BMW i3 – A 5-Door Sedan Urban Electric Car

Driving the ultimate futurists’ machine

It’s a pity it costs so much to launch an auto brand name, because e-Setta (an electric play on the classic bubble-car Isetta) was reportedly considered, and might’ve proved an easier sell for BMW’s new Earth-hugging electrics. Instead, the 285 (of 340) BMW dealers signed up to sell BMW i cars will need to work hard to dissuade folks from expecting to have their baby-carbon-footprint cake and eat up twisty byways, too.

The i3 weighs just 2850 pounds

“But, Mr. Technical Director,” you’re musing, “Why is that, when the i3 weighs just 2850 pounds, has a super-low center of gravity and a 50/50 weight distribution, is rear drive, and comes standard with 19-inch rolling stock?” Admittedly this technological moonshot seems 100 percent BMW on paper, but I have a hunch it’s no Ultimate Driving Machine. I can’t say definitively, because the 150-mile driving event I attended was held in the congested, bicycle-clogged, 7-million-strong megalopolis of Amsterdam. Surely if the i3 did handle like a BMW, they’d have found us at least one unimpeded S-curve somewhere along the route and/or allowed us to drive on the Zandvoort Grand Prix circuit instead of just setting up a micro slalom in its parking lot, right?

Instead, dear customers, you should expect a vehicle designed for time travel with its dial set to 2050, when 70 percent of Earth’s unfathomable population will live in megacities without the luxury of rolling solo in 2-ton SUVs. We’ll be in car-sharing compacts designed to tread very lightly on Mother Earth from cradle to auto graveyard. BMW i kept this altruistic “tread lightly” objective uppermost in mind throughout the i3’s design and development, often at the expense of selfish “driving fun” concerns.

The seat fabric, made of recycled plastic bottles, resembles normal cloth

A perfect example: While the feathery forged wheels are an impressive 19 inches in diameter, they’re only 5.0 and 5.5 inches wide front and rear, shod with 155/70 and 175/65 tires to minimize frontal area and rolling resistance. Each tire's total contact area is similar to that of a normal tire, but the patch is long and narrow – great for traction under acceleration or braking, but crappy for lateral grip. Stiffer sidewalls regain some lateral grip, but make these tall-sidewall tires ride like low-profilers. (We felt the impact of lane-divider paint lines.) Range über alles!

The car is one element in a suite of mobility products and services BMW envisions offering, so the company has invested in car sharing, parking-spot sharing, and other social-mobility apps. But let’s focus on the car, which looks and feels about as futuristic as its carbon-fiber “Life module” body on an aluminum “Drive module” rolling chassis design concepts suggest. The gear selector is a rotary gizmo on the steering column. The main gauges are concentrated in a freestanding iPad-Mini-like display ahead of the driver. Infotainment/nav functions employ a wider screen hovering over the center of the dash. The forward dash and upper door panels are made of renewable kenaf plants (a hemp relative) and look like cheap trunk liner material that’s rock-hard to the touch. The seat fabric, made of recycled plastic bottles, resembles normal cloth. Optional leather is tanned using olive tree extract. BMW i’s heart is in the right place, but it’s hard not to roll your eyes a little at some of these details.

Infotainment/nav functions employ a wider screen hovering over the center of the dash

Down on the lower center console you'll find the familiar BMW iDrive controller and a toggle switch for selecting among the Comfort, EcoPro, and EcoPro+ drive modes. Comfort means “I’m comfortable enough with my remaining battery range to work the heat-pump climate control system, seat heaters, etc. at full strength and to accelerate aggressively.” (It would be the Sport setting in normal BMWs.) EcoPro inserts a virtual rubber band in the throttle linkage and dials back all the energy-sapping devices. EcoPro+ turns off the climate control and imposes a 55-mph speed limiter (flooring the throttle lets you exceed it) to extend range by as much as 12 miles. Our three driving stints indicated the 22-kW-hr lithium-ion battery pack would take us 70-90 miles. An optional ($3850) 647cc 34-hp I-2 range extender and 2.4-gallon tank promise 200 miles of total range, but add 265 pounds.

Rear drive means there’s no torque steer, and with no CV joints to protect, the turn circle is a bubble-carlike 32.3 feet

The 184-lb-ft motor launches the 2850-pound i3 briskly, and instead of petering out above 3000-4000 rpm like most permanent-magnet motors, it charges on a bit stronger thanks to its patented combination of permanent and switched-reluctance electro-magnetic fields. (This tech also makes the motor small and light for its output.) BMW’s 0-62-mph estimate of 7.2 seconds (7.9 with range-extender) seems realistic and should rank the i3 ahead of all mainstream EVs save the Teslas and the late Fisker. Top speed is limited to 93 mph (55 mph in range-extending mode). Regenerative braking is strong enough to permit one-pedal driving in nearly all city conditions (bad news for those still mourning the loss of three-pedal driving), but careful ankle calibration is required for smoothness. The electric-assist steering feels overly light, but it points the car accurately – just get all your braking done before that sharp corner. Rear drive means there’s no torque steer, and with no CV joints to protect, the turn circle is a bubble-carlike 32.3 feet.

The 184-lb-ft motor launches the 2850-pound i3 briskly, and instead of petering out above 3000-4000 rpm like most permanent-magnet motors

Maybe the car manages its skinny-tire under-steer really well, and the PR machine just doesn’t want us to focus on driving dynamics. One engineer who begged to remain nameless admitted that the i3 had lapped the Nürburgring within minutes of the EV-record-setting Mini E racer. We’ll get one out on real, bicycle-free roads closer to the May on-sale date, and let you know whether the whole package seems worth the anticipated $42,275 asking price (before tax credits), taking into account claims that operating costs (including insurance) will be two-thirds to one-half those of a 1 Series. It’d be an easier call if it were badged e-Setta.