CC reader CJC sent me this shot of his friend’s superb 530i (which has been converted to Euro bumpers) next to a current i3. Ok, bring on the predictable hate. As for me:
Count me in as a (mostly) fan of the i3’s design, because it’s very appropriate for its task as primarily a city car. And as you know, I like tall, boxy city-friendly cars. As a matter of fact, with more range (which it’s getting), this would work quite well for me except for the longer trips into the boonies I often take. But for running errands around town, it’s about the closes there is to a successor to my xB.
The Fugly overpriced i3 makes a new Chevy. BOLT look like a rocket ship in comparison and for less $$$. I saw one i3 in person, almost lost my lunch.
You can bet it’s a terrible seller in the USA.
Beauty is skin deep ugly goes clear to the bone. JMO
IMO the i3 looks like a “wild” early proposal for the Bolt before it was toned down with more functional conventional doors and such.
I also like tall and boxy and little bit unusual (remember, I had a Berlingo before B-Max and I consider both cars cool), but this is too much even for me. One reviewer said that it looks better in vivo, but I disagree – it is just as ugly on the street as on the photograph, especcially from behind.
As a BMW guy (and a car guy) I find the I3 interesting. In my current situation, I am only driving about 8,000 miles a year on my personal car, making a 10K lease practical for me.
BMW tells me they’ll lease one (with the range extender) to me for about $320 per month, which is appealing.
https://www.bmwusa.com/special-offers/lease.2017-BMW-i3-with-Range-Extender.html
In my sub/urban environment, there isn’t a lot of corner-carving opportunity available to me, and anyhow, I have my old Alfa for that game. The I3 would be a new toy for a different game.
The only hesitations I have probably aren’t really rational – I am not sure about the expense and hassle of putting a charger in my garage…and what do I do with it if I decide to play a different game in 3 years? I don’t think (but don’t know) that a BMW charger could be used with any other electric car, and in my mind’s eye I see it just staying on the wall of the garage dusty and forgotten for the next 15 years.
The other question lies in the effectiveness and range-impact of Texas Summer Heat® on an electrically driven air conditioner. Even a ‘trip across town’ can easily rack up 100 miles in the DFW metroplex, and 30 or 40 straight days of over-100 degrees F temperatures aren’t unknown here, sadly.
Properly reassured on those two issues I might seriously consider one. I’ve gone as far as sitting in one on display at the dealership….and musing that the interior is fashionable and neat, but rather spartan compared to my current ride….
240V “level 2” charger plugs for US electric cars, the kind that can get you all charged up in four to eight hours, are all the same according to an SAE standard. Once you have one installed, which is about like adding a circuit for a dryer or stove, you’re good for all the EVs. Public chargers out in the world are almost all level 2.
Most EVs in the US come with “level-1” 110V charging plugs which plug into any standard outlet, take a long time to charge up the car, and are really meant to keep you from getting stuck someplace with no way to charge at all. Though my friend who drives a Mitsubishi EV daily is fine with just 110V overnight charging since he doesn’t use that many miles every day.
Tesla’s Superchargers and level 3 chargers for EVs that can use them deliver a massive current of 400V DC to get 80% charged in less than an hour. Most non-Tesla EVs aren’t equipped for level 3 charging, sometimes it’s an optional extra. There are a variety of plug standards. The average home service cannot support level 3 charging.
Hope this clears up that question.
Thanks for this info. We’ve been on and off considering running a drop and if we ever do this is valuable stuff!
Glad to help. Here’s an article with all the details: Electric Car Charging 101.
Such a shame the US didn’t standardize on 240v electricity like much of the world. We’d have a much better infrastructure for electric cars had we done so. Not to mention faster dishwashers, coffee makers, and clothes washers, all of which are routinely plumbed to a cold water supply in Europe and elsewhere. And cheaper, thinner, easier to work with electrical wiring due to lower amperage for the same wattage.
