BMW's Electric Revolution
Intro:
I've been thinking all week how to tackle this post. Should the i3 be reviewed in the same light as any other car, should this piece be about the electric car's place in our future or should it be about the challenges of owning an electric car in 2014?
The fact that I was even asking this question told me all I needed to know. The i3 has made enough of an impression on me that I want to know how practical it is in the real world. If it was a dog I'd have dismissed it and never asked these questions.
So with that in mind, I'm going to cover three angles. First I'll look at the i3 as I would any other car. Next I'll look at the reality of owning one in the current market. Then I want to consider what this all means for the cars of our future.
So let's start with this idea: "the i3 is just another car". This means you have to get past that shocking 1st impression - this is not a pretty car! There are strange shapes to get used to, especially around the windows in the rear doors. Quite why some manufacturers feel the need to make electric & hybrid cars look so different from the norm is a question I constantly ask. When there's already a potentially massive reason why buyers would walk away, why add another with looks like this?? Maybe it's a leftover from the Bangle era of design. If so, this could turn out to be a masterpiece that looks odd today but will fit in perfectly by 2020. It happened with the Z4 & 1 series (don't forget the Fiat Coupe, also a Chris Bangle masterpiece) so perhaps the i3 is in luck. Only time and taste will tell.
Apart from that strange shape to the windows, the other features that stand our are the suicide doors for rear passengers, the two tone paint scheme and the rather large but narrow 19" wheels. Open up those doors and you reveal the first of the i3's party piece repertoire. The rather huge interior, followed closely by party piece No2, the exposed carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP from now on) body shell. This is not a 1-series retrofitted with an electric motor, this thing is completely different. There is extensive use of lightweight materials to get the best out of the electric powertrain, complemented by an interior that takes full advantage of the packaging benefits.
Slide into the driver's seat and breath a sigh of relief.
So let's start with this idea: "the i3 is just another car". This means you have to get past that shocking 1st impression - this is not a pretty car! There are strange shapes to get used to, especially around the windows in the rear doors. Quite why some manufacturers feel the need to make electric & hybrid cars look so different from the norm is a question I constantly ask. When there's already a potentially massive reason why buyers would walk away, why add another with looks like this?? Maybe it's a leftover from the Bangle era of design. If so, this could turn out to be a masterpiece that looks odd today but will fit in perfectly by 2020. It happened with the Z4 & 1 series (don't forget the Fiat Coupe, also a Chris Bangle masterpiece) so perhaps the i3 is in luck. Only time and taste will tell.
Apart from that strange shape to the windows, the other features that stand our are the suicide doors for rear passengers, the two tone paint scheme and the rather large but narrow 19" wheels. Open up those doors and you reveal the first of the i3's party piece repertoire. The rather huge interior, followed closely by party piece No2, the exposed carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP from now on) body shell. This is not a 1-series retrofitted with an electric motor, this thing is completely different. There is extensive use of lightweight materials to get the best out of the electric powertrain, complemented by an interior that takes full advantage of the packaging benefits.
Slide into the driver's seat and breath a sigh of relief.
You're welcomed by a clean and effective design. The dash has a real concept car feel to it, with two colour screens and no dials. The large centre screen which appears to be floating above the dash, serves as your i-Drive display. Here is where you'll find all your usual Sat-Nav, audio and phone controls. The second display is your speedometer, charge status and range display. The switchgear is all familiar, from the BMWs we're used to from the past decade.
BMW have achieved a high quality feel in here, with a huge amount of space for such a small car. According to BMW the interior space in on par with a 3-series. This is achieved by extending the interior passenger space further into to the front corners of the car, space that would usually be occupied by an engine. There is also no centre console or transmission tunnel, further enhancing the spacious feel in the cabin. The materials are all top-notch and environmentally friendly. This is where the penny starts to drop on what this car is all about.
