James May buys an electric car

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grober

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James May is buying an electric car -a BMW i3
Despite having a range extended BMW i3 electric car however, May says the BMW i3 isn’t going to be his only car — and when he goes long-distance away from his London home, he’ll use another car instead.
When pushed, May was a little sheepish as to what that car is.
“It’s a Ferrari,” he admitted. “I’m cheating I know. I really hoped you weren’t going to ask me that!”:eek: ;)

BBC Top Gear's James May: I'm Buying A BMW i3 Electric Car

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On PH it's the most popular electric car by a mile. It's seems as if BMW have figured out what motorists want from their EV, where other OEM have failed.
 
James May 'buys' (full list Mr.May?) a pig ugly semi electric car, that thankfully he won't have to drive all the time.

Anyway, besides my little rant above, great car the i3 by all accounts just an awful pity it was hit with the ugly stick...now, I'd have an i8 just for the looks alone.
 
On PH it's the most popular electric car by a mile. It's seems as if BMW have figured out what motorists want from their EV, where other OEM have failed.

Nah. It's a BMW and it's PH. Nuff said.

If BMW made the Prius or the Auris then same thing would happen.
 
Good enough reason to put most other people off one anyway .... He is a complete berk! Obviously IMHO. :rolleyes:
 
The thing most folks forget about the i3 is its body construction. Unlike previous electric vehicles it's more of an integrated package with a carbon fibre body on an alloy tub.
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Unlike previous models where the manufacturer has plonked an electric powertrain into a conventional =heavy steel body shell this car also addresses the looming issue of car body weight. This is probably the future [like it or not] for conventionally powered cars also. While its never going to win any beauty contest prizes there's very few conventionally powered city cars that look good since its all about packaging rather than looks. Given less restraints BMW came up with the gorgeous i8 ------next on the list hopefully might be a slinky looking 3 series sized car?
I reckon its the future in one way or another - body construction or powerplant or both. Will certainly furnish some predictable lines in any forthcoming Top Gear episodes while preaching to the converted.
 
I saw quite a few i3 in Munich last week - mostly Police cars. Our second car might be an electric car next time around (mostly used for sub 10mile journeys) and the i3 seems to be a good mix of range and range extender, pity their looks are so challenging.
 
I see it parked up at work on charge quite a bit. Its not too bad a car looks wise, for an EV, but the skinny train wheels are what lets it down, I know they will be for fuel efficiency, but man, it just brings the whole look of the car down.
 
I reckon its the future in one way or another - body construction or powerplant or both.

Tesla seem to be attacking it from the powerplant direction as teh S is a bit of a hulk.

And with the Twizzy Renault seem to be attacking it from the C5/G-Wiz direction.:eek:
 
Hang on, he was on about getting a Dacia something, wasn't he??
 
May was an early fan of the Dacia brand - arguing you got a lot of car for little money. He drove a Dacia Duster in Northern Sahara James drives the Dacia Duster - BBC Top Gear and liked the simplicity and price of the Sandero.
GOOD NEWS! Dacia Sandero costs £6k! - BBC Top Gear
He drove a Panda for a long time as a "Minimalist Motoring" statement and I could see the acquisition of an i3 as a continuation of this " rebellion against conventional car ownership " theme albeit at a much more expensive level.;)
 
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He drove a Panda for a long time as a "Minimalist Motoring" statement and I could see the acquisition of an i3 as a continuation of this " rebellion against conventional car ownership " theme albeit at a much more expensive level.;)

Rebellion? It's nothing of the sort in my view. It's just BMW marketing doing what it does best.
 
James May's "personal motoring statement" nothing to do with BMW? ---Except I would seriously doubt he paid list!;)
 
May was an early fan of the Dacia brand - arguing you got a lot of car for little money. He drove a Dacia Duster in Northern Sahara James drives the Dacia Duster - BBC Top Gear and liked the simplicity and price of the Sandero.
GOOD NEWS! Dacia Sandero costs £6k! - BBC Top Gear
He drove a Panda for a long time as a "Minimalist Motoring" statement and I could see the acquisition of an i3 as a continuation of this " rebellion against conventional car ownership " theme albeit at a much more expensive level.;)

As a great fan of Top Gear, I often go back and forth on different episodes within the whole 20 seasons.

There are probably not enough fingers on my both hands to count how many times James is praising Dacia (for number of reasons, one of them bing it comes in brown colour, lol).

This is why I would like to think he will actually end up owing one of them, simply to practice what he preaches ;)
 
I am seeing quite a few in London. The best looking Electric car around, at least it looks like a car !!
 
There are probably not enough fingers on my both hands to count how many times James is praising Dacia (for number of reasons, one of them bing it comes in brown colour, lol).

This is why I would like to think he will actually end up owing one of them, simply to practice what he preaches ;)

Well, Jeremy gave him a Dacia Sandero a while back, but things did not go well…

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Unlike previous models where the manufacturer has plonked an electric powertrain into a conventional =heavy steel body shell this car also addresses the looming issue of car body weight. This is probably the future [like it or not] for conventionally powered cars also.

So it seems Colin Chapman was right all along, then, with his determination to "build in lightness".

My less-than-400kgs JZR, with its 500cc engine, can keep up with most traffic up to about 70mph, before it starts to run out of steam, or my bottle, whichever comes first!
 

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