Longer trips take planning in an i3. With a coastal campsite 60 miles away (and a realistic electric range of 60-80 miles), I checked the availability of the campsite’s three-pin plug for an overnight ‘re-fill’ so I could drive fully electricly there and back (preserving the range-extender’s 60-80-mile ‘back-up tank’ of unleaded just in case). The key is choosing the right driving mode.

The i3 has three: Comfort (which basically means ‘drive how you want and the car will do its best’), Eco Pro (70mph cap, but easily overridden) and Eco Pro+ (56mph limit and aircon deactivated – pictured). In town, Eco Pro+ is perfect (open the windows a bit if it’s hot), and on motorways Eco Pro results in almost no compromise to driving style – unless you like speeding.

At one point on the way (with the destination in the satnav) a message popped up on my centre screen that said something like “in your current [Comfort] driving mode you do not have sufficient range to get to your destination”.

A bit scary, but honest. After flipping to Eco Pro I was miraculously back in range. Best of all, the switch didn’t take away all accelerator oomph or dial-in harsher re-gen braking. In fact, it all felt pretty normal, and I got there with a dozen, almost comfortable, miles to spare.