EV Business Case - Shopping for an EV - 3rd Chapter

Click here if you missed the first chapter...

...Or the second.

Test Drive




Smart

After a few delays and phone calls  to schedule a meeting, i finally got to test drive the electric Fortwo in downtown Lisbon.

A friendly salesperson asked me if i had any experience with electric cars (Negative answer), making made a brief introduction to the car and technology, saying that it was the fuel source of the future.

After sitting in the car and explaining me the main features in the car, i finally got to drive it around town, where it felt just perfect, small enough to travel around through narrow, ancient streets of old neighborhoods, and powerful enough to climb steep hills and sprint through heavy traffic. Oh, and because it doesn't have that nasty gearbox of ICE Smarts, it is a much more relaxed drive than their gas siblings.

Back to the dealership, i considered that the car didn't justified the huge price difference regarding their ICE siblings, to which the sales person replied that he couldn't make a significant discount on it because few were sold and there wasn't enough scale to lower the price, leaving the possibility for me to buy a gasoline Fortwo or renting the Fortwo ED as alternatives.

Smart believes that electric cars are still for a few single-minded people that buy more with their heart than with their wallet.




BMW

I've saved the best for last, when i got into the dedicated BMW "i" dealership in downtown Lisbon (In a strategic spot, with other dealerships nearby, like Audi, Peugeot, Toyota or Chevrolet), the first thing that it struck me was how different it looked from other dealerships(1), Premium or non Premium, with minimalist decoration and a nice contrast between colors, it looked more like i've entered an Art Gallery than a car dealership. 

Two minutes after getting inside the dealership, i'm greeted by a salesperson in a "i" polo shirt (Like every other staff members), and after a few early questions, the i3 is showed to me by him, with the salesperson proving to be a devoted fan of electric cars and very much focused in highlighting the top selling points of the car.

After this first presentation, i'm introduced to another staff member that would be with me during the test drive. Before getting into the car, i'm asked to lend my ID car for them to register my data on their Db (Glad for them i'm not paranoid about this kind of stuff).

The test drive had predetermined route, that pretty much covered all kinds of roads and situations, with the added bonus of visiting one or two more scenic places in Lisbon.

As for the i3 itself, all i can say is this: "Weeeee!", besides being a small car with not that much weight to carry around, it shows on how lively it is, it has more than enough power to blast every other car in traffic lights, let's just say that if i had one, i would jeopardize my drivers licence every time i had to drive it...

After stopping in Monsanto Green Park, the staff member (An electronics engineer), explained me how to plug and unplug the car to a fast charger, encouraging me to unplug it. During the test drive i made a few questions on the technology behind the i3 (Materials, charging rates, batteries, software, etc), to which he replied willingly and accurately.

Back to the dealership, i'm introduced to a third member of the staff, "which would assist me through the configuration of the car" (It takes a specialist to do this?!?!?).

During the extensive configuration of the car, at times it felt more like we were doing Interior Decorating of a house than a car, so many were the options. (Yes, it does).

After more than 5.000 euro of optional equipment later, we finished the configuration and by then the salesperson joined us and asked my opinion, i objected that the price was too high, to which he replied that there was a lot of new technology involved in this car, so the price had to be high. I asked if they had any demonstration car, but they responded that BMW Portugal had yet to put any demonstration i3 for sale, giving the possibility for me to rent the car at an interesting fare.

The best plug-in car i've tried and probably the best staff in selling electric cars. But be careful with the options list as you might end up with stratospheric numbers in an already overpriced car.  

(1) - At least from what i remembered from my college-student-part-time-mistery-shopper days

World Top 10 May 2014


Models - A Whole Lotta Records

There were 24.414 plug-ins sold last month, representing the second best sales month ever for plug-ins, only behind the freak event that was last December, where 28.079 EV's were sold.

This great performance shows in the individual sales, where four cars got new sales records, those being the Prius Plug-in (2.932 units), Fusion Energi (1.352), BYD Qin (1.008) and BMW i3. 

Another sign of a good global performance, is that seven cars sold in the thousands, when a year ago only four achieved those numbers.

Looking to models ranking, the leader Nissan Leaf lost another 1% in share, with the less than stellar performance in Europe to blame.

Only one position change this time, with the Ford Fusion surpassing the BYD Qin to reach #6.

