Iq Electric

[stormuk]

Still no firm news on when these will come out estimated 2012 and how much they will be.

I'm going to plump for £23,000 so £18,000 including the goverment allowance.

Personally I think if I did go for one it would be a year old one as, basing that on the depn hit of the prius - the miles I do suit electric range, my IQ isnt my main family car so it never needs to do more than the 20 miles it does a day currently

[caffrey]

I'd buy one but the price would have to be right, if its a lot more than the petrol it wouldn't be worth buying (unless petrol really goes through the roof)

I currently only spend 40 quid a month on fuel - commute is 16 miles a day, so by my reckoning the electric would have to be cheaper than the petrol - which just isn't going to happen.

[jlstrange]

An e-iQ could present a marketing challenge in the US as the iQ will be sold as a Scion here this summer which are aimed toward young urban hipsters. Doesn't seem to me that an e-iQ fits that scenario.

[Doubleti]

50 / 50

[Salsadicto]

My answer isn't in the poll : maybe

If the car can be "refillled" quickly and anywhere. I want to be able to go across France (where i live) for my holydays with my car.

I also want to be able to drive at least 300km before "refilling" the car

[stormuk]

I think the 300km means no not maybe

[Fueled by Persil]

The concern I have with any electric car is lifespan of the batteries and how much they will cost to replace.

This may impact the secondhand value and so i would stay with petrol version until they have something else because of the issues above

[sueiq]

Is it not possible to have a hybrid iQ?

[sueiq]

I have found this information about the electric iQ: http://www.greencarsite.co.uk/econews/Toyota-iQ-electric-car.htm

[jlstrange]

Did anyone see this at Geneva? Did it look the same and did it impact the interior space?

[Grumpy Cabbie]

The concern I have with any electric car is lifespan of the batteries and how much they will cost to replace.

This may impact the secondhand value and so i would stay with petrol version until they have something else because of the issues above

I remember seeing all these Battery lifespan concerns when the Prius came out ten years ago. In fact I even remember all the doom and gloom merchants saying that unleaded petrol (when it came out in 1987) would ruin cars, dealers would have to stock up on valves, you'd have to say goodbye to performace cars etc etc.

Other than failing batteries in the early Prius grey imports (which are now reaching 14 years old) you'd be hard pushed to find a Prius with a failed HV Battery. Check out this link about a Prius taxi in Canada that's done 1 million KM (about 700k miles) and had it's HV (High Voltage) Battery replaced at 600k miles. Oh and they're refering to US mpg and as the US gallon is smaller than ours - 3.7 litres compared to 4.5 litres for a UK gallon, the 40 mpg figure they quote is about 49 mpg UK. http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110125/bc_olsen_prius_reliability_110125/20110125?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

The battery in the IQ EV will be the same type as in a phone or laptop BUT (and it's an important but hence in capitals) it's the way the battery is managed that allows for a longer life. Toyota will also have over engineered the battery to give maximum life in all conditions such as -30c in Norway to +40c in Australia. You will find the battey should easily last 10 years but will probably have a life in miles, so a 2 year old car with 100k miles will have a marginal battery whereas a 10 year old car with 20k will probably be OK.

Put it another way, Nissan say their new EV Leaf will have 80% capacity after 5 years or 80k miles. Also, by the time a HV battery does need to be replaced the prices will have come down significantly - like they did for the Prius.