Equipment levels are high, as you'd expect from a premium marque. You have EPB, i-Drive with the touch interface, Sat-Nav, DAB radio etc. What is different is the BMW app that you can get for your iPhone and possibly Android. While this is more geared towards the electric charging functions of the i3, it does have some other excellent benefits. With this being an electric car, the heating is also electric. You don't have to wait for an engine to heat up before the heat blows hot air. What the app also allows you to do is pre-heat the interior of the car while you are sat indoors eating your breakfast on a cold morning. Then step out your front door to a de-iced and warm car.
Driving is a strange experience. I'd never driven an electric car before so I really wasn't sure what to expect. The i3 has no gearbox, so you drive it like a conventional automatic. Move the gear selector switch, located in a USA friendly stalk on the steering column, from P to D and off you go.
Obviously the first thing you notice is how ridiculously quiet it is. At crawling speeds it's utterly silent. Once you're up to normal driving speeds the effect is less noticeable as the road, tyre and outside noises come into play. Switch on the stereo and you won't notice the lack of engine noise any more.
The second thing that will surprise you is the active brake. If no one pre-warns you about it you're in for a shock. The active brake is part of the i3's regenerative braking system which harnesses the energy usually wasted while braking and uses it to recharge the battery. It does this by applying the brakes as soon as you lift off the accelerator. You won't be able to coast in this car, it'll just brake gently to a standstill. For much of the time you really can drive the i3 with just one pedal. Five minutes into my test drive I've adjusted to both the silent nature of the i3 and the active-braking. What I'm left with is a bloody good city car.
If you've read about electric cars before, you'll have seen how the instant availability of torque makes them far more enjoyable to drive that their tree hugging credentials would suggest. This really is a fun car to drive. The power is instant and acceleration is excellent with a 0-60 time of 7.8 second. Pulling away from lights, zipping in and out of traffic is a doddle with the i3 and makes it a cracking car for inner-city traffic.
The ride quality is typical BMW, but that's not always a compliment. It's certainly not silky smooth. The narrow 155/70/19" tyres make sure of that. It's not bad, but don't expect a magic-carpet ride. This rides like a BMW.
The Electric Effect:
So, if you look at this like a normal car you can't help but appreciate what a great little city car this is. The TARDIS interior and perfect city driving dynamics make it hard to ignore. The styling may make you want to ignore it, bit I could be proved wrong.
I haven't even mentioned running costs. The car will set you back £30,000 (helped by a government subsidy which drops this to £26,000), which for a BMW with 3-series levels of space and equipment plus sub 8 second 0-60 performance, is rather good value.
The range on a full charge is 80-100 miles, for which you'll pay anywhere from £2-£4 in electricity. The variance in price depends on the time of day you charge, as through the night will incur lower bills. Potentially that's 100 miles for £2 if you have the most economic drive mode selected, but that means forgoing luxuries like aircon. In the real world it'll be 80 miles. At today's unleaded that's an equivalent to 236mpg on a £/mile basis. AMAZING!
And now for the 'but'.
The big question: Are we ready for it?
So back to the pure electric version. You've plugged in overnight and topped up with your £2 off-peak electric juice, fully charged for £2!!! But then you look at the dash and see that the range is just 80 miles on a full charge, which brings you to the compromise.
If you are only doing short commutes and have the ability to charge at home and/or work, then this will work out fine. My problem is the mismatch between what this car is, who it is aimed at and who can realistically live with it. At its core this is a city car. It is not aimed at owners that live in the countryside and do a 100 each way drive to work. It is not aimed at sales people that live on the road and cover hundreds of miles per day. It's aimed at someone who covers 20-30 miles per day, 60 max. To vet the best out of it, you will want to be able to recharge it at home overnight. There are three options for recharging. First is the trusty old mains plug, taking 8 hours for a full charge. Next is a dedicated car charge station that you can have fitted at home at a heavily subsidised cost. That will take just 4 hours to fully charge and can be fitted on an external wall in your driveway. The final option is a fast DC charge, bit that requires the i3 to be converted to accept the plug and the charge points are few and far between. The upside is that you can charge to 80% in just 30 mins.
