BMW i3

[trils0n]

I'm pretty sure I saw an orange BMW i3 going southbound on 101 near the Marsh road exit yesterday. Special event or something? It was even boxier, and larger in person than I'd imagined.

 

[surfingslovak]

Yes, there are at least three i3s in the Bay Area as of this writing. They are likely being shuttled to various test drive and show & tell events.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

A coworker mentioned spotting one at Peter Pan BMW (with their big i3 banner facing 101) right by Tesla Burlingame.

 

[TonyWilliams]

TonyWilliams,

I know the author @cneff and I believe that he has conveyed that this was his first time in a track if not on the article at least in some communications that I have had with him. I don't think that you should besmirch Chris's communication as you seem to imply in your statements. Point of clarification, Chris was actually not a lessor of the Mini E, his employer, at the time, was and that's how he got into it.

Yes, I had read that he is not a "race track guy"; others who have commented tend to only read what an awesome performer the i3 is on a race course. I'm attempting to put a little perspective (or reality) to the event.

I do have track racing experience, both in dirt and pavement, motorcycles and cars. I have owned BMW cars and BMW motorcycles. My somewhat informed opinion is the i3 is not an electric M3 for the masses. Not even close. BMW was wise to chose somebody without track experience, but with marketing / promo experience for the ride along and subsequent article. Many of the other articles I've read didn't think it handled that well, and were actually quite critical of BMW producing a vehicle counter to their well deserved reputation.

I have not driven the i3 on any race track, but I have driven the LEAF at Laguna Seca during ReFuel 2012. It doesn't handle well, or brake well, or accelerate well for racing conditions. Period. But, I did many laps of 2+12 around the course. I will bet that a stock i3 won't do significantly better on that course, and may actually do worse than a stock 2012 LEAF. I would be pleasantly surprised if the i3 (with more power and a LOT less weight) could beat the LEAF by more than a handful of seconds.


Yes, that's a genuine Coda EV race car (that the world will never see again) and an ActiveE behind my LEAF at ReFuel 2012, Laguna Seca, California

Yes, cute girls can also be fooled into thinking the LEAF is a real race car

I drive an Active E, Model S, and Roadster and I can tell you that the regen on ALL three cars are comparable to each other. Which is one of the primary reasons that we bought the Teslas (in addition to the range, of course.)

I didn't comment on regen, so I don't know if it's directed at me. I don't like what I call "herky jerky" regen. After 65,000 miles of non-BMW EV driving, I'll happily stick to the conventional brake pedal for strong regenerative braking. When the ActiveE was available, I drove it twice, two separate cars at different dealers, and both did the herky jerky dance. With the addition of no back seat room and very little trunk space, I declined to lease the ActiveE.

Thankfully, on Tesla Model S, I can chose the amount of "herky jerky" I want from my gas pedal. My favorite regen scheme would be a paddle "shifter" on the steering wheel that allowed me to tailor the regen to the exact circumstance in real time.

So, it's a matter of taste. Chris obviously enjoyed his ride. I, for one, am jealous that he got the opportunity, but would not have spent ten hours being filmed, etc. for this. In fact, BMW i should be applauded for finally jumping in feet first into the EV world. We, the consumers, can only benefit when competition drives Tesla to more affordable cars and to force them to keep a lead.

I'm sure I would have enjoyed the ride, too, and the great looking race car driver didn't hurt. I think it's awesome that BMW certainly appears poised to go into EV's in a bigger way, but I gotta say the hyperbole from BMW kind of turns me off. They were NOT the first to develop a ground up EV as they suggest, nor did they sell "100,000" i3's on their website, as readers were left to believe, etc, etc.

BMW does, and at least it's a lot more interesting than stupid Polar Bears hugging drivers.

All that EV love, and then a pot shot at the world EV leader Nissan? Yes, I think EV's in general should get away from the stereotypical ugly "golf cart" sized car, because the public actually buys Camry's and Malibu's. Tesla is absolutely on the right track, but I think BMW severely missed the boat on a sexy, cool looking car. Heck, if it looked cool, there would be no question how it handled; everybody would assume it was awesome!