Out of the Top 10 but with deserved references, the Renault Zoe was #9 in May, while the Ford C-Max Energi was #10, with this last one ending just 17 units away (3.015) from the VW e-Up! in the YTD ranking. 


PlWORLDMayYTD%'13Pl
1Nissan Leaf4.75722.074221
2Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV2.29610.575105
3Tesla Model S2.30710.506104
4Toyota Prius Plug-In2.9329.05393
5Chevrolet Volt (1)1.8857.86382
6Ford Fusion Energi1.3524.34649
7BYD Qin1.0084.302440
8BMW i39833.836420
9Chery QQ3 EV e)6003.216311
10Volkswagen e-Up!7183.032318

TOTAL24.414100.841


Manufacturers - Toyota month 

In the Manufacturers ranking, the star of the month was Toyota, #2 in May and running away with its #4 from Chevrolet and Ford.

The #7 BYD continues to improve with yet another sales record (Now at 1.261 units/month), but with Renault back on track (1.450 units sold), the fight for #7 should be interesting.

In #10 is for Chery, taking credit for the increased demand of plug-ins in China, but VW is just 74 units behind....


PlWORLDMayYTD%'13Pl
1Nissan4.82822.126221
2Mitsubishi2.41912.175123
3Tesla2.30710.506105
4Toyota3.0819.50894
5Chevrolet 2.0678.43682
6Ford2.3378.16287
7BYD1.2615.436511
8Renault1.4505.10056
9BMW1.0473.868413
10Chery e)6303.38349





(1) - Includes Holden Volt, Opel and Vauxhall Ampera;

e) - Estimate


Questions for June

1 - Which model will be #2? And #6? And #10?

2 - Who will improve their sales records?

3 - Will the BMW i3 reach four digit sales?

4 - Which manufacturer will be #5?

5 - Can VW remove Chery from #10?