So back to option two, a dedicated charge point in your driveway. Cities are becoming more and more dominated by flats and apartments rather than houses. The people in these flats (like myself) are more and more likely to be renting rather than owning as time goes on. With limited off road parking and rented properties, having a charging station fitted at home is going to be bloody difficult. Yet these are the people are the perfect fit for the i3 in every other way. This is the problem I keep coming to and getting stumped. Unless companies start fitting charge points in thief work car parks, I do not see how someone can live with one of these car in the real world.
I checked to see where the public charge points are near to my flat. They are in a Waitrose car park and an NCP. When went to that NCP last week two of the three electric charge spaces had cars in them which weren't charging. Also, add the cost of 4 hours parking to the recharge cost and all of a sudden that 236 mpg equivalent drops to just 40 mpg. Suddenly you've lost that massive benefit of the electric car. Which means that only home or workplace charging make this a viable option. Otherwise you'll be playing chicken with the risk of running out of juice with nowhere to recharge.
BMW have tried to provide a solution to this however, with the range extender option. This has a separate 650cc petrol engine which is only used to recharge the battery. It is not used the drive the wheels, but it can extend your range up to around 180 miles. I didn't get to drive the range extender model, so for now can't comment on how it differs to the pure electric model, but I am definitely keen to find out more. With a range of 180 miles it is very similar to the only BMW I've ever owned - an M Coupe with a tiny tank and 19mpg petrol habit. The difference is I could refuel that anywhere.
The i3 requires that you put extra planning into every journey. You have a limit of 80 miles to plan your day's driving around. Take a wrong turn that adds 10 miles to a drive and you could be stranded. Sometimes the longer route is faster, but range will prohibit you from taking that option. eg M25 vs cross-city. The range extender model gets around this problem to some degree, but it's not perfect. If you're out of charge, how quickly can the on board petrol engine build up enough charge to get you back on the road?
You need to completely change your approach to how you use a car to get the most from it. What is suffers from is the usual early adopter syndrome. The market/infrastructure isn't in place yet but thanks to BMW the product is already here. If you buy an i3 you do so in the knowledge that in 5-10 years time the rest of the industry will have caught up. Charge points will be readily available and the process will be more convenient. The say you use your car will be similar to today once the infrastructure catches up.
There is the early-adopter risk though that the knowledge is just unrealised hope and electric cars never take on.
BMW have given us the first premium, affordable, high quality electric car. Are we ready?
So, if you look at this like a normal car you can't help but appreciate what a great little city car this is. The TARDIS interior and perfect city driving dynamics make it hard to ignore. The styling may make you want to ignore it, bit I could be proved wrong.
I haven't even mentioned running costs. The car will set you back £30,000 (helped by a government subsidy which drops this to £26,000), which for a BMW with 3-series levels of space and equipment plus sub 8 second 0-60 performance, is rather good value.
The range on a full charge is 80-100 miles, for which you'll pay anywhere from £2-£4 in electricity. The variance in price depends on the time of day you charge, as through the night will incur lower bills. Potentially that's 100 miles for £2 if you have the most economic drive mode selected, but that means forgoing luxuries like aircon. In the real world it'll be 80 miles. At today's unleaded that's an equivalent to 236mpg on a £/mile basis. AMAZING!
And now for the 'but'.
The big question: Are we ready for it?
So back to the pure electric version. You've plugged in overnight and topped up with your £2 off-peak electric juice, fully charged for £2!!! But then you look at the dash and see that the range is just 80 miles on a full charge, which brings you to the compromise.
