Automotive

I promised you some more coverage of the BMW i3 and now I’m delivering. 

A couple hours ago, I had the pleasure of driving the BMW i3 through the famous Downtown Los Angeles. 

At the end of my test drive, I left with a keen feeling that the world was changing, and changing for the better.  Some of you may remember my experience with the Tesla Roadster and how I thought that would be a game changer.  Well, it has.  In the United States, the Tesla Roadster outsells the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the former top selling car in the high price segment within the United States. 

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Here are some of the vital stats regarding the BMW i3…

5 doors

4 seats

3.999m Long, 1.775m Wide, 1.597m High

2.57m Wheelbase

Frunk Capacity: 0.26 cu. M.

Trunk Capacity: 1.1 cu. M.

Weight: 1270 kg

Power: 170 hp

Acceleration 0-100kph: 7.2 seconds

Top speed 150 kph

Range: 130km to 160km

Charging Time: Approx. 30 minutes at 50kW to reach 80%. 

The driving feeling is incredibly unique, like the Tesla Roadster.  It’s quiet, but fast, and torque-rich.  The car is certainly fast enough for daily usage.  Driving in Downtown Los Angeles was a good exercise as it tested the BMW i3’s nimbleness in extreme situations.  Again, like the Tesla Roadster, you rarely used the brakes, as the car automatically slowed once you released the accelerator pedal.  The kinetic energy of the vehicle slowing is recaptured into the battery.  The car is also incredibly silent and the powertrain very refined.  Not requiring a transmission and using only an electric motor allows the car to have relatively fewer complex parts such as engines and transmissions. 

Handling, steering, and overall driving performance is not quite as good as a normal BMW 3er.  The i3 dives a bit under braking, has good steering but not great handling.  See the photo of the thin tires and you’ll soon understand why this car was not meant to be a performance car.  But as a commuter car, this car will satisfy over 95% of the clientele in Los Angeles. 

The overall feeling and the ambiance inside the car is very good.  The car is well insulated, comfortable, and trimmed in lavish materials such as a stitched leather dashboard, genuine leather seating, genuine wood trim, and the use of a unique molded fabric material.  All of these ingredients are designed in a very modern Zen-like fashion that gives the overall cabin a very calm feeling that promotes the occupant(s) comfort.  Then add the fact that the car is incredibly quiet, you may mistaken it for a living room on wheels.  However, the car differs from other quiet cars such as Lexus or Rolls-Royce.  The BMW i3 still offers a feeling of the road, where those cars have a “magic carpet ride” instead.  The BMW i3 has the right amount of insulation for most; not too cushioned that you can’t feel the road, but overall not too much of a performance inspired suspension.  This car has a tremendous ambiance, and it would probably put you in the mood for your arrival to the office.  Imagine coming into this car from a noisy restaurant, bar, or nightclub; it’d be the perfect way to get home in a soothing way. 

The BMW i3 will likely be known as the first mass-market electric car for the world.  Its price point and availability, safety, etc. will make it the ideal car for many individuals, whereas the Tesla Roadster was too expensive.  The design is authentic and original.  A hundred years from now, the BMW i3 (then a classic) may be seen as the electric version of the Volkswagen Bug.