Automotive technology

Automotive

Labels

1904 Columbus 1940 Ford 1964 Worlds Fair 1969 Camaro 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee 2014 2016 Sales 2017 The Bad 8 2017 The Good 12 3 wheeler 4 G 407 407 ex2 427 AC Cobra 440 six pack 442 4x 4x4 55 Chevy 57 Chevy 5th wheel AAR abandoned abs abuse by law enforcement AC Cobra Acadian accessories accident Acoustic processing Active noise control (ANC) Acura Acura Reviews adaptive cruise control ADAS Adobe AIR ads adventurers advertising aerodynamics Aircraft engines airlines airplane Airstream Alfa Alfa Romeo Alfa-Romeo All Cars Rankings All SUV Rankings All Vehicle Rankings Alpina Alpine AMBR winner ambulance AMC America's greatest photographers American LaFrance amphib AMX AMX-3 Andorra Andrew Poliak Android Andy Gryc anti lock braking system App World Apps Arab-Supercar area controller Ariel-Nomad ARM-based devices art Art Arfons Art Deco artist Asset management system Aston Martin Aston-Martin atv auction Audi Audi Reviews audio Augmented reality Austin Austin Healey Australia Austria Auto Accident Attorney auto car donate auto car donation Auto Donate Auto Donation California Auto hobby books Auto Sales By Brand auto show Auto Story in Pictures Wednesday auto taxi Autocar automobile automobile donation AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE automobile parts automobile safety system automobule donate Autonomous cars Awards awesome B 29 B 52 BAIC Baja racing Baker banners barn find barn finds barnfind barnfinds Barracuda Barris barum BatBerry Batman Batteries battery beautiful engine Beautiful paint before and after Belgium Bello's belly tanker Bentley Best Sellers Best Selling American Cars Best Selling Cars Best Selling Luxury Best Selling SUVs Best Selling Trucks Best Selling Vehicles bicycle bicycles Big 3 Swap Meet big wheel bike messengers bike rack biofuel biography BlackBerry BlackBerry Radar BlackBerry-QNX blink code blink code checkup blink code error blink code troubleshooting Blog blogs BMW BMW Audi Mercedes Benz Daimler jeep GM toyota Chrysler VW volkswagon nissan infiniti ford unique rare Bntley boardtrack Boats boattail Bonneville book review bookmobile Boss 302 Boss 429 brake brakes braking system Brand Marketshare brass era breedlove Brewster Brian Salisbury Bricklin bridge British Britten brochure Bugatti Buick Bulgaria burnout bus Buses buying selling cash tips money advice BYD c C-type Jag Cadillac Cadillac Reviews Camaro Can Am Canada Canada 2016 Sales Canada All Cars Rankings Canada All SUV Rankings Canada All Vehicle Rankings Canada Auto Sales Canada Auto Sales By Brand Canada Best Sellers Canada Compact Car Sales Canada December 2016 Canada Entry Luxury Car Sales Canada February 2017 Canada January 2017 Canada Large Car Sales Canada Large Luxury Car Sales Canada Large Luxury SUV Sales Canada Large SUV Sales Canada March 2017 Canada Midsize Car Sales Canada Midsize Luxury Car Sales Canada Midsize Luxury SUV Sales Canada Midsize SUV Sales Canada Minivan Sales Canada November 2016 Canada October 2016 Canada Premium Sporty Car Sales Canada September 2016 Canada Small Luxury SUV Sales Canada Small SUV Sales Canada Sporty Car Sales Canada Truck Sales Canada Van Sales Canada Worst Sellers car care car chase scene car clubs car collections car collectors Car Donate car donate california car donation Car Donations California Car or the Future car wash carbs carrozzeria cart caterpillar tracked vehicle CCS celebrities celebrity Certicom CES CESA 2012 CESA 3.0 Chademo Challenger Chaparral Charger Charity Charity auction charity car donation Charity Car Donation Program Charity Car With Your Credit Card cheating Checker Chery Chevelle Chevrolet Chevrolet Reviews Chevy 2 China chopper Christian Sobottka Christie Christmas Chrysler Citroen Citroën classics cleaning clip Cloud connectivity CO2 Cobra Cobra Daytona Coupe Cobra Mustang Cobra Torino COE Cogent collection collector College Colombia commercial common rail direct injection Compact Car Sales companies comparison compliment components components of anti-lock braking system concept Concept car Concept team Connected Car construction Consumer Electronics Show consumers Contest convertible Coronet Corvair corvette Corvettes Costa Rica coupe coventry cragar crash crde crdi Croatia Crosley crossover Cruise 4 Kids crypto cryptography CTS Cuda Cunningham Curtiss Aerocar Custom customer satisfaction cutaway display cycle car Cyclone Cyprus Czech Republic dacia Daihatsu Dan Gurney dart Datsun Daytona ddis DDS dealers Dealership Dean Martin December 2016 Degree delivery truck Delorean Delphi Demon Denmark Derek Kuhn design deuce devices Dick Landy dicor Digital instrument clusters digital spark ignition Diner with car theme direction injection Disney display diy Dodge domain controller Donate Donate A Car Tax