The Grand Tour’s season ender did a great real-world comparison between the BMW i3 and a VW Golf GTI. You can imagine which came out ahead. 🙂
Of course the i3 is probably OK for city use, if you’re into that sort of thing. I personally wouldn’t live in a city and don’t even like to visit them. I much prefer rural living with the range and flexibility of a conventional vehicle. (I may revisit that when electric cars are priced competitively and can go 300-400 miles on a charge with a “fill-up” time of 5 or 10 minutes. I don’t care about the alleged environmental benefits. So until there is full parity with gasoline power – no sale.)
I actually like the i3. The wood interiors remind me of a B&O stereo sitting on an Eames chair. and I like the way they used a BMW scooter engine as a range extender. It’s a bit bulbous, but I find it fit for the purpose.
On the other hand the 3000 pound 1 Series really frosts me as does the execrable X6 hatchback abomination. It’s astonishing how small and taut a 2002 or even an E30 3 Series looks in traffic surrounded by modern sedans and crossovers and how obese more recent BMW cars look.
Maybe it is just me but having grown up in the 70s and 80s to me a C segment car 13-14 feet long with a 1.5-2 liter engine and a 2000-2500lb curb weight is “normal”, like an A1 or A2 Golf or a Mazda 323 and anything bigger and heaver is “large” and anything less is “small”.
That said, my Mazda5 is 15′ long with a 3300lb curb weight and a 2.5 L engine, but it is also a 6 passenger minivan with sliding doors so I consider its size commensurate with its capacity.
“B&O stereo sitting on an Eames chair” – quote of the day!
No i3 for me please. Never seen one IRL, but I know I’ll hate it. The same design made by Renault or Honda, I wouldn’t bat an eyelid. But BMW? They should have either called it a MINI or exhumed some marque they owned (e.g. Glas) — that would have been ok. BMW shouldn’t be making these under their own name. It’s going to hurt them down the line.
I have a major motorhead friend at work who’s an amateur racer, and so is his wife. They got a BMW i3, mainly for her, but he gets to drive it to work from time to time, about 35 miles each way. He says they both love the car, that it really feels and performs like a BMW.
In spite of the relatively high price ($42K and up) I suddenly started seeing quite a few of them around Portland when they came out. Though not as common as Nissan Leafs, they’re about as common as any of the other Spark, Volt or Tesla EVs around here.
I thought the i3 was pretty weird looking at first, especially the crazy belt line, but I’m getting used to it. The interior sure is different, basically flat surfaces with a couple of flat screens poking out. I like it.
Ugliest greenhouse ever, period. It looks like a car made by a prop house for a dystopian Sci Fi movie. Typical ugly to stand out design EVs continue to be plagued with.
I’ll take the E12.
Practically, I would love an i3, I think it would be a great car to live with.
But this photo is about style, and it’s pretty savage. It highlights the “Try Hard” styling elements that aim for edgy, modern and interesting, but just hit awkward and ugly. I’ve been looking at the photo trying to force myself to appreciate the good aspects of the styling, and I almost managed it, briefly. Then my eye went to the clean lines and perfect proportions of the 530i…..
Like I said, savage.
Personally, I admire the i3 as a technical achievement, even though I’d still prefer a conventional small car – a Fiesta ST maybe – around town.
As a city driver, the i3 is very appealing
O to 40 times are good to excellent. Handling a bit unknown. I have to think suspension is not up to potholes Plastic abs carbon fiber body also good. Seems like the tires are fragile and expensive
Biggest issue is I can’t mount a charging station so I’m stuck with public ones or using the scooter motor. You lose a lot (conditioning battery) without a plug in
The dazzle design is meant to distract you from how ordinary it is. Really just a cmax that weights 300 pounds
I often jog near the A22 Autobahn in Austria and the i3s I see from time to time are often in the middle lane where people normally cruise at 130-140 Km/H (80-86 MPH), so the performance is more than adequate for intercity journeys. Range is of course another matter…
The i3’s a dime a dozen here i Copenhagen. Shared car services use them a lot and the big company I work has a whole fleet of them as well.
They don’t “do” it for me, but I can see why people would like them.
Give me the 530i any day over that monstrosity i3. What happened to the good car designers? Most of what passes for cars today look like they were designed by monkeys.
