The Kona just got a new brother/sister

  • Thread starter Thread starter FloridaSun
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nigels said:
Cool. What’s it like to drive compared to the Kona?
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It does not feel as powerful but it may have to do that the tires are not spinning like on the Kona when I floor it in sports mode.
It may have to do with the rear wheel drive that the BMWi3 barely spins at all while I can break the tires loose at 40 mph at times in the Kona if I floor it.. Other than that, the car drives very good.. Efficiency seems similar to the Kona. Drove the car home at 65 mph from East Orlando to Lakeland... 55 miles and averaged about 4 mi/kwh which is similar to what I would get in the Kona.. probably 0.1 mi/kwh less than the Kona. I do prefer the Kona as I can control the amount of regen. Regen seems always on, in any of the 3 driving modes and it seems to be always the same.. Feels like somewhere between level 2 and level 3 regen on the Kona.. When I charged it, I realized that there is no way to limit the charge. It always charges to 100% unless you terminate charging before that manually.. However, BMW built in a HUGE buffer on the battery. The battery is 33kwh while only 27.1 kwh or so are available.. Almost a 20% buffer... The i3 actually feels like a bigger car than it is when you are driving it.. I like the seats. I don't like the way to operate the infotainment system but I still have to learn how to use it properly.. Not having a touchscreen is so 2010...
 
Just finished charging the i3 to 100%.. Shows 141 miles range.. better than expected

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We drove the i3 for about 70 miles today and the GoM still showed 73 miles of range when we got back home.. Not bad.. Didn't expect that..
However, the 12 Volt battery is dying.. Heading to BMW to check it.. Car still has a few months of warranty remaining..
GoM seems to work similar than on the Kona.. It changes based on driving style and accessory use..
 
Nice. I like the i3, the only thing I have a hard time getting accustomed to is the design of the rear of the car.
 
Esprit1st said:
Nice. I like the i3, the only thing I have a hard time getting accustomed to is the design of the rear of the car.
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I do like the design of the car. Legroom and headroom on the i3 is better than on the Kona. Trunk is smaller but it does have a frunk. IMO, the front of the I3 looks better than the front of the Kona. However, I'd still take the Kona over the BMW even if they had the same range. The difference in "ease of use" and infotainment system is huge. The BMW system is very cumbersome and lacks lots of features that the Kona has, even in it's base SEL version. For the wife's needs, the car does everything she needs, so that's what is important..
 
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