Deduction Donate Automobile To Charity Donate Car To Charity Tax Deduction Donate Vehicles To Charity donation donation auto car donation vehicles to charity Doug Newcomb Drag racing drag strip Dragonsnake dragsters DREAM drifting Driven Driver distraction driving assistance drunk driver DS dtsi dual carbs dual engined dualie Ducati dump truck dvla E-type Jag ECC economy ECU Ecuador electric electric car Electric cars electromagnetic brake Elliptic Curve Cryptography EMF Emil Dautovic Endurance racing engine engine accessories Engine sound enhancement engines Entry Luxury Car Sales enzo Erskine Essex estate Estonia etc EUCAR Europe EV Business Case Evel Knievel event experience experiment extreme sports video F1 Factor-Aurelio Factory lightweight Factory race car Fairlane Falcon Fast boot Fast-Charging FCA FCEV February 2017 Ferrari Fiat Fiat Botafogo finance Finland fips fire engine fire fighting fire trucks Firebird Firestone firetrucks Fisker flamejob fleet management Ford ford escort Ford Reviews Fordson tractor Forecasts FOTA found around the neighborhood France Franklin Free Car Donation Freescale french fuel fuel injection fuel injection system Fuel Tanker fuel-cell fun Funny car Futurliner gadgets Galpin Ford game garage garner gas mileage gas stations Gasser Gauges GCBC Awards GCBC Most Popular Geely Gene Winfield General Motors German Germany give your car to charity GM GM MyLink GNX Go cart good news Goodwood Goodyear gourmet food vans GPU Graham Gran Prix Grand National Roadster Show 2017 Grand Sport Corvette Graph Great Wall Motors Greece green Green car Gremlin GT GT 350 GT 40 GT 500 gt40 GTO GTX Gulf race car Gullwing Guy Martin Hands-free systems Harley Harley Davidson hauler Hawaii helicopter hemi hemmings Hennessey Henry J hero Hertz hire Hispano-Suiza historical history HMIs Holden Hollywood Holman Moody Honda Honda Reviews Honda Sales Hong Kong Hood ornaments hood scoops Horizon 2020 horse carriage horse wagon host blog info about auto Hot rods Hot Wheels Housekeeping How To Donate How To Donate A Car For Tax Deduction How To Donate Car To Charity how to donation car to charity HRM HTML5 Hudson Hummer humor humour Humvee Hungary Hupmobile Hurst Hurst SC Rambler hybrid Hybrid cars hydrogen hypervisor Hyundai Hyundai Reviews Ian Roussel Iceland ID4 Car ignition IIoT immitation Impala india Indian Indianapolis industry news infiniti Infiniti Reviews Info infographic informative Infotainment Injury Lawyer Innotrans innova innovation innovative instrument panel insurance intake Intel interior International Harvester Internet of Things Internet radio invitation IoT Ireland iris iris details iris engine details iris technical Isetta Iskenderian Isky Isle of Man ISO 26262 Israel issues Isuzu Italian Italy ITS ITU IVI Jaguar January 2017 Japan Japanese Javelin Jay Leno Jean-François Tarabbia Jeep Jeep Wrangler JLR John D'Agostino John Deere John Wall Justin Moon jv Kaivan Karimi Kandi kawasaki Ken Block Kerry Johnson Kia kids Kim Cairns Kissel Kombi Kroy Zeviar Kurtis La Carrera Panamerica lace paint Lamborghini Lamborghini Revuelto Lancia Land Cruiser Land Rover Land Rover Sales land speed record holder Land-Rover Large Car Sales Large Luxury Car Sales Large Luxury SUV Sales Large SUV Sales Larry Wood LaSalle Latvia launch law enforcement lawnmower laws Le Mans legends Leno Lexus license plates Lidar Life Insurance limited Lincoln Lincoln MKZ Linda Campbell Linda Vaughn links lists Lithuania live Loans Locomobile logging train logging trucks Lola London to Brighton Looking for EV's Los Angeles Lotus lowrider LSR Luxembourg luxury Lyft Lynn Gayowski Mach 1 machine shop Mack Mad Max magazine magazines magic iris mags Malaysia March 2017 Mario Andretti Mark Donohue marketing Marketshare Maserati Matt Watson Maverick Mazda Mazda Reviews MB McLaren mechanic Megan Alink meme Memory Lane Men Micro Mercedes Mercedes Benz Mercedes-Benz Mercer Cobra Mercury Metallica Metro Mexico Miata microkernal Midsize Car Sales Midsize Luxury Car Sales Midsize Luxury SUV Sales Midsize SUV Sales Military Miller race car mini mini bike miniature Minivan Sales MirrorLink mission-critical Mitsubishi Miura MMI Mobile connectivity Mobile World Congress mod top Model Model A model T modifications Momo Monaco Monster Truck Moon Moon eyes Mopar Mopar parts Morgan Morocco morons mot Motor shows motor wheel Motorcycle Motorcycles motorhomes Mouse movie movies mpv Multicore Munsters Muntz muscle cars musclecars museum music video Mustang NAIAS Nancy Young Nascar Nash Navigation naza neglec neglected Netherlands new tv show New York New Zealand news ni Nissan Nissan Reviews Nomad Norway nos nose art Nova November 2016 Nurburgring Object Management group October 2016 off roading offenhauser Oldsmobile OMG Online College OnStar Opel Open source Open standards OpenGL ES option orders