From an environmental perspective, an electric car such as the BMW
i3 is still not quite carbon-neutral, although the Bavarian company
must be commended for using organic materials in the cabin and for
making the car as recyclable as possible.
Still, the i3, like all battery-powered cars, relies largely on
fossil fuels that power-generation companies use to produce electricity.
Depending on what exactly that fossil fuel is and what assumptions
you make on transmission and charging losses, the carbon attributable
to an electric car varies widely.
But electric cars do not have any emissions at the point of use. They are also a lot quieter than conventional vehicles.
Hence, if half the cars on the road were electric models, there
would be a significant reduction in air and noise pollution in the
city, where the biggest concentration of people usually are.
This benefit cannot be overstated, as the World Health Organisation
(WHO) estimated recently that seven million people died in 2012
worldwide because of air pollution. That worked out to one-eighth of
all deaths.
If that percentage applied to Singapore, then 2,310 people died in this country from air pollution in 2012.
Noise pollution is not to be trivialised, either. A WHO study in
2011 found that its impact on shortening lifespan ranks second to air
pollution. And guess what - motor vehicle is the biggest cause of noise
pollution in cities.
So, switching to electric vehicles will have a profound impact on
your health and the health of future generations - even if you do not
care about rising sea levels.
The BMW i3 is probably the most attractive electric car available
today. It comfortably accommodates four adults and their luggage. And
it is the most fun-to-drive electric car that is not a sports model.
But after using it for two weeks, it is clear that the car has some shortcomings.
Firstly, its tallboy design makes it rather susceptible to body
movements. So there is more rocking and rolling than you find in a
typical BMW, but the situation does not negate the i3's irrepressible
exuberance.
In the real world, it is one of the quickest cars you can drive, be they electric or not.
Next, its rear coach doors are quite a pain to live with. They do
make the car a tad friendlier than a two-door, but many a time, the
front occupant still has to get out before someone in the rear can
disembark. This is because the rear doors can open only when the
corresponding front door is open, and it has to close before the front
door can shut.
In a perpendicular parking space, four people getting out of the car can be a tricky affair.
The positive side of this is compactness. The i3 can manoeuvre into
some of the tightest parking spaces. Its reverse camera makes this even
easier.
And because its body panels are plastic, it is quite resistant to nicks and dents from doors of other parked vehicles.
Onboard, there a few things that still need getting used to. The
climate control does not always work according to expectations -
blowing hard when there is no need to at times and not doing so when
necessary. This happens even when there is plenty of charge remaining
in the battery.
The other thing is its regenerative braking function. Most of the
time, it is predictable and brings the car to a standstill without you
applying the brakes. But once in a while, the car continues to creep
along.
The other thing to note is that the regenerative braking function
does not work as well around a bend. This can be a tad disconcerting at
first.
The i3 comes with adaptive cruise control, which is really
irrelevant. This is a city car, after all. And a very zippy one at
that. Adaptive cruise control does not add to its appeal.
After two weeks, the car's range has not changed. It still hovers between 90 and 100km.
Some other users have reportedly managed 130 to 140km. It seems
impossible, unless they were driving without air-conditioning or
driving with such a light right foot that they might as well have been
driving a Nissan Leaf.
The beauty of the i3 has largely to do with its sheer driveability
and unbeatable all-round acceleration. To drive it gingerly would not
do it justice.
Talking about beauty, the battery-powered BMW is definitely turning
heads. Wherever it goes, it attracts onlookers more than a red-hot
Ferrari.
And it is easy to see why. The i3 looks like no other car on the
road for now. In fact, it looks like something transported back from
2040.
Inside, it looks like a Beemer that Volvo or B&O might have
built. The cabin is bright and breezy, with a refreshing application of
trim and materials alien to BMW.
Besides the use of organic and recyclable materials, BMW has taken
pains to ensure that most of the energy that goes into the
manufacturing of the i3 is renewable energy.
It is good to know the company cares, even if most customers do not.
