I have driven BMWs since 1985. I currently have a 2010 M6 which I love. The M6 was in the shop for service and they lent me one of these i3s. In a 20 minute time frame, I fell in love with it. 10 days later I had my own fully loaded i3 and I can not say enough how great this BMW is. When I first saw it at the auto show, I said, what the heck did BMW do. Its ugly. Well it grows on you fast. Tint all the windows and you got yourself one cool car.
I am working with an energy consulting firm and all our company cars are I3's. Driven them a fair few times and absolutely love them. Driving is quick and agile, range isn't really an issue as long as you don't need the freeways all day. Premium EV for sure!
I own a older Porsche Boxster and a 2003 Infiniti Q45. In the past I've owned a Benz, 7 series BMW, Nissan 350Z, Audi, Toyota & Saab 900 Turbo. So I know the status quo fairly well. But when I drove the Leaf, I fell in love. I needed a 5 passenger for when my granddaughters spend the summers with my wife & I. Or I may have considered the i3. But driving an electric car is way different, and shall I dare say "cool?" And the instant torque of an electric vehicle is addictive! I bought my used Leaf fully loaded with 13k miles, Nav System, leather, Bose stereo & a quick charge port, for about $16k. Could have gotten less options for a lot less money, but I loved the car so much, I wanted all it offered. I was even able to buy an 8 year, 100k warranty on a used car for only $1,600. That shows how low maintenance & trouble free the warranty company knows the Leaf's are after being available since 2011. I plan to buy a used Tesla in the future, when they become cheap & old enough for me to afford!
Your not meant to reach through the steering wheel to select park. Selecting park or the stop/start button is done with ones thumb while your open palm is hovering over the drive selector, couldn't be easier.
I think the person with the electric Chevy Spark has the best idea. Simple Cheap Transportation with out the high prices. And the SPARK EV has quicker acceleration this year with no loss in battery and 4G connectivity comes loaded for $27K before any incentives by State or Fed.
It really is a great little thing! But it's a compliance car. Sales (and inventory) are tight, while BMW is selling 1000 units per month now, of which, after 3 or 4 months of being on sale, that's impressive! The last problems the Spark EV has is charging. It doesn't have 32 amp (3 - 4 hour) charging like the i3 or LEAF. It has to do with an outdated 7 to 8 hour charge.
I just totaled my Spark EV, which I loved, and I'm now going to purchase a used BMW I3. It is amazing how much these drop in cost over a 2 or 3 year period. The adaptive cruise control is also something I've been wanting for some time.
I live in a midwest city of about 500,000 and just saw my first one today. As much as I wish I could love it, I can't. Besides being pricey, it is hindered by three huge flaws. The first is its range. I suppose that there are people that only drive 50 miles at a time but in most major US cities, you can easily go half that distance driving across town. Couple with that the slow charge times, even 20 minutes would be too long, and it just doesn't work. The next flaw is that even with battery life extended to even 7 years, imagine how bad your resale value will be. When anyone sells one or trades it in, if they don't first put new batteries in it, expect nobody to want it. Who would buy a used car that they knew might need a huge repair cost? You would get the same at a dealership. The dealer would need to put batteries in it, so he would have to figure that into the equasion. The third problem is the looks. The Pontiac Aztec is considered the car that killed Pontiac. It is considered the uglies car of this century and this car looks worse,
chltmdwp Model S is meant to be a supercar. So you might compare it to the i8, even tho it's hybrid but can still drive it in full electric mode. Model S looks like a Jaguar....very boring.
Fuck all these cars. If you put an electric motor in a car anywhere from 190? To the 1960s it would be an electric car with style coming out its ears. Something dark has been happening to car design since the 70s
Forty-Two-Thousand Dollars..... RIGHT..... For that money you can buy a Fully Spec out Accord Hybrid Touring with all the Accessories which gets you 50mpg and 0 to 60 in 7 seconds with plenty more room, better driving dynamics, better storage and still have money to spare. Why would anyone bother experimenting with an I3?
Pandascams I got one for $19k with 14k miles. Damn good car. A friend of mine has a 2018 Leaf and the i3 from 2015 is almost as good as the 2018 Leaf. (Although I realllllly like the 2018 Leaf).
Does anyone know how much on average a lease would be with a credit score of 720? I don't want to get a quote by salesman right now because they have a hard sale specially by my area -.-
A 1920 Model T got 20hp, 20 MPG, 35 MPH top speed, 2 gears and at 9 to 19 gallon fuel tank. Considering how we've only had electric cars for 10 years, they're making improvements. So if you had a 9 gallon tank you'd be getting only 180 miles. Besides, go 100 miles a day, plug it in at night for 6 hours. You're topped up. Only if you're doing long road trips would it be a hassle.
mark williams The i3 hasn’t been tested by the NHTSA yet. What we do know is that it has passed all US federal crash standards. We also know that it scored 4 out of 5 stars in Euro NCAP testing. However, that was due largely to pedestrian safety issues; not anything related to the i3’s carbon fiber construction.
'tis not the "body" that's made of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic... it's what's directly under it... the "passenger pod"... aka "life module".It's the skeleton that surrounds the "life forms" that sit inside. The outer skin (body panels) are plastic, and the roof panel is also of CFRP. The rolling chassis (onto which all suspension is mounted, as well as the battery pack) is of aluminium, or on our side of the pond... "aluminum". No mention of self-parking? lane assist?
can you please tell about batteries how will they last ,, are they like smartphone batteries gonna give you less time after one year or more ? or something like that
finally a good looking electric car. up to now its seems that they were made ugly on purpose. if i had the money of a lawyer or a doctor i would definitely buy one of these hands down.
it's a nice electric care but I can't get over the low range sure it would be good for everyday driving but it just can't go for the exciting long adventures you can have with a gas guzzler of BMW will imply that if you can afford one you probably already have a second car that runs on gas.
Yeah - I have one and while in 5 months, I haven't needed to use the gas car, it's nice to know it's there if I need it. It's probably saved me 2 weeks of car hire in fuel so far though.
Why do electric cars have to bee so ugly and child-like...???. (Have they not heard of Tesla.???...They actually make great looking cars !!) I really want to buy an electric car at a reasonable price, - but I am not willing to look humiliated in public.
At first I thought it was ugly. As I saw more of them on the road I got used to the shape. Then I test drove one and was blown away. I drive a 5 series now but would love to get an i3. Sorry if you think it's ugly - the BMW designers (and many others) disagree.
MikeDLA I've test driven an i3, and I was anything but blown away. Don't get me wrong, it's more than enough for most people. But it's going to have to do so much more, and look so much better than something that I have to get use to (which I have yet to do, even with the increase in i3s in my area), for me to spend over $40,000 on it.
Pointless without the range extender. The frunk isn't watertight. The Euro version has a larger gas tank. The 1st row has to let the 2nd row person out. It's ugly but this would be perfect for me. 90% of my driving would be covered by EV range.
Eco, sure, but what about the other millions of 1, 3, 5, and 7 series? Those babies are luxury, luxury, and more luxury, with more weight and extras. It is just like pasta sauce...make so many variations that you appeal to all.
We originally designed electric cars to get away from pