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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: 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.