BMW has finally made a real EV. It’s not another retrofit hack-job that stuffs an electric motor and battery pack into car that was never intended for electrification. It’s been designed from the ground up to serve two purposes: electrify the automaker and stay true to the Ultimate Driving Machine tagline.
First, the stats. The i3 is packing a 22 kWh lithium-ion battery pack good for a claimed range of between 80 and 100 miles - on par with the majority of new EVs on sale. Charging takes three hours over a 220-volt line and into a massive 7.4 kW on-board charger, one of the largest on the market. BMW claims that charge time can be reduced to 30 minutes using an optional DC Combo Fast Charging setup.
In proper BMW fashion, 170 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque is delivered to the rear wheels through a single-speed transmission. And that hybrid-synchronous electric motor mounted out back revs out to a (silently) screaming 11,400 RPM. BMW claims the i3 will go from 0 to 60 mph in an impressive - by EV standards - seven seconds, and maxes out at an electronically limited 93 MPH for ultimate efficiency. And just like every BMW on the road, it has a perfect 50:50 front-to-rear weight distribution which provides that phenomenal handling that solidified BMW’s reputation as a driver’s brand.
But despite all those stats, one number stands out: 2,700 pounds. That’s the i3′s curb weight, making it one of the lightest electric vehicles on the market.
The reason the i3 is so svelte compared to other EVs is two-fold. First, it was designed to be an electric car from the beginning. Unlike BMW’s previous EV efforts - the Mini E (3,300 pounds, the same as a Nissan Leaf) and the BMW ActiveE (4,000 pounds) - they shaped the chassis and body around the motor and batteries to create a compact package with a low centre of gravity. And then they got serious about weight savings.
For the first time in a mass-market car, the structure that makes up the i3′s passenger compartment is comprised entirely of carbon fibre reinforced plastic. That means it’s ultra-safe and as strong as metal, while being 50 percent lighter than steel and 30 percent lighter than aluminium. With less weight to move around, efficiency goes through the roof. And that allowed BMW to use a smaller, 450-pound battery enclosed in an aluminium shell to remove even more weight, boosting driving range and reducing charge times. (By comparison, the Nissan Leaf uses a 600-pound battery with only two more kWh of juice, and takes longer to charge because of its puny 3.3 kW on-board charger.)
Like the Tesla Model S, the ground-up design offered BMW’s interior designers and engineers a blank canvas. There’s no transmission tunnel running down the centre, allowing the i3 to have a perfectly flat floor. Add in the extra safety and rigidity of the carbon fibre body, and BMW was able to nix the pillar that would normally prop up the roof between the front and rear doors, while pushing the wheels to the outer edges of the corners. That means a vehicle with the footprint of a compact car and the interior of a mid-size sedan, plus the ability to get into the backseat without a Cirque du Soleil performance thanks to rear-hinged, suicide-style rear doors.
Once inside, it’s an open, airy affair, with modern seats, futuristic, driver-centric controls, and displays that appear to float in mid-air. There’s plenty of kit for the eco-obsessed, including sustainably harvested woods, recycled plastics, and trim from a Kenaf plant (we had to look it up). Even the plastic key fob is made out of a bio-polymer from oils pressed from castor seeds (we had to look that up, too).
BMW’s navigation system is standard, with an embedded data connection providing real-time traffic conditions to provide alternate, efficient re-routing. And based on the owner’s driving style, the system can calculate how much range is needed to reach the destination, and offer a place to top up the batteries if juice runs low.
If range begins to drop, the driver can switch to Eco Pro mode, which increases overall range by up to 12 percent, and if they need even more, an Eco Pro + mode boosts it by another 12 percent by reducing the amount of power output, tweaking the throttle mapping, and boosting the regenerative braking.
And just to up the ante even further for those plagued by range anxiety, BMW will offer a range extending motor - similar to the system used in the Chevrolet Volt - acting as a generator to top up the batteries. The engine, which is mounted in the back next to the electric motor, is a 34-hp, 650cc two-cylinder engine pulled from BMW’s motorcycle range. The automaker claims it can double the overall range with a 2.4-gallon fuel tank, but the downside is that it adds 330 pounds to the i3′s curb weight. And US$3,850 to the sticker.
However, the cost of the i3 might be the most compelling part. The i3 starts at an incredibly reasonable US$41,350 (US$45,200 with the bike engine) when it goes on sale in the U.S. early next year, and that’s before the US$7,500 federal tax rebate and any state or local incentives. Granted, this is BMW, and that means a few different trim levels and lots of options, which could run the sticker quickly towards the US$50k mark once they charge you for contrasting interior materials, added infotainment features, and a few square meters of oxygen that doesn’t come standard. But even then, for something that’s better packaged, better executed, and more refined than any other EV on the market, BMW is playing in a game of one. And for driving junkies that have been looking to go electric, it could be the best option this side of a Model S - assuming you can get past the space-age refrigerator box styling.
All images/photos/videos courtesy of BMW.
Video 1: The all-electric BMW i3
Video 2: BMW i3 Concept Driving Experience
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