[martin_bech]

The i3 is a nice small car, but warranty of the battery is horrible, and the range is only so so, specially in cold weater. The i8 is really a plug in hybrid, looks really amazing, but is slower, holds fewer people, and has less space than my Tesla Model S85D. The autobahn is very valid point, driving at 200km/h+ for sustained amounts of time will drain the battery(the amount if sheer wind resistance, makes power used pr km. skyrocket), but driving at 130-150km/h, and stopping and charging when you are low (10% chargeish) is quite effective, as you charge quite fast, when the battery is warm, and low. Thankfully the autobahn always has sections of roadwork, and here the Model S powertrain is very effective at cruising :) .

[Reason077]

The i3 is a nice small car, but warranty of the battery is horrible

The battery on the i3 is warrantied for 8 years or 100,000 miles, with a drop below 70% of the original capacity considered to be a battery failure.

Tesla also have an 8-year battery warranty, with unlimited miles, but (afaik) they do not explicitly specify what level of capacity loss would be a warranty failure.

Considering most people are unlikely to exceed 100,000 miles in 8 years in a "city car" like the i3, is this really a horrible warranty?

[martin_bech]

I was sure the warranty was worse, when I was looking at buying one, but 70% of realworld range would be something like 44miles on a full charge to empty. That would be horrible. My Tesla has lost very very little range in ist first year, 1 or 2%.

[Reason077]

I see your point. A 30% drop in capacity in an 80-mile range car is worse than a 30% drop in one that started with 280 miles.

But these are worst-case scenarios. Hopefully the batteries will last much longer than what they're warrantied for.

And with any luck, affordable aftermarket battery replacements will be common enough by the time the battery needs replacing (and may give a lot more range, too).