“Please, don’t insult my race like that…
I’ve flung poop, that was better looking than the i3.”
That is a handsome looking Ape.
At least it doesn’t resemble the average car from the 70’s.
I resemble that comment about ’70s cars, lol. At least one could see out of em!
I love my five Citroens but my daily driver is an i3. I’m not the only Citroen Car Club (of GB) that has one. I’m going to have to extend my lease mileage above the 18000 miles per annum as although its a city car at heart I’m using it more and more for longer journeys on the REX – but less than 10% of the mileage (currently 35000) has been on the generator.
So, you haters go on hating, but the i3 is an incredibly clever piece of kit (says someone who’d not otherwise put a modern Beemer on his shopping list); and if this is the future of motoring, bring it on..
If this is the future of motoring I’m glad [for once] to be in my late 60s.
I have a good friend who has an i3. It’s her DD and she bought it precisely for the reasons Paul cites. I’ve given her crap about her “coal powered” Beemer, but I’ve ridden in it several times, driven it once, and I have say it’s quite nice to drive and is an engineering and packaging marvel. Drives like a BMW, and that should be no surprise. Very solid, all of a piece.
Styling-wise it’s not pretty. But it is interesting, in a “bauhaus” avant garde sort of way. Again, it’s a BMW, so no surprise there. I do think it’s bigger more sporty sibling, the i8, is much better proportioned and carries the same amalgam of design cues with much more aplomb.
I dissed it at first but now have grudging respect for what BMW has achieved with its i-Series. If one can get past the weird styling they are quite an automotive engineering achievement.
The old school 530i, is great…It’s what I think of when someone mentions the word BMW.
What the heck is that oddball spaceship next to it?!
Why do EVs have to be so ugly?
I’m staring at the i3, and at ANY minute, waiting for a bunch of circus clowns, to jump out.
Geez, that freak actually makes the AMC Gremlin and Pacer look somewhat normal and attractive.
If that weirdomobile is what the future of automotive styling is…
I need to Uber a ride with Marty McFly, and go back to the past where cars actually look NORMAL.
I like the i3’s practicality as well as funky styling and would like to own one if I had the money.
So that is what it is called the i3. Got to be one of the ugliest cars this side of a Pontiac Azteck. The 530 is the only way to go with the i3 stuck in a box and buried in the back corner of a closet. There is quirky looks but this one I can’t handle.
Wow, E12s used to be quite common around here but not anymore. E28s still pop up now and then.
Paul, thanks for posting this. I know my friend will appreciate seeing the pic on here!
He is the third owner of the car. The second owner did the euro bumper conversion and badge swap.
As for the i3, I like it. We actually considered getting one, but passed for two reasons. First, our garage is managed by a condo association so we’d need to get approval to run a new drop for the charger. Second, we only drive about 2000 miles a year and I’m not sure that at rate an electric really does much. If they put the 3-cylinder twin turbo from the Mini in it it’d be a strong contender for our next car.
Same reason why I passed on an electrical vehicle although I live in the EU and my daily trip is short so that an EV would make perfect sense, but it’s just too complicated to construct a charging point at my parking space (I’ll need other apartment owners to agree etc.), and price wise will only start to make sense after a few years. Other issues are the initial purchase price of all of the EV available here as well as depreciation the nearer you get to the horrendously expensive battery pack change. But if I had my own firm and could get tax rebate for depreciation or given the option of an EV by an employer, I would not hesitate for a second.
The i3 may be a great design in an engineering sense; I’d have to agree with that.
But the thing is an aesthetic disaster, especially obvious when parked next to this. Fisher-Price would have done better.
As the automotive Luddite of CC I won’t even mention which of those two is the real BMW! lol
I love the rear. I like the front. The proportions are cute. The interior is quirky and full of recycled materials, which is nice. The technology is great. I just really loathe the sides of these… The detailing is too fussy, like on the i8. Clean up the sides on the i3 and the rear on the i8 and you’ve got two good-looking electric cars.
