BMW i3 - The Electric Future Starts Here

We mean it this time.

BMW’s i3 has four wheels. Otherwise, it shares so little with cars as we’ve known them that automotive archeologists of tomorrow will figure there had to be some development step, some missing link between the stock of model-year 2014 and this electrically driven Bimmer.

Here, the welded-aluminum structure, what BMW calls a “Drive module”, supports the battery, steering, suspension, and mid-mounted electric motor

First, there’s the so-called “skateboard” chassis. While a few concept cars have showcased this architecture over the past decade, this is its first production application. Here, the welded-aluminum structure, what BMW calls a “Drive module”, supports the battery, steering, suspension, and mid-mounted electric motor. Aside from the steel rear-suspension links, most of the chassis components are aluminum. Atop that sits the “Life module”, which you or I would just call the cabin. Its structure is molded carbon fiber, the body panels are thermoplastic, and the dash crossmember is a magnesium casting.

Nothing this attainable has ever used such an exotic mix, but all the high-buck, high-tech components are employed to one end: weight reduction. Batteries are heavy. The i3’s 22-kWh lithium-ion pack weighs more than 500 pounds, but even so, the car should ring in around 2700. That’s nearly 700 pounds lighter than a Nissan Leaf and half a ton less than a Chevy Volt.

Its structure is molded carbon fiber, the body panels are thermoplastic, and the dash crossmember is a magnesium casting

The batteries are good for about 100 miles in the “comfort” drivetrain setting and for up to 125 in the stingiest, “Eco Pro Plus.”  A full charge will take three hours on 240 volts and too long on 120. BMW will offer optional DC fast-charger compatibility, which will drop the time to top off a discharged battery to just 30 minutes or so. To stretch the driving range to 185 miles, BMW makes available a 34-hp, 647-cc two-cylinder lifted from its scooter portfolio. This optional engine’s only role is to drive a generator that replenishes the battery’s charge, so the electric motor’s 170 horsepower and 184 pound-feet are all you get for propulsion. The engine and generator nest next to the AC drive motor beneath the cargo floor, while the 2.4-gallon fuel tank sits between the front axle and the fire wall, meaning you’ll have to pop the hood to gas up your electric car. All this radicalism starts at $42,275 before tax credits, while the range extender opens up the world beyond a 100-mile radius for just $3850 more.

No stranger to bizarre gear selectors, BMW pushed the boundaries of shifter weirdness for its odd little i3.

True to BMW form, the i3’s static weight distribution is right around 50/50. Adding about 300 pounds for the range extender shifts the balance slightly to the rear, but BMW won’t say by how much. Fold in some careful chassis tuning and the net effect is a crazy-looking electric box that still feels like a BMW. Its 155/70R-19 low-rolling-resistance tires don’t have any more grip than their scrawny specs suggest, but the i3 boasts an impressive, familiar balance and disciplined body control.  And while the electric steering has approximately zero feel, its response is surprisingly quick and precise. On our first pass through a tight slalom, we clipped a cone because we were unprepared for the immediacy of the i3’s turn-in behavior.

In sedate maneuvers, the aluminum Drive module’s rigidity imparts solidity and serenity, a confident ride, and none of the stripped-out, tinny feeling of some EVs. That’s because BMW’s ground-up design naturally netted acceptable poundage without having to scrimp on noise insulation and the like.

Leather (from only the happiest vegan cows) is tanned using olive-leaf extract.

With just 2700 pounds to push around, the i3’s electric motor feels strong enough. Figure on a zero-to-60-mph time right around seven seconds, but the motor’s immediate torque makes it feel much quicker. An aggressively calibrated regen program charges the batteries when the driver lifts off the accelerator, meaning that after 15 minutes in the car, you’re hardly using the brake at all – a good thing, as the pedal is pretty grabby.

Inside, there’s little reprieve from the i3’s unconventional – nay, silly – exterior styling. The dashtop and door panels are reinforced with kenaf plant fibers and look like we imagine the underside of other dashboards might. For more than $40,000, you would expect something classier on the spec sheet, but as funky as the i3’s interior is, it doesn’t actually look cheap. The daring design and overall material deployment lend the cabin a richness rarely conjured by the words “kenaf plant fibers.”

What BMW has done with the i3 is keep the best aspects of the modern car

The skateboard-chassis flat floor and lack of a center tunnel gave BMW a chance to invent yet another in its storied line of confusing shift levers. This one is column-mounted, but instead of pivoting, the stalk is capped with a vertical protuberance that rotates forward for drive and backward for reverse. A button on top of the stalk selects park. (Don’t confuse that with the button facing you, which turns the car on and off.) It makes sense, except that it’s the exact opposite of BMW’s other automatic shifter. Pushing that one forward engages reverse, but pushing this one forward engages drive. Same difference, right?

But maybe that’s a bit of an evolutionary smoke screen, an international break with convention. What BMW has done with the i3 is keep the best aspects of the modern car (enclosed body, tillerless steering, automatic climate control, wheels) and carry over virtually nothing else.