Yes, I know people love their ugly dogs, and I'm sure they will love the i3, too.

 

[gene]

Let's face it, we need to be thankful for every last EV that comes to market. Be it a Tesla, BMW, Leaf, Spark, 500e, etc..... The more EV's on the road, the sooner they are accepted by the general public, the sooner the masses will buy EV. I realize it is fun to compare all the performance differences between the EV's, but let's appreciate any and all that can get us from point A to point B. I wish I had enough money to buy every EV model made, just to support the movement. What looks like something I can use is the coming Nissan NV200 EV van.

 

[AEdennis]

...
I'm sure I would have enjoyed the ride, too, and the great looking race car driver didn't hurt. I think it's awesome that BMW certainly appears poised to go into EV's in a bigger way, but I gotta say the hyperbole from BMW kind of turns me off. They were NOT the first to develop a ground up EV as they suggest, nor did they sell "100,000" i3's on their website, as readers were left to believe, etc, etc.

I agree 100%.

...All that EV love, and then a pot shot at the world EV leader Nissan? Yes, I think EV's in general should get away from the stereotypical ugly "golf cart" sized car, because the public actually buys Camry's and Malibu's. Tesla is absolutely on the right track, but I think BMW severely missed the boat on a sexy, cool looking car. Heck, if it looked cool, there would be no question how it handled; everybody would assume it was awesome!

Yes, I know people love their ugly dogs, and I'm sure they will love the i3, too.

The aesthetics takes getting used to... code for, the i3's got a great personality.

As for the Leaf, don't get me wrong. After driving nearly every available EV in California, I got my 60+ year old mom into one this past year. Aside from being priced just right, the 2013 upgrade to the L2 charging did it for me. It's the stupid "we're eco, buy us" focused ads that turned me off. Tell me about the car, tell me about how good to drive it is or what the great tech is that's included (like the more current Nissan campaigns do), or tell me how much money I'll save. Heck, the Porsche Plug in ads are pretty cool... (then again it's NOT very eco-friendly, nor wallet friendly.)

 

[brianman]

Let's face it, we need to be thankful for every last EV that comes to market. Be it a Tesla, BMW, Leaf, Spark, 500e, etc..... The more EV's on the road, the sooner they are accepted by the general public, the sooner the masses will buy EV.

Somewhat disagree with you on this one. Compliance EVs (limited quantities, only available in limited areas, sometimes sold at a loss, halo-only, etc.) often do more harm to the cause than good, IMO.

 

[surfingslovak]

New video review by CarBuyer in the UK. It's pretty balanced; the reporter uses a flapjack and a brownie to explain the LifeDrive architecture.

 

[gene]

Somewhat disagree with you on this one. Compliance EVs (limited quantities, only available in limited areas, sometimes sold at a loss, halo-only, etc.) often do more harm to the cause than good, IMO.

Brian, I understand where your comments come from. But within 3 blocks of me, there are 3 Leafs and 3 Sparks. Compliance or not (Sparks) these Spark owners have told me their next cars are going to be Teslas and that all their friends love going for rides in the Spark just because its silent (more future EV buyers). These are all people who would have had less/zero exposure to EV unless the Sparks, 500e's and EV Fits (of which there are several in my town) were around. Today it may be compliance, tomorrow it may be the buying public demanding more EV's.

 

[Mark77a]

I took an i3 for an extended test drive, here in the UK.

Boy was I impressed by the handling and interior.... I've owned several Lotus & Porsche for their fine handling balance (great for twisty, narrow, UK country roads, as well as 'track days') ... and the steering and handling is sublime ... probably pushes the roadster off best handling EV spot (ok at 8.5/10 as I had a BMW guy in passenger seat

If it wasn't for the exterior design I would have bought it there and then.... somehow BMW 'lost their bottle' between the concept car and the production version.
Gone has the lower door glass, and the sweeping 'airflow inspired' side profile shared with the brilliant i8, to be replaced by what looks like a front door off a ford van, and a rear door with the last bit of the 'airflow' still 'bitten out' of it, like a half chewed biscuit [cookie in US speak ] .... !!!!

concept car:

i3 with i8 as originally intended: see the styling / familly similarities ?

