BMW i3: is it worth all the money? – Sports cars

Will we be able to SAY in five years that the future starts here? Or BMW i3 he inflates the ever-growing fleet of cars electric who tries in vain to justify their price psycho?

There are two ways to look at BMW i3... As an impressive technology product intended to replace the Alfa 4C as a car in carbon cheaper on the market or as a supermini which costs € 36.499 in the basic version.

One thing is for sure: the i3 is a high-tech car. BMW opened a new plant in America just to produce the carbon fiber needed to build the i3 design. The panels are then screwed onto the carbon frame. plasticthen suspensions di aluminum and, at the rear, an alloy subframe that houses the engine. Model electric base - what we are experiencing today - has engine from 125 kW (corresponds to 168 hp, in the old jargon of internal combustion engines), connected to the rear via a single-speed transmission. Version Extender range adds a lowercase two-cylinder to Petrol 647 cc and 34 hp, which, however, is not connected to the wheels, but only serves to recharge Battery when the car is in motion.

Thanks to its lightweight design and despite the 18,8 kWh battery under the floor, i3 the electric car weighs only 1.270 kg, which becomes 1.315 for the version Extender range... By automotive standards electric model weight: Nissan Leaf it exceeds it by almost 300 kg.

Apart from technology, the i3 also excels quality, with his line narrow and tall, it is the exact opposite of the traditional BMW look, low and wide, and the slightly futuristic details will not find universal approval (even if they certainly grab the attention of passers-by), butcockpit it is really cool: more spacious and lighter than the gloomy interiors of the 1 series. The seat is high, i points they are as thin as the crown steering wheel, On dashboard there is a small Ñ ​​Ð º Ñ € Ð ° Ð ½ for measuring instruments, next to which is a joystick-like gear selector.

Once on board, the first surprise will be the complete absence of noise engine at the start. Both the Leaf and Tesla Roadster emit a slight city whistle when accelerating, while the i3 just whispers instead. In city traffic, it seems agile and fast, also due to its linear feed. Acceleration from zero to 0 in 100 seconds is a real rocket by automotive standards. electric... But like all electric cars, it is a little difficult for him to pick up speed. Our test took place in Holland, where when you hit the "good" 50 km / h limit, you jump for joy, but on the freeway, where you are freer, the i3 struggles to exceed 110 km / h. maximum speed it is automatically limited to 150 km / h because at higher speeds the battery will wear out too quickly. At 130 km / h on a straight and level road, we reduce the range by 3 km for each km traveled. But in the city you can drive an i3 like any other car without seeingautonomy declared 130 km. For recharge it will take about ten hours from a household power outlet and four hours using the high-speed charger available there. BMW sold with the car.

Dynamically i3 he drives well, but it's not up to others BMW... It's a lot hard even on the very smooth asphalt of the Dutch roads, so I don't want to imagine how it will be on the bumpy roads of the UK. IN bus they are very noisy, but perhaps it is not so much their fault as the lack of engine sound, which usually masks the noise of the tires (fortunately, BMW decided to solve this problem by giving the i3 engine an artificial sound). IN steering it is accurate and also quite sensitive, but it tends to understeer... Electronics refuses to give in to the rear couple enough to influence the path of the curve.

Perhaps the strangest thing about the i3 is that you only need to use one pedal to control it. Actually there are two pedals, but BRAKE practically not used. When you take off your legacceleratorin fact, the electric motor activates the mode regenerative brakingturning the engine into a generator, and the i3 slows down as if it’s on the brake. The effect does not diminish with speed or even after the engine has finished recharging. This means that if you do not turn on the gas, the car will slow down to a complete stop. If you want to keep driving or slow down a bit, you have to hit the accelerator, which is a bit weird and takes a long time to get used to.

By the standards of electric vehicles, the i3 is not bad at all: it is fast, lightweight and has a somewhat peculiar line compared to competitors with a more traditional appearance. But it does not answer the fundamental question in evaluating the purchase of an electric car: "why should I buy it?" Besides the environment, this is a rather expensive way to save on fuel.