The i3 has caused quite a stir since its introduction, offering stylish electric-only or range-extender-assisted driving with the cachet of a BMW badge. But what is like living with an electric car day-to-day?
Our car: BMW i3S List price when new: £40,125 Price as tested: £tbc Official fuel economy: 470.8mpg (EU Combined)
March 27th, 2018
Fuel economy this week: n/a
I must admit that I’m more than a little bit giddy with excitement about running an i3S. Ever since the i3 was introduced I’ve used any excuse I could to borrow one, and with the new S model being added to the line-up it gave me an excuse to ask for one on a longer-term basis.
The i3 is BMW’s take on our electrified future, the more earnest i3 sitting alongside the glamorous i8 sports car and pushing electric mobility under the BMW “i” brand. I say earnest, but, the i3 is cool, in how it’s built, looks and drives. BMW really has gone for an all-new design with its i models, rather than taking regular production cars and fitting electric motors and batteries underneath their more conventional bodies.
The i3 is distinct, then, a clear visual statement of electric intent, the bold styling making the most of its electric vehicle packaging - which places batteries under the floor, has an electric motor driving the rear wheels and, as mine is a range-extender, a 650cc two-cylinder petrol engine that works as a generator to charge the battery pack and add to the potential range.
I’ll try and avoid using that, but with the NEDC maximum battery-only range being 137 miles, and my job often taking me further than that, I like the peace of mind it provides. BMW says that about 60 per cent of i3 buyers opt for this range-extender version (abbreviated to REX) for much the same reason.
It will be particularly suited to my daily schedule, which is largely urban driving, short hops with the kids to school and back. Indeed, it is on precisely these journeys that electric cars make the most sense.
The longer trips I’ll be using it for means airport runs of about 90 miles from my home. It’s then I’ll be testing the motorway services charging network - and occasionally relying on the extra distance that REX petrol engine brings.
The "as tested" price above is currently not available, as I’ve no idea what additional equipment has been added. Extrapolating from the BMW’s configurator, it has about £4,000 of options added to its £40,125 price. I’ll list those properly when I get the exact details of its specification in the next few days.
What I can tell you is that being the S it’s the more sporting, driver-focussed i3. Allowing that is a small hike in power to 181bhp, sitting on suspension that’s both 10mm lower, with wider tyres riding on 20-inch alloy wheels and Dynamic Stability Control that’s been re-calibrated to suit all of that.
A more engaging, brisker i3, then, with a corresponding dent in the potential range, but that’s a compromise I’m prepared to live with. The 0-62mph time is a rapid 7.7 seconds, its pace up to 30mph enough to make my old long-term 911 feel tardy, thanks to the instant torque.
Not that I’ll be driving it like I did the Porsche, at least not until I’m fully tuned in to how far it’ll travel depending on how it’s driven. It’s going to be interesting finding out, sometimes challenging, but then that’s kind of the point.
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