Now unfortunately the production i3 has been touched by the 'ugly stick' ...... the ghost of Chris Bangle ?

 

[brianman]

Compliance or not (Sparks) these Spark owners have told me their next cars are going to be Teslas and that all their friends love going for rides in the Spark just because its silent (more future EV buyers). These are all people who would have had less/zero exposure to EV unless the Sparks, 500e's and EV Fits (of which there are several in my town) were around. Today it may be compliance, tomorrow it may be the buying public demanding more EV's.

Spark owners (and potential owners) are already on the path to EV transition. Again, in net -- more harm than good -- is my concern. I agree there's some good, but just far more damage comes from the "these aren't real, they only sold 1000 of them, the manufacturers are selling at a loss" that is reinforced by the compliance crap. Compliance does more to increase FUD than counter it.

 

[ggies07]

I took an i3 for an extended test drive, here in the UK.

Boy was I impressed by the handling and interior.... I've owned several Lotus & Porsche for their fine handling balance (great for twisty, narrow, UK country roads, as well as 'track days') ... and the steering and handling is sublime ... probably pushes the roadster off best handling EV spot (ok at 8.5/10 as I had a BMW guy in passenger seat

If it wasn't for the exterior design I would have bought it there and then.... somehow BMW 'lost their bottle' between the concept car and the production version.
Gone has the lower door glass, and the sweeping 'airflow inspired' side profile shared with the brilliant i8, to be replaced by what looks like a front door off a ford van, and a rear door with the last bit of the 'airflow' still 'bitten out' of it, like a half chewed biscuit [cookie in US speak ] .... !!!!

concept car:
View attachment 38813

i3 with i8 as originally intended: see the styling / familly similarities ?
View attachment 38814

Now unfortunately the production i3 has been touched by the 'ugly stick' ...... the ghost of Chris Bangle ?
View attachment 38816

The concept car was freakin sweet and I was all about it. If they had made the production car look like that with at least a 100 mile real world range, I think it would have been a definite competitor to the Gen III. Alas, BMW missed the mark.......

 

[surfingslovak]

Dan Neil reviews the BMW i3 for the WSJ. Please read the full article online: BMW Takes Positive Step in Electric Vehicle Field With i3 - WSJ.com

 

[lloyds]

Whoa, did you guys see the size of the frunk? you can probably fit one bag of groceries and that's it. I don't think they designed this car well at all in terms of cargo space.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

I can’t swear on it since I haven’t tried it myself, but it seems to me that it should be possible to fit at least 4 standard carry-on hand luggage/cabin baggage suitcases in the boot. For some reason Neil/WST seem to deliberately botch this part their review. Their camera angle crops about half of the i3’s boot (!)… But if you look up the segments Carbuyer or Whatcar have posted on the i3 on YouTube, there the boot of the car is displayed thoroughly enough IMO.

 

[Mr X]

i3 is the best looking "ugly" EV on the market.




For being ugly it sure turns a lot of heads :wink: Went to the i3 test drive at Rusnak BMW in Thousand Oaks on Saturday, again the car is super quick. And it looks a lot better in person, every single person we drove by was smiling, staring and pointing at it even on the freeway. It's going to be an awesome EV.

 

[gameon]

Whoa, did you guys see the size of the frunk? you can probably fit one bag of groceries and that's it. I don't think they designed this car well at all in terms of cargo space.

I think you have to look it one more time (closely this time kidding :wink it has decent cargo space for sure.. (way better than spark ev for sure)

 

[stopcrazypp]

I think you have to look it one more time (closely this time kidding :wink it has decent cargo space for sure.. (way better than spark ev for sure)

I think he's talking about the frunk, which is tiny (Spark EV doesn't have one).

 

[gameon]

I think he's talking about the frunk, which is tiny (Spark EV doesn't have one).

ah that make sense.. frunk is useless concept (that's my opinion not throwing insult to model s since it has bigger one)

 

[stopcrazypp]

ah that make sense.. frunk is useless concept (that's my opinion not throwing insult to model s since it has bigger one)

For the i3, it's a nice place to put your mobile charger and extension cords, but there's not enough space for much else.