I’ll try to keep the hate down, but the kinks in the beltline and window top line make no sense to me. I’d like to read a Vellum Venom on it.
Oh, I agree on that. The current Honda Odyssey also has weird kinks in the beltline that just looks too jarring compared with its previous generations.
Just another example of today’s recurring automotive styling theme, which seems to be
“Ugly is the new pretty” or “Better ugly than boring”!
Perhaps the i3’s looks could be improved by a pair of tail-fins.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Must admit after studying the picture of the BMW i3 closely,
I now admire the Pont. Ass-Tek … Nissan Juke and Smart car.
Saw one at the local BMW lot.
Nope.
Even lipstick won’t help this pig!
I’ve been reading the comments comparing the i3 with old cars like the 2002.
Car companies cannot build a car like a BMW 2002 today.
EV’s have to maximize aerodynamics so they are shaped very differently.
Newer cars are safer too and that takes room, too.
There’s an i3 that roams the eastern suburbs of Grand Rapids, I see it occasionally. It was rather strange looking at first, but I’ve gotten used to it. We have a small, but seemingly growing electric car club of sorts around here. We have a Tesla Supercharger station a few miles away, and a number of Volts, Leafs and Tesla Model S’s prowling around here.
I keep my (new) cars a long time, now that I’m in my mid 50’s I’ve been thinking about what I should drive into my dotage. My newest car is a 2009, while it’s been good and reliable, I’ve been thinking about what to get next. Could I get a BEV or would I be better off with a hybrid or just a regular car?
We’re about to put our house on the market and downsize. We’re not sure what we will do next, whether we rent or buy another house or condo. Hopefully, I won’t have to replace either of our vehicles anytime soon. But once we figure out our living arrangement, I will be looking for a new ride.
I have been paying attention to the market, in the last several years there have been some welcome advances in battery technology; at a minimum I think we would end up with some sort of hybrid. Whether by choice, design or governmental mandate, it may turn out to be a good thing. I’ve long read about the reduced maintenance demands of hybrid vehicles and that could be a boon for us going into our golden years…
It looks as if BMW took a page out of Toyota’s book of design and applied it to their version of the Prius. I have probably seen this on the freeway on my commute and dismissed it as something Asian. It looks nothing like a BMW.
I think the only good looking electric car would be the Tesla Model S. Almost looks like it could be a modernized Chrysler Concorde or Dodge Intrepid.
I am not sure why the other electric cars have to make it a requirement to be such an eyesore, not that 2017-era cars with an ICE instead are any better looking.
The Fisker Karma is another electric car, that is very attractive, it makes gas powered cars look like blobs of bland.
I think the Fisker looks a lot better than the Tesla, hands down.
I know, the Fisker had a good electric range(had because they went out of business in 2012…Due to the battery supplier for it’s cars went belly up), but not sure if had a hybrid system, as well.
Heard they returned in 2016, and have new models, now known as the Karma Revero, up for 2017 order.
Call me old-school, but I prefer the earlier BMW any day ov.er the more recent BMW.
As per Bill Gillooly’s comments on the i3 –
It has three hopelessly mismatched side-windows, with the rear ones so tiny they severely restrict visibility.
Plus, rear styling that looks like another car is popping out of this one’s butt!
How does all this improve safety or aerodynamics?
Happy Motoring, Mark
Wow. What a lot of “I’ve never seen one but…” geez people, do you hear yourselves?
Speaking as one who first saw one of these parked on a local street and was immediately *delighted* by the design I’m baffled, but then I’m firmly in its target audience being a young-ish European urbanite.
Strange, and sad that something generates so much bile here for being different, original and brave.
Agreed. Lots of hate, but so many have not seen one, so they have never driven one. I like it, it works as a small car for a single person, DINK household, or a small family living in urban areas. Admittedly, the i3 is probably aimed more Euro-market, as EVs suit the perceived driving needs of Europeans better than North Americans, but, in reality, how far does one drive daily? If you are commuting over 200 miles daily, may I humbly suggest moving? Or a new job? You are spending 4 hours daily getting to and from work? No wonder you hate everything!