original owner Ormond Beach land speed racing pace car Packard Pagani Paige pamphlet panel paint Paris to Peking race parking parts Patryk Fournier Paul Leroux Paul Newman Paul Sykes Pebble Beach pedal car perodua personal Peter McCarthy petrol petroliana Peugeot Phoenix Injury photographer photography pics pictures Pierce Arrow Pike's Peak Pinin Farina pinstriping Pit row Pits Pixar PKI plank road PlayBook Plymouth Point Grey Camera Poland pole wheel police Polysynch Pontiac Porsche Porsche 917 Porsche Carrera Portugal POSIX pre 1930's gas station Premium Sporty Car Sales President of the USA Preview prices prius project prooject Proton prototype PSA Peugeot Citroen public key cryptography Pullman QNX QNX CAR QNX Garage QNX OS Qualcomm quiz quote race cars racing racing. LSR Radar radio Raid Data rail railcars railroad ralliart Rally rallying Ram range rover rant Rapid Transit System advertsing rare Real time Innovations recall recommended shop record setter Red Bull Sports Reference vehicle Reliability Rémi Bastien RemoteLink Renault Renesas Renntransporter rentals REO repair reports resarch research restoration restoration shop review Richard Bishop Ridler Award Winner rims river bank cars road and highway Road Runner roadster Robot OS Robot wars Roewe Roger Penske Rolls Royce Romain Saha Romania ROS Roth RTI RTI Connext rumble seat Russia Ruxton RV Safety Safety systems safety-certified sales Sales By Model Sales Stats samba sampan Saoutchik Satellite satnav Scaglietti scallops Scat Pack SCCA racecar School bus sci-fi Scooter SCORE Baja trucks Scott Pennock Scout sculpture Security sedan segway semi sensor extension cable sensor fusion September 2016 service service repair automotive vehicle car buying selling mission statement blog free broker shay drive locomotive Shelby shifter shop Show cars sidecars signs skateboarding Skoda slicks slingshot dragster Slovakia Slovenia Small Luxury SUV Sales Small SUV Sales Smart Smartphones snow machines snowmobile Soapbox South Africa South Korea Sox and Martin Spain spare tire spark ignition spark plug spark plugs Spatial auditory displays special edition Mustangs Speech interfaces speed limit Speed Record speedfest speedster sports car sports cars Sporty Car Sales spy shots spyker Sri Lanka SS SS/AH Stagecoach Stanley Station Wagon steam locomotive steam powered steam shovel steampunk steering wheel Steve McQueen Stig Stirling Moss Stolen streamliner street cars Street Van studebaker stunt stunts Stutz Stutz Blackhawk Subaru Sunbeam Super Bee Super Stock Superbird Supercar supercharger survey suv Suzuki Sweden Swift Switzerland System development Life Cycle Tablets Tach takeover tank tata tata magic iris tata vehicles tax Tax Deduction For Car Donation taxi taxi cab TCS tdi teardrop technical technology Telematics Telematics Detroit Telematics Update tempo Tempo Matador Terlingua Racing Team Terry Staycer Tesla test testdrive Texas Instruments The Race Of Gentlemen Thomas Bloor thoughts three wheeler Thunderbird ticket Tiger Tim Neil Tina Jeffrey tips tires tool tool kit toolbox tools Top Gear top ten list Torino tour bus tourbus towtruck Toyota Toyota Entune Toyota Reviews tractor trailer train train wreck trains Trans Am transmission Transporter Traval trike Triumph trivia trolley Troy Trepanier truck Truck Sales trucking trucks Tucker turbocharger turbojet turbonique Turkey tv tv cars twin spark type 1 type 2 tyres UAE Uber UK UK Auto Sales UK Best Sellers uk market Ukraine Unimog unique University of Waterloo Unser unusual unveil upgrade US US 2016 Sales US All Cars Rankings US All SUV Rankings US All Vehicle Rankings US Auto Sales US Auto Sales By Brand US Best Sellers US Compact Car Sales US December 2016 US Entry Luxury Car Sales US February 2017 US January 2017 US Large Car Sales US Large Luxury Car Sales US Large Luxury SUV Sales US Large SUV Sales US March 2017 US Midsize Car Sales US Midsize Luxury Car Sales US Midsize Luxury SUV Sales US Midsize SUV Sales US Minivan Sales US Navy US November 2016 US October 2016 US September 2016 US Small Luxury SUV Sales US Small SUV Sales US Sporty Car Sales US Truck Sales US US Auto Sales US Van Sales US Worst Sellers USA used cars V2X van Van Sales vauxhall VeDeCoM Vehicle Donation California Velodyne Vespa Video vintage vintage racing Virtual mechanic Virtualization VOIP Guide Volkswagen Volkswagen Reviews Volkswagen Sales Volvo Von Dutch vote VW VW bug W3C wagon train wall of death washer washer fluid Watson's Webinars website what is donation what is it wheel speed sensor wheelchair White williams Willys windshield washer wing Wireless framework women woodlight headlights Woody work truck working principle of anti-lock braking system workshop World Worst Sellers wreck Wrongful Death WW1 WW2 XK SS Yoram Berholtz Yoshiki Chubachi Z 11 Z-28 Z28 zamboni ZL1 Zotye