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When we [Ars Technica] reviewed the BMW i3 back in 2014, the little rear-wheel drive city car left us quite impressed. However, the i3 has always had a couple of flaws in comparison with other electric vehicles out there; it costs too much and the range isn't very good, even if you go for the optional two-cylinder range-extending engine. It appears BMW has decided to address the latter issue, because from this summer the i3 will now come with a 33kWh battery in place of the current 22kWh unit.
[...] The new battery is 50 percent bigger, so more than 100 miles (160km) should be possible on a full charge. The gas tank for the range extender engine will also grow by 25 percent; expect to stop for gas every 75 miles if you try road-tripping. These range tweaks should help boost the i3's appeal, but before long the Bolt and Model 3 are going to make people expect 200+ miles from their EV as a bare minimum.
Happily for existing (and even potential) i3 owners, BMW says that current i3s can have the new battery retrofitted as part of a special program, although no one is saying anything about how much that might cost yet. Again, this kind of thinking is a promising sign for an industry that's never really considered upgrades as important. Tesla has excelled at pushing out new functionality to owners across the world on a regular basis, with both software upgrades and hardware retrofits, offering a better battery pack for Roadster owners in the past and underbody "armor" for the Model S fleet.
Tesla has shaken up the car industry with its award-winning electric vehicles (EVs) and supercharger network. Nearly every major brand now offers EVs or is seriously planning to offer them. A couple like Nissan and BMW have begun to build out their own charging networks. But this article highlights another way in which Tesla has re-invented the car: it gets better after you've bought it, through over-the-air software updates and battery retrofits that dramatically improve your EV's range. Will this upgradeability prove to be the "killer app" of the EV?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rich on Tuesday May 03 2016, @11:26AM
Had a quick look on their (German) site, the option is not configurable yet, and from the description pages, it looks like it will be an option, not standard. Seems to be a reaction to the announcement of EV subsidies (4000€) by the German government to cover some price/performance point the marketeers want to cover.
By itself, the price of the i3 (35k€ base), past the new subsidies, is quite a reasonable proposition, especially for the subset of those who value the beemer badge, but don't insist one comes with an inline 6. I haven't seen any in the wild though (as with the Volt ("Ampera" here)), while I've spotted some Model S and the odd Leaf or even E-Golf. Probably there is significant range anxiety below 200km and it doesn't help that the i3's looks are up there with the Pontiac Aztec or Fiat Multipla.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03 2016, @12:39PM
I haven't seen any in the wild though (as with the Volt ("Ampera" here)), while I've spotted some Model S and the odd Leaf or even E-Golf. Probably there is significant range anxiety below 200km and it doesn't help that the i3's looks are up there with the Pontiac Aztec or Fiat Multipla.
That's the 3rd flaw: that it'd effin' fugly. I see only one around here ever and from the vanity plate I know that it is the same one every time. Meanwhile we have dozens of Model S's, many Volts, and the occasional Leaf driving around.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03 2016, @12:45PM
By itself, the price of the i3 (35k€ base), past the new subsidies, is quite a reasonable proposition, especially for the subset of those who value the beemer badge, but don't insist one comes with an inline 6. I haven't seen any in the wild though (as with the Volt ("Ampera" here)), while I've spotted some Model S and the odd Leaf or even E-Golf. Probably there is significant range anxiety below 200km and it doesn't help that the i3's looks are up there with the Pontiac Aztec or Fiat Multipla.
I have seen quite some i3 around here, it is a surprisingly small car. The look is in the eye of the beholder, I for one don't like it. The range is certainly more than correct for a normal daily commute to work plus usual short trips. Still, considering the size and the fact it would really only be usable as a second car, no way I'd disburse 35k€ for one. For that kind of money, I can get a luxurious enough large family car. And yes, before family, I drove a beemer (2002 330Ci), it's not like I have sth against BMW - I love the looks of the i8, and still mourn that 330Ci. That said, I strongly believe Tesla is on the right track with supercharging stations and their Model 3 - once the supercharging network is built out across Europe, I well might consider a future family-compatible model of theirs.
A while back I did seriously check on an electric motorbike for the commute. Financially, it made no sense whatsoever, so I stayed with my conventional one (still got it, a supermoto, at 14 years; I do believe it makes more sense ecologically to keep that gas-burner than to replace it with an electric bike). You can get a new reasonable one for around 6-7k€, way cheaper than any car, and lots more fun, less congestion etc.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday May 03 2016, @12:46PM
My brother bought an i3 second-hand and got it for something like $8-10K. He also owns an SUV but hasn't driven it in the two years since he bought the i3. He lives in Michigan, with all its distances and cold, and commutes from Ypsilanti to Dearborn. He does have the range extender that kicks in for an extra 50 miles on gas, but he said he's only burned 1 gallon of gas doing that in the last 8 months.
In other words, the existing i3 battery can already cover the driving needs of many people; a battery upgrade will cover many more.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03 2016, @07:15PM
> My brother bought an i3 second-hand and got it for something like $8-10K.
That seems unlikely. Even if the car was registered in a state with extra-generous tax rebates for electrics, total rebates would have only knocked ~$12K off the cost to the first owner. Which means ~$25K off the lot for the lowest spec model. Another ~$15K in depreciation in just a couple of years is pretty steep, even for an electric.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03 2016, @09:39PM
> That seems unlikely.
I would have agreed with your statement last year, then I started looking at prices of several-year-old Leaf and iMiEV electric cars and they also depreciate a great deal. I don't know what causes this...but can think of two possible reasons:
+ No buyers for a used status symbol -- people that buy these cars for the green image have the money to buy new cars.
+ Very few small cars are selling in any category in the USA. Low gas prices mean trucks, SUVs and large cars are selling in record numbers.
(Score: 2) by schad on Tuesday May 03 2016, @12:52PM
I've seen a few in the Atlanta area. About as many as I've seen Volts, actually, which has got to sting.
I had one for a few days as a loaner. I actually liked it quite a lot. The styling is definitely beyond strange, but it's not without a certain appeal. Sort of like a pug [blogspot.com].
Now BMW just needs to come out with something in between the i3 and i8.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03 2016, @01:59PM
> Now BMW just needs to come out with something in between the i3 and i8.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/bmw-i-chief-i5-ev-model-coming-will-offer-optional-range-extender/ [caranddriver.com]
(Score: 2) by Rich on Tuesday May 03 2016, @03:05PM
The [i3] styling is definitely beyond strange, but it's not without a certain appeal. Sort of like a pug
I actually kind of like the Multipla. If you look at the headlights and think "nostrils" rather than "eyes", those little lights further up become button eyes and the whole car gets the appearance of something friendly hippo-like (although i've heard more people die from hippo than from lion attacks...).
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Tuesday May 03 2016, @06:59PM
By itself, the price of the i3 (35k€ base), past the new subsidies, is quite a reasonable proposition
Really?
The UK price seems to be more like £30k base - I think you get a few k off that as a subsidy.
The i3 small city car. You can get 'small' cars from upmarket brands (e.g. the BMW Mini or the Daimler Smart FourFour) for half of that. (of course, you could also get something practical from the far east for I really like the idea of the i3 but the price is just end-of-argument. From another discussion I understand that some people in the US have got them on ridiculously cheap leases by cunning plans exploiting multiple incentives (probably BMW meeting some sort of state target for EV sales).