BMW, along with Tesla, is doing what looked impossible a few years ago. Electric cars are finally becoming desirable. Maybe it took the power of a couple of premium brands to help them on the way. Or maybe it's the radical looks and carbonfibre structure of the BMW i3? Either way, EVs are here to stay.
And if the BMW i3 is anything to go by, they're here to be enjoyed, rather than endured.
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tuga
Really?
A: No, because the i3 isn't affordable.
Clarkey
I want to like it but..
The REX version is substantially heavier / slower than the pure electric version (hence the 8s plus 0-60 time) and stopping to fill the 9l tank on a long journey would p me off just as much as stopping at a fast charger.
Is the sudden flush of evangelism from Autocar mostly because it has a prestige German badge on the front?
Safari
It is a BMW so of Course it is Great
Mario B
bmw i3
BertoniBertone
Expensive ? Yes, but the gorilla in the room is re-fueling time
Now, the i3. What a technically brilliant product !! Yes, let's dispose of the 19th century tech of the combustion engine and embrace electric propulsion ! Yes, let's revel in BMW's superb ability to make it feel like a proper BMW ! Let's install BMW charging unit at home and charge up fr an equivalent of £ 3 quid a gallon !! Let's celebrate the suburbanite's liberation from public transport and the burden of the congestion charge and parking in central London !! Break out free beer and let's dance in the streets......
Then, suddenly, Kensington & Chelsea realise they're losing millions in free parking and kill the 'electric friendly parking' scheme overnight. Then, because of hundreds of i3 owners are chasing down a limited range of on-street chargers, you find you can only commute from A-B and never consider A-C and back to B - unless you've spent a further £ 3.2 K on a 600cc motorbike engine with a 9 litre fuel tank and added 120kg to your 'light-weight' i3.
I can re-fuel my combustion-engine car in approx 5 minutes: it would take me 4 hours for an electric i3. Result: "filling station through-put" completely knackers an all-electric i3.
If we all drove electric i3s we'd need at least 20 times more filling station capacity in central London....Mmmmm, did BMW check real estate prices in the Capital beforehand ?
So, the compromise is a 9 litre fuel tank, lots of visits to top-up each week, a pretty hefty increase in weight (around 8-9% of the vehicle) and a frankly cheeky extra £ 3.2K......
I'd be happy to compromise on stopping at a fuel station even 5 or 6 times a week but if the attendant asked you to leave your keys with him for 4 hours whilst he brimmed it with 4-star you'd think he was mad, wouldn't you ?!! That's is the nub here: electric 're-fueling' is a huge, gaping hole in the electric car's proposition and, due to that, regretfully "I'm out"......
superstevie
How often do I drive 160
Peter Cavellini
And if you believe that............?!
If you do this as daily mileage,why haven't you bought a Diesel?,because Petrol and Diesel are still at this moment in time,cheaper to run than an Ev.
superstevie
I have Peter, I bought a
NMGOM
BMW i3
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Motormouths
It's not particularly
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