EV general discussion

BMW leather starts wearing the moment you get it out the showroom, I've had 6 BMWs and none have worn as well as our Model Y.. The seats in the Model Y aren't sporty, that's the biggest difference, but for long journeys, I've found the Tesla seats supporting and really comfortable..

We have i4's (and i5's) on our fleet and the i4 feels just like any other BMW, so if that is your thing, go for it, but it doesn't feel that premium to me, and the seats have scuffed bolsters already with <10K miles.
I found my 320i held up well. I had it for four years and no noticeable wear.
Will speak to the boss and see if I can get some commitment about how long I can keep the Tesla as I do like the tech. And I'll probably get used to the seats.
Thanks!
 
I've found leather seats in cars very hit and miss for quality - even with the same brand/model you might find they start showing wear very quickly or seem to last forever even under the same usage. Not quite sure why. I've kind of gravitated towards half Alcantara with leather trim rather than full leather as they tend to be more comfortable generally and don't have the same problem as full leather in being initially too cold in winter and scorching hot in summer, while still looking smart.
 
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Tesla's vegan leather stuff is amazingly durable, RSymonds often does videos of him buying high ish mile Model 3/Model Y's and always comments how well they wear.. However, they are just fairly bland seats and very american in design, wide, only small bolsters and made for doing 1000's of miles at a time.

The BMW issue is mainly the side bolsters, the ergonomics of getting in/out mean most people catch them with their backsides and scuff them, more so on the sportier MSport seats.. I've looked at dozens of AUC BMWs and found minor wear on cars with <10K miles..

Mustangs seem much better, but their standard seats aren't that bolstered.. I also find the fake leather used in many Mercs holds up quite well, but you are correct in saying it's quite random, I think it's more to do with the ergonomics of ingress/egress as well as the type of seat and the cheap real leather is inherently not that durable.
 
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The seat comfort issue could be more related to the high floor than the seat itself. You may well find the same thing is an issue in the i4.

The 320i wouldn’t have a a battery taking up what was a footwell and that’s the compromise of this style of vehicle and how they are constructed.
 
The seat comfort issue could be more related to the high floor than the seat itself. You may well find the same thing is an issue in the i4.

The 320i wouldn’t have a a battery taking up what was a footwell and that’s the compromise of this style of vehicle and how they are constructed.
Compared to my M235i the i4 seating position is bliss, but we're all made differently.
 
with the BMW leather seats - disclosure I've never had the real full leather vernasca variety, rather just the pleather ones , my experience is that it is
calender againg on the seats, UV & heat changes, as much as bums, that contributes to degradation & crease lines,
passenger seat wasn't used during the daily commute, but it didn't look so different.
so I'd need to see a tesla interior in the third owners hands.

If customer wants heated and cooled seats would real leather have the durability anyway
 
with the BMW leather seats - disclosure I've never had the real full leather vernasca variety, rather just the pleather ones , my experience is that it is
calender againg on the seats, UV & heat changes, as much as bums, that contributes to degradation & crease lines,
passenger seat wasn't used during the daily commute, but it didn't look so different.
so I'd need to see a tesla interior in the third owners hands.

If customer wants heated and cooled seats would real leather have the durability anyway
You've never had them but feel qualified to comment on it anyway... that's every post on this thread since you don't have an EV :D

Not sure how UV could lead to crease lines?
 

You've never had them but feel qualified to comment on it anyway... that's every post on this thread since you don't have an EV :D

Not sure how UV could lead to crease lines?
Insane isn’t in. Commenting with guesses and nothing. My 14 yr bmw leather seats look mint still. Replaced them last year Tbh how you get in and out has more of an impact on the seat.
 
Not sure how UV could lead to crease lines?

I'm not an expert on this but I worked at Pittards as a lab assistant for awhile amongst other things doing UV quality testing (mercury vapour lamps) - while crease lines are predominantly from wear - real leather is not a perfect material, and even synthetic types are often not perfect quality, and the production of the finished product is also often not perfect so UV and heat cycles, especially if unevenly shaded, etc. will result in varying stiffness of fibres, differing moisture content, if the finish is uneven/not uniform that will start to have an effect in the longer run, etc. resulting in creases/wrinkles appearing.
 
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I'm not an expert on this but I worked at Pittards as a lab assistant for awhile amongst other things doing UV quality testing (mercury vapour lamps) - while crease lines are predominantly from wear - real leather is not a perfect material, and even synthetic types are often not perfect quality, and the production of the finished product is also often not perfect so UV and heat cycles, especially if unevenly shaded, etc. will result in varying stiffness of fibres, differing moisture content, if the finish is uneven/not uniform that will start to have an effect in the longer run, etc. resulting in creases/wrinkles appearing.
There you go, learn something every day :D
 
There you go, learn something every day :D

A lot of it is avoidable if the industry and consumers cared about quality - which ironically probably answers my own question up above - you might get one vehicle that uses leather cut from the good bits of a hide and another from the runt bits :s at least in the businesses I had experience of there was very much a culture of "test it until it passes" :(
 
I'm not an expert on this but I worked at Pittards as a lab assistant for awhile amongst other things doing UV quality testing (mercury vapour lamps) - while crease lines are predominantly from wear - real leather is not a perfect material, and even synthetic types are often not perfect quality, and the production of the finished product is also often not perfect so UV and heat cycles, especially if unevenly shaded, etc. will result in varying stiffness of fibres, differing moisture content, if the finish is uneven/not uniform that will start to have an effect in the longer run, etc. resulting in creases/wrinkles appearing.
UV A or B can cause damage to leather inside a car? I'm sure UV B is blocked to a greater degree but not A..
 
UV A or B can cause damage to leather inside a car? I'm sure UV B is blocked to a greater degree but not A..

I only have passing knowledge but UV A is the worst for long term degradation on leather and is less blocked than B in a car. The UV protection in car windows is not total so over time you still get enough to do damage from both types of UV - if you have say a PLA 3D printed attachment in a car, some people make their own phone holders, etc., over time it will become faded and brittle / start cracking from the UV exposure.

(The topcoat will also provide some protection - otherwise car leather seats wouldn't last long at all).
 
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Just going back a few weeks about the iX3 range.

I believe it was Journey who was essentially saying BMW "Brute force" it with a large battery as opposed to improvements in the drivetrain etc.

So far done 400 miles and achieved 4.1 miles per kWh which I think is very good. I did reset it after the first few days where I was testing the acceleration quite a lot :D

There was also a test by a Nordic magazine and they nearly got the full claimed 500 miles range:

 
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4.1 is very good.

It’s better than I get on my 23 plate Model Y (almost all my driving is high speed motorway, towing also drags it down a lot).

The newer model Y is better but not that much better.
 
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