BMW i3

[klaus]

Unlike the Ford Focus Electric vehicle, the BMW i3 is built from the ground up as an electric vehicle. That allows engineers to fully experiment with the electric concept, hopefully coming up with something pretty cool.

There's rumors the BMW i3 may debut in September at the Frankfurt auto show.

here's a spy photo of what is believed to be the BMW i3 Electric Vehicle:


And the BMW i8 Electric Vehicle... waaaay cooler:

[jhnharvy773]

Unlike the Ford Focus Electric vehicle, the BMW i3 is built from the ground up as an electric vehicle. That allows engineers to fully experiment with the electric concept, hopefully coming up with something pretty cool.

There's rumors the BMW i3 may debut in September at the Frankfurt auto show.

here's a spy photo of what is believed to be the BMW i3 Electric Vehicle:


And the BMW i8 Electric Vehicle... waaaay cooler:

actually this is a great car ever built by BMW they have the nicest parts ever built and some othe parts are very expensive but it is the best parts in any makes BMW Parts are great on this Ford Focus Electric forum

[toffty]

I am very interested in the i3. If BMW can release it at a mid $30k or possibly @ $40k I will seriously consider it once my Leaf's lease is up. Here's the main page on BMW. Also pics of the inside.

http://www.bmw-i.com/en_ww/bmw-i3/

FYI: The sports car is the i8 in those pics is a hybrid - electric front wheel drive and gas back wheel drive.

[GreenRPMs]

Hi klaus,

What do you mean when you say the electric car is "built from the ground up"? I was always under the impression the Ford Focus Electric was built entirely in the States at a production facility in Michigan. The Focus EV is also supposed to be at the forefront of electric vehicle technology. I will say the BMW does look pretty awesome though!

[KeiJidosha]

I am very interested in the i3. If BMW can release it at a mid $30k or possibly @ $40k I will seriously consider it once my Leaf's lease is up. Here's the main page on BMW. Also pics of the inside.

http://www.bmw-i.com/en_ww/bmw-i3/

FYI: The sports car is the i8 in those pics is a hybrid - electric front wheel drive and gas back wheel drive.

Also interested in the BMW i3 and hoping it starts under $40k. Many will want to load it up, but I’m looking for a solid EV with basic options. I think it’s more than two years off, so looking for an EV to hold me over.

[KeiJidosha]

Hi klaus,

What do you mean when you say the electric car is "built from the ground up"? I was always under the impression the Ford Focus Electric was built entirely in the States at a production facility in Michigan. The Focus EV is also supposed to be at the forefront of electric vehicle technology. I will say the BMW does look pretty awesome though!

BMW i3 was designed as a Battery Electric Vehicle. Focus is a Gas powered vehicle converted to an EV. There are good reasons for either choice. BMW i3 will be mostly Carbon Fiber and Aluminum to keep the weight down, but is two years off. Focus is available today.

[klaus]

I found there is a whole specific BMW i3 Forum (run by the same people as this Focus Electric Forum). They just started it up but there's already some people on there, including Tom Maloughney who has some inside info as he's been involved with BMW's electric vehicles since the Smart EV.

http://www.mybmwi3.com/forum

[hybridbear]

I recently did a weekend test drive of the i3. I wasn't very impressed with it. I don't care for all the hard interior surfaces, even if they are recycled. I didn't find the dash displays to be as useful for EV data, except for the fact that it has a nice power meter front & center on the dash, this is something that the FFE desperately needs!

I did like the seating position & visibility in the i3. The windows are very tall. However, there are no rear windows to lower & there's no sunroof available. There are also no mini blind spot mirrors in the side mirrors & no blind spot system. I've gotten so used to having Fords with either the BLIS system or the integrated spotter mirrors like in the FFE that I don't want to be without one of those options. The back seat is also unusable in the i3. It will be removed from my list of possible EVs to replace the FFE when my lease ends in August.

The one area where the i3 clearly reigned supreme was in efficiency. I picked up the car Saturday afternoon & drove from the dealer to my parents' house to pick up my mom for an errand that was back near the dealer, then I brought her back home and had to go back to the dealer for something that I had forgotten in the FFE, then from there I went home & charged for a few minutes until I had enough range to do one last errand. All said & done 91 miles at 4.7 mi/kWh (about 213 Wh/mi). This was good efficiency considering that I did use some A/C and that about 70-75 of the 91 miles were on the freeway.


On Sunday I took the i3 for a scenic drive. I want to duplicate this drive in the FFE one of these days to see its Wh/mi for this drive. The drive was mostly at 40-50 MPH with minimal stops, cruising near Lake Minnetonka and that area. The i3 managed 60 miles at 5.5 mi/kWh (182 Wh/mi). I bet the FFE would be around 190-200 Wh/mi for this same drive.


Monday I drove the i3 to work in the morning & then back to the dealership around lunchtime. This was freeway driving almost the entire way and resulted in 19 miles at 4.6 mi/kWh (217 Wh/mi). The FFE ran about 225-230 Wh/mi on this same route.

[WattsUp]

I didn't find the dash displays to be as useful for EV data

Thanks for the review. I've never actually been in an i3.

Wow, the weirdly abbreviated "Consumpt." on the display looks terrible. They should have just said "Energy" or "Usage" or something else that would fit.

And, the i3 display graphics reminds me of those list-heavy flip-phone user-interfaces from the early 2000s. Unimaginative and clunky.

I'm always left impressed by the displays in the FFE whenever I see the displays in other EVs (except Tesla of course).

[electrons]

The one area where the i3 clearly reigned supreme was in efficiency.

That's mostly due to the lower weight of the i3, producing less rolling tire drag and drivetrain friction.
The i3 is 700 lbs lighter than the Focus (20% lighter!). That is key to efficiency.
Note the i3 has extremely narrow tires for less rolling resistance to help as well, only 155 mm compared to our FFE's beefy 225 mm widths.