If you are only doing short commutes and have the ability to charge at home and/or work, then this will work out fine. My problem is the mismatch between what this car is, who it is aimed at and who can realistically live with it. At its core this is a city car. It is not aimed at owners that live in the countryside and do a 100 each way drive to work. It is not aimed at sales people that live on the road and cover hundreds of miles per day. It's aimed at someone who covers 20-30 miles per day, 60 max. To vet the best out of it, you will want to be able to recharge it at home overnight. There are three options for recharging. First is the trusty old mains plug, taking 8 hours for a full charge. Next is a dedicated car charge station that you can have fitted at home at a heavily subsidised cost. That will take just 4 hours to fully charge and can be fitted on an external wall in your driveway. The final option is a fast DC charge, bit that requires the i3 to be converted to accept the plug and the charge points are few and far between. The upside is that you can charge to 80% in just 30 mins.
So back to option two, a dedicated charge point in your driveway. Cities are becoming more and more dominated by flats and apartments rather than houses. The people in these flats (like myself) are more and more likely to be renting rather than owning as time goes on. With limited off road parking and rented properties, having a charging station fitted at home is going to be bloody difficult. Yet these are the people are the perfect fit for the i3 in every other way. This is the problem I keep coming to and getting stumped. Unless companies start fitting charge points in thief work car parks, I do not see how someone can live with one of these car in the real world.
I checked to see where the public charge points are near to my flat. They are in a Waitrose car park and an NCP. When went to that NCP last week two of the three electric charge spaces had cars in them which weren't charging. Also, add the cost of 4 hours parking to the recharge cost and all of a sudden that 236 mpg equivalent drops to just 40 mpg. Suddenly you've lost that massive benefit of the electric car. Which means that only home or workplace charging make this a viable option. Otherwise you'll be playing chicken with the risk of running out of juice with nowhere to recharge.
BMW have tried to provide a solution to this however, with the range extender option. This has a separate 650cc petrol engine which is only used to recharge the battery. It is not used the drive the wheels, but it can extend your range up to around 180 miles. I didn't get to drive the range extender model, so for now can't comment on how it differs to the pure electric model, but I am definitely keen to find out more. With a range of 180 miles it is very similar to the only BMW I've ever owned - an M Coupe with a tiny tank and 19mpg petrol habit. The difference is I could refuel that anywhere.
The i3 requires that you put extra planning into every journey. You have a limit of 80 miles to plan your day's driving around. Take a wrong turn that adds 10 miles to a drive and you could be stranded. Sometimes the longer route is faster, but range will prohibit you from taking that option. eg M25 vs cross-city. The range extender model gets around this problem to some degree, but it's not perfect. If you're out of charge, how quickly can the on board petrol engine build up enough charge to get you back on the road?
You need to completely change your approach to how you use a car to get the most from it. What is suffers from is the usual early adopter syndrome. The market/infrastructure isn't in place yet but thanks to BMW the product is already here. If you buy an i3 you do so in the knowledge that in 5-10 years time the rest of the industry will have caught up. Charge points will be readily available and the process will be more convenient. The say you use your car will be similar to today once the infrastructure catches up.
There is the early-adopter risk though that the knowledge is just unrealised hope and electric cars never take on.
BMW have given us the first premium, affordable, high quality electric car. Are we ready?
Is it the future?
Possibly, yes. That's the most definitive answer I can give because the success or failure of the i3 and electric cars in general relies on so much more than the cars themselves. On its own as a standalone car the i3 is excellent. However the infrastructure isn't developed enough right now for the target buyers to commit.
Should you buy one?
Buying this car is like buying an Oculus Rift Dev Kit (www.oculusvr.com). If you want a taste of the future, even knowing the limitations in today's undeveloped market AND you can accept the potentially heavy residuals then this car's AND you don't mind looking like a bit of a tit, then the i3's only weaknesses shouldn't bother you. On all other fronts it is an excellent choice of car, spacious, quick, well equipped and high in quality where it really counts.
If only it wasn't so damn ugly....
The real star of BMW's electric story may be sitting in the background, just waiting to steal the headlines
Coming next: BMW's other electric treat
[All images & photography in this blog are (C) David Cane and may not be used without prior permission]
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