Death, taxes and these comments are all equally predictable.
Taking a closer look of the 530i, I see it’s 1972-1975 European version. The US version has side running lamps attached to the body above the bumpers. This 530i doesn’t have those: if the owner chose to de-NHTSA his 530i, filling in the holes and repainting the body would be too time-consuming and expensive. Filling in the holes can easily be done, but making the surface smooth does take lot of work.
I don’t know if anyone here noticed that this 530i is an Alpina version with air dam, rear spoiler, and alloy wheels fitted. That was before Alpina began offering its own street versions with engine modifications, aerodynamic kits, and B-label (or D-label for diesel version) in 1978.
Oliver,
This particular 5-series started life as a regular old BMW- a previous owner added the Alpina parts fitted. Still looks great though.
That new one is the dictionary definition of “butt-ugly”.
Oh you guys, you’re so predictable 🙂 . Remember, interesting does not have to be transportation and vice versa.
Hopefully it’s predictable for me that I can see both sides of this coin. Love that 530i, that would be my first choice to keep in the garage for sunny friday commutes and twisty ravine roads. Daily driver in the city? In the winter? I would have no problem driving that i3.
“Oh you guys are so predictable”
True that. It’s a rather conservative bunch here. Not my fault, I hope. 🙂
I saw my first i3 on the road just last week and marveled at what BMW has become. I can’t say that I’m a fan of the look, but then the i3 has a lot of company in this category.
Love the 530i. The i3…..why bother? Before the governmental credits, the car cost close to $50,000. That is a lot of money for a small electric car when there are cheaper small cars that give more bang for the buck. Take the Prius hybrid or Prius electric. Cheaper to buy, has more room for passengers and storage but is very city friendly(probably one of the best cars for tight spaces) and is reliable.
Then there is the Honda Fit, Fiat 500, Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris. All gas only powered cars but all are low emission, get great gas mileage(I was getting 40mpg on my 5 speed 2012 Fiesta) and great city cars.
The i3 looks just as odd as the Mitsu i-MiEV
Well, the same argument can be made that an Avalon could do the same job as a 5 series at a significant discount. These are quite simply the BMW’s of EVs.
I like the concept. I *really* like the interior.
The exterior makes me weep for what passes for styling these days. I’m cognizant of the “an EV should not look like a regular car” school of thought, and as a philosophy it has some merit. But dear lord, why do they all have to be so ugly? The new Prius has the same disease.
Can I have this drivetrain and interior in the body of an ’05 xB?
Holy Ghod, that’s fugly!
i3’s aren’t uncommon where I live in California. I even know someone who drives one; his other car is a V10 M5. Personally, I don’t care for the colorway nor the kick up at the B pillar and small rear side windows, but the overall proportions are fine for what it needs to do.
I’ve had the pleasure to drive an i3 a few times (DriveNow – a direct rental service that’s a cooperation of BMW and Sixt – fields them here in Munich. Rolling advertisement really) and I have to say I found it very impressive. Practical for its small footprint, generous cabin space and entry, as well as all-round visibility, which is not a given even in smaller BMWs. The design may be polarising but it’s purposeful (besides, I think it’s less of shocker here in Europe, where small hatchback BMWs are nothing new anymore). And it feels quite a lot like a BMW: razor-sharp steering, powerful, thrusty engine, solid planting on the road. Freude am Fahren in a way both new and familiar. In practice, you rarely need the brake pedal, since the engine has enough braking power on its own. Very easy to park, too, perfect for the city.
However, that’s precisely the reason why I, despite being a city dweller, wouldn’t want one for myself. In the city itself, I rarely drive a car. It isn’t faster than public transport, slower even if you take the search for a parking spot into account, while costing more. And I can’t even drink a beer. If I really need a car, I can use one of the direct rental services, which are all around. What I would primarily use a car for is longer-distance travel, for which the i3 is simply not that suitable due to its small action radius. The places I’d take a car to are those where I can’t go by train, and those areas tend not to have a lot of charging stations. Not practical? No, for what the i3 does best, there are already many good (and cheap) alternatives.