EV Review

One year on review - loving our BMW i3! Electric vehicle (EV) Review

  • 21 August 2018
  • 5 replies
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Updated on 23/06/23 by Tim_OVO​: OVO are now fitting electric vehicle (EV) smart chargers. 

 

The smart chargers we fit are compatible with OVO’s Charge Anytime add on, for super cheap EV charging any time of the day. 

 

Considering making the change to an Electric Vehicle? Check out the great advice our community members have shared on what to consider when buying an EV over here.

We’ve also got some great EV owner reviews like the one below and this Tesla Model 3 review.

 

We bought our first EV in June 2017, so we are just over a year on. We have a BMW i3. I'll admit we wimped out a bit and got the rex (range extender), due to range anxiety. Turned out at should have saved the extra rex cost, as it's barely been used. We very quickly got used to checking where charge points are available. We haven't ventured from Yorkshire to London yet, but that's mainly due to the fact that we need a larger car to transport my elderly father and his wheel chair when there.


We were keen to try electric, but were a bit anxious about the practicalities, especially as where we are, about 15 miles from Hull, public chargers are very few and far between. A quick glance at Zap map shows how poorly we are served here, in contrast to nearby York. But hey ho, hopefully it'll improve in time.


Having said this, we love the car and the experience. We also have 4Kw solar panels, so although we can't charge for free (the Pod point charger is 7Kw), by being smart with when we recharge we can reduce the cost when the sun is shining.
We did look into the cost of storage batteries for the solar panels, but it's really not economical yet. However, the idea of a smart charger, charging at optimal times, and feeding back into the grid at other times, is really attractive. Depending on the cost, we'll definitely be interested in installing one. What would be helpful for existing charge point owners would be a part ex scheme of some sort, to encourage a swap out to smart charging.


The biggest downside to our electric car is that it's too pricey to insure our 20 year old on it, due to the super duper nippiness of the motor. Hopefully in 6 months, when she's 21, it'll be more economical.

All in all though, I can't see us buying another ICE car. It's EV all the way for us from now on. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

 


5 replies

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Hello @Gum168



Welcome to the OVO forum and welcome to the EV family! 😃 Nice to see you are enjoying your EV (would it be possible to show a picture of your lovely i3)? To be honest, I don't see you getting the petrol tank as a bad thing. It may come in handy in the winter when you need to use the heater more to clear the front window. When you do go for a long drive, be sure to plan it well. I only have a 24kw Leaf and I travelled from Kent to West midlands which was roughly about 206 miles. I stopped off 4 times with no issues 🙂. It is also nice to see you are enthusiastic in renewable energy too! You are with the right energy supplier and group of people 🙂 if there is anything we can do to help you. Please do not hesitate to post on the forum.



- Matt
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Also, It would be awesome to get your feedback and suggestions on this topic :-)



https://forum.ovoenergy.com/owning-an-ev-87/leasing-an-ev-from-your-energy-supplier-interested-2164
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Update Oct 2021. We recently moved on from the BMW i3, and our other car that was petrol. We now have 2 pure EVs, Hyundai Ioniq electric and Hyundai Kona electric. No petrol cars at all. In the intervening years since I wrote the initial review 2 of our daughters and their husbands have gone fully Hyundai electric and another daughter is looking at what to move to as I write. Her budget is lower and she doesn't want a Leaf so we will all have the same hone charging, so it's a bit more challenging for her, but she's looking at Kia. 

We all love our EVs, there have been a few items dealt with under warranty, but overall they are brilliant. Add in the OVO smart charger, a Drive anytime tarrif and what's not to love?

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Hey, welcome back @Gum168 . It’s nice to see you again. :)

Nice wheels you’ve got there and hopefully it’s all going great. It would be great if you could let us know how things get on with your new EV’s over the next few months as it’s becoming a hot topic. Something good might happen as a result too...

Userlevel 7

Great update, @Gum168 - Sounds like you’ve got the whole family on-board too! :red_car::oncoming_automobile::blue_car:

 

If you ever fancied writing up another review we’d love to hear more about what you make of the Ioniq and Kona. Looks like we’ve not got those models covered in the EV Review Topic Hub yet! :wink:

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