you.

By being independent we can advise you best on what would suit you – whether it’s price, long range, performance, looks or a combination of all these. We can also help with installing a charge point.

Prices and details for the offers on our most popular cars are below. We provide both fully electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV):

Should you buy a used electric car?

May 20, 2017BMW, Electric Cars, i3, Leaf, News, Reviews and Comment, Nissan, Renault, ZOEJo

With more coming onto the used market, is now the time to go electric?

The used market for electric cars is pretty attractive. If you’re buying. If you’re selling then it can be a distressing experience as the initial depreciation on many electric cars is proving very high [Fuel Included Editor’s Note: of course with a PCP lease, you get a guaranteed final value and so are protected from unexpected depreciation]. The market seems to feel concerned that technology is moving so fast that an electric car even a few years old may be ‘old tech’ fairly soon, and that is reflected in the prices. Which, if you’re buying and you understand the market, can be very good news indeed.

For example, you can pick up a used Nissan Leaf for under £6000 these days. A car like that will give you free access to London and other zero-emission zones, will cost very little to keep powered up, will be cheap to tax and doesn’t cause pollution – at the tailpipe.

Of course there are things to watch out for. Older cars will almost certainly have less range, so range anxiety really is a thing. And the other anxiety thing is the battery. Will it last? Is it included in the price or is it leased? These are vital questions.

If you buy a more expensive electric car like a Tesla or a BMW i3, then the battery is something you’ve bought along with the rest of the car. Many others are only offered with a leasing deal on the battery, with charge that scale up as mileages mount.

A Nissan Leaf or a Renault Zoe fall into this group along with many others. Battery lease costs are around £70pcm. And don’t forget you’ll need to add a charger at home. This can be in the £279 to £354 range depending on speed of charge.

So all that is something to factor in while you’re looking at fuelling costs of only about 2p per mile. Maintenance costs can be as little as a quarter what a comparable petrol or diesel car would cost too, so there are definite compensations.

Nissan Leaf

Used prices from: £6000
Real-world range: 60-90 miles
Battery warranty: from 5 years/60,000 miles

The top-selling Leaf can be had with a battery either bought outright or leased for £70pcm with an annual limit of 7500 miles. Later models with 30kWh batteries have a greater range.

BMW i3

Used prices from: £14,000
Real-world range: 80-100 miles
Battery warranty 8 years/100,000 miles

The achingly contemporary looking i3 includes the battery in the price. The looks are backed up by carbonfibre and aluminium, with the battery array low in the floor so it drives well.

Renault Zoe

Used prices from: £5000 (with leased battery)
Real-world range: 70-100 miles
Battery warranty n/a

Second only to the Leaf, the Zoe offers practical space and is a very useful car as well as being quite fun to drive. The leased battery can take a fast charge as another practical bonus.

Car Leasing Deals

May 19, 2017Blog, BMW, Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, FAQ, Hyundai, i3, i3 94Ah, IONIQ Electric, Leaf, Leasing a new car, Nissan, Renault, ZOE, ZOE Z.E. 40Trevor Larkum

Car Leasing Deals

Traditionally in the UK we have tended to buy cars outright and then run them into the ground. That has changed in the last few years so that most people buy cars on some form of finance, and there are some good car leasing deals available. The main kinds of finance are Personal Contract Purchase (PCP), and leasing also known as Personal Contract Hire (PCH).

These forms of finance both tend to come to be nearly the same thing for a driver who wants to change their car regularly. In both cases, there is an upfront payment and then a regular monthly payment and the term of the contract will typically be 3 years. It’s much like a mobile phone contract.

With a PCP you can keep the car at the end of the contract (by paying a larger final payment). With a lease you generally give the car back (though there are even exceptions to this). If you plan to upgrade at the end of the term, they basically come to the same thing. They are both a form of long term car rental (though there are some pros and cons). Therefore people may talk about car leasing deals and actually mean PCP deals or PCH/lease deals. Really they are just looking to get into a new car for a low monthly payment – which is what we do.

Electric Car Leasing Deals

What’s interesting to note is that car leasing deals work really well with electric cars like the BMW i3 or VW e-Golf. They save you a lot of money on fuel (a fill up is typically about £3). Plus the fixed term contract means you get to upgrade your electric car every few years. So it’s just like upgrading to the latest iPhone 7 or whatever rather than being stuck with old technology.

With an electric car that means every few years you’ll get a new car with longer range and better performance. Yet they remain cheap to run and you don’t pay road tax (and often get free parking).

Electric Car Leasing Deals (Image: Fuel Included)`

If you’d like us to work out how much money you can save with a cheap car lease on an electric car, try out the Fuel Included ‘total cost of ownership’ service.

If you just want to see how much an electric car would cost – and in many cases with the first 10,000 miles of fuelling included – take a look below. We provide both fully electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV):

Open-road driving in an electric BMW i3: are we tripping?

Okay, so the BMW i3 is a city car, right? BMW designed it as such and has made no secret of that fact. But what if you aren’t a German living in a large city and in possession of a strong sense of propriety and common sense?

What if, for example, you are a Kiwi who decides it would be a good idea to take an electric vehicle (EV) designed specifically for city life and do a road trip the entire length of the country? She’ll be right mate, it’s a car, after all. That’s what they do, right?

Well, yes and no. But the i3 is still a BMW, remember, and that means even if it was intended specifically for urban dwelling, it is still unusually attracted to open roads and corners.

So it was that I found myself in the same BMW i3 on two different road trips. One was the first leg of an epic journey from the very bottom of New Zealand to the very top. That’s right; Bluff to Cape Reinga. The other was a smaller affair, but up north of Auckland to, erm, drink coffee.

Oh, and by the way, this was the pure electric version of the i3, not the one that packs a small two-cylinder petrol “range extender” engine. You know, the sensible one to take on a long distance road trip.

The epic road trip was part of Leading the Charge, organised by the Better NZ Trust to promote awareness of electric vehicles and clean air and stuff.

All very worthy, but let’s get that i3 out on the open road and get some coarse South Island chip seal under those skinny tyres.

Okay so yes, the i3’s ride is noticeably firm on these roads (and, indeed, most NZ highways), but it is not intrusive. Road noise over the coarse chip seal is noticeable as well, but this is more down to the fact that there is no engine noise to mask it.

Of course power is one thing the i3 doesn’t lack and it absolutely belts up to the legal open road speed limit. Close attention has to be paid to keep it on the legal side.

While the official 0-100kmh sprint is 7.2 seconds, the sheer bulging electrical torqueyness makes it feel far quicker than that.

Cruising is effortless in the i3 on the open road, with overtaking just as silently efficient as the charge up to 100kmh.

Speaking of charging, the i3 now boasts a range of around 200km; at a fast-charging station, it takes around 30 minutes to get it to 80 per cent.

And that is where the other, smaller, more coffee-influenced road trip came in.

Electric Car Day – Focus on BMW i3

May 11, 2017Blog, BMW, Electric Cars, i3, i3 94AhTrevor Larkum

The car that generated the most interest at our test drive event recently was undoubtedly the BMW i3. This is not surprising as the i3 is arguably the most advanced car in production at the moment, being both electric and constructed of carbon fibre. Certainly it was the car that was booked up fastest for test drives.

Fuel Included BMW i3 on static display (Image: T. Larkum)

As before we had our own i3 on static display so visitors could look around it. In addition we had an i3 available for taking on test drives. We took a couple of brief videos of this one, the first one is a walkaround.

The second video demonstrates how quiet the i3 is as it leaves on a test drive.

Our thanks go to Rick of Wollaston BMW for bringing the car along and conducting the test drives.