In August, I bought a $15k, used 2017 BMW i3-REx to be my City car and backup for my 2019 Tesla. After six months, EV life has become: City EV - the BMW i3-REx has a short wheel base which easily handles city traffic. The BMW only runs the range extender engine to keep it usable about every 60 days. The 108 mi, EV benchmark fully handles trips local to Huntsville and out to neighboring cities. But the short wheel base becomes tiresome on Interstate highways. Highway EV - the 2019 Tesla Model 3 has a longer wheel base and better suspension to deal with Interstate highways. With the expected battery degradation down to ~210 mi range, it is no longer going through daily, short drive, wear. Tesla Nashville reported a battery replacement would cost "$15,000," the cost of the 2017 BMW i3-REx. My recommendation is with today's battery chemistry, have two EVs: Short range, cheap, used EV - use this one for City errands. Long range, new EV - use this one for all long distance trips in comfort. Bob Wilson
Lol, that's what I do. My 2017 Prius Prime is mostly for city driving and the 2021 Model 3 is for out of the city driving. I'm still at 3/4 of the tank I filled last September.
I guess I'm in the 50/50 camp, too. I use the EV when travelling in North Jersey, the EUV when travelling in South Jersey and split it up between the two when travelling in Central Jersey.
I take several flights a year for work and my '14 i3 doesn't have the round trip range to the airport (can charge at the airport but no guarantee of an available charging space when I need it). For this reason I drive the 24mpg Highlander Hybrid, but I'm still burning far less fossil fuel than when I had a 40-50mph Prius as the daily driver including to the airport.
