About the BMW i3
If, so far, you've been a bit sceptical about electric vehicles, then you need to try this one. Even if it doesn't change your viewpoint, you're going to have a heck of a lot of fun proving yourself right. It's distinctive, enjoyable and feels like a genuinely special ownership proposition. Compared to this i3, even a talented vehicle like BMW's own 1 Series seems a bit grey and two-dimensional. Like it or not, this is the future for small cars. Like most British buyers, if we were spending our own money, we'd definitely go for the version with the Range Extender petrol engine fitted. It gives the car the added flexibility you'll appreciate when life doesn't quite go to plan and, apart from the premium being asked, other downsides are few. Quite frankly, why wouldn't you?
That's a question you could ask of the i3 package as a whole. And answer negatively by citing prestige pricing, awkward looks and restricted rearward space. None of these thing though, are issues likely to unduly bother the vast audience BMW is targeting with this car. People who've so far stayed away from the electric vehicle revolution - but might well join it with this car. The i3 has, after all, marked a real milestone in EV development. As for buying secondhand, well we'd try really hard to stretch to a model sold from 2016 onwards. By that time, early teething issues were generally sorted and buyers got the benefit of a gutsier 94AH battery with a longer operating range. If that's possible, then you can buy with quite a lot of confidence. With a carbon-fibre chassis, brilliant ConnectedDrive services, a bold and futuristic design ethos and genuine real world ownership flexibility, the i3 proved to be an electric vehicle that did more than just move the game on. It re-wrote the rules.
