Captain Slow – Top Gear’s James May – has revealed he’s taking the plunge in to electric cars by buying a range extender BMW i3 EV.
James May is buying an electric BMW i3
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Petrolheads will be up in arms at the perceived betrayal of the petrolhead code of conduct by James May, as he reveals he’s buying in to electric cars by getting a range-extender version of the BMW i3 EV.
It’s a very sensible route for May to take, and not at all contrary to Top Gear’s problem with EVs.
The problem with electric cars is not that they’re useless, but that they’re useless as a replacement for the ICE car.
If you have deep enough pockets to afford an electric car as a city car for blatting round town, running to the shops, dropping the kids at school or anything that means staying relatively close to home, an electric car is perfect.
But with prices still silly – and the technology, particularly the battery technology, far from properly mature – you’ll need another car for doing proper journeys.
That’s where the deep pockets come in to play, and for James May that means using his Ferrari when he wants to go further afield.
The best of both worlds.
Martin Winlow says
Puzzled as hell with May’s decision to go with the pig-ugly compromise that is the i3 when he clearly has sufficient funds for a Tesla Model S P85. He could even flog the Ferrari as the S would cover all his dubious bases:- sexy looking (in a sensible way), fast (0-60 in < 4s – 130mph), red (or another colour if you want), just as much range (300 real miles) as either i3 or Ferrari but *fully* electric.
And… "If it's got an exhaust pipe, it ain't electric". MW