BMW i3
Take a look at the BMW i3 launched in 2014, the i3 is a pure Electric Vehicle (EV), with a range up to 159 miles, this Electric Car also has the looks. Find a BMW i3 for sale in your area.
Quick Data Specification
Car Make: BMW Model: i3 Car Type: 5 Door 4 Seater Hatch Back
The Concept
The BMW i3 is an electric car that is the first sustainable electric car of its kind, it is customised for a sustainable future, where by BMW have used renewable materials in the design and manufacturing process. This can be seen throughout the BMW i3 from the exterior, to the interior. The German Giants have had a visionary outlook for this electric car, having a new fresh ecological inspired design, the car is defined by sustainability. The new futuristic design lets you experience this in every way, from a combination of lightweight materials, the innovative safety features and amazing efficient technologies.
Exterior Design
The BMW i3 is a totally unique electric car with dynamic and compact proportions. The long wheel base gives you the feel of a spacious interior and passenger compartment. The black paint that runs over the bonnet and the roof gives the car a light appearance when in contrast with the secondary panel color. You can see that the wheels are a large at 19 inches, this helps reduce the rolling resistance, and further improves efficiencies.
Interior Design
The interior of this car is totally fresh and unique, with their “LifeDrive” architecture that opens up different design possibilities for all new electric cars moving forward, from carbon fiber to recycled and sustainable wood for the dash.
When sitting inside you feel higher than most cars, this gives you a great feel of the road with a clear view and broad visibility. This is due to the battery being under the passenger compartment and there being no gearbox, and no central transmission tunnel. This gives even more room for you and your passengers, making the rear passengers conferrable.
The boot space of the i3 is of sufficient size over 200 liters and larger than you would expect with such a small car, for families the rear seats feature ISO fixing points and easily take a baby seat, making the vehicle suitable for families.
Motor & Battery
The BMW i3 comes with a 2.4KW Li-lon Battery with active cooling, 18kWh with a nominal voltage: 355.2v. This produces around 170hp of torque and is the reason the i3 can accelerate from a standing start to 40 mph in a little over 4 seconds.
Charging The i3
The standard 16amp charging lead supplied with the vehicle or a standard 16amp EV charging outlet can charge the i3 from 0-80% in around 7 hours, however with a fast charge facility the BMW i3’s average charge time is around 3.5 hours for a full charge from an AC Plug Type 2. Max Power (grid side) 7.36kW (1-phase 230V, 32A)
To charge the i3 the car must be unlocked, if locked the charge lead cannot be removed or plugged in, once plugged in the lights around the lead doc flash to signify charging. The doc is completely water resistant and won't be affected by heavy rain; the status of the charge is featured on the dash console or iPhone app.
For charging on the road BMW offer the charge now network, follow charging for more details.
Business Use
The i3 would lend itself well to being used for businesses such as estate agents as the range extender version offers around 160 miles full range with around 80 miles coming from pure electric. As the vehicles is fully electric the car has several government incentives including £5000 off the purchase price, free road tax, congestion charge exempt and most importantly huge tax benefits for businesses and employees.
Technical Information
As with most electric cars you can go to the App store and get the BMW i3 Smartphone App. This will give you all the information you need from your last journey to how much battery charge you have left. What’s great about these app’s is that you can turn on your A/C and heating via the app. So you will never get in to a hot or cold car again.
Onboard the i3 you have, front and rear parking sensors as well as a HD reversing camera with parking assist. All this is featured on the dash monitor display.
BMW Access
BMW offer their access scheme, allowing an i3 owner to use another BMW vehicle for free, from points gained from purchasing the i3. This allows an i3 driver up to seven days use of a traditional combustion engine from the BMW range, this is especially important for someone who may be put off the i3 for a, once a year long distance road trip they do BMW guarantee you a car, and if the car is not available you get an automatic upgrade, for a 1 series 5 door you must be a minimum age of 21 and the cost is 100 points per day. You can even take the vehicle abroad, and manage your account online, so there is a lot of flexibility.
Find a BMW i3 for sale today, or find out about the BMW i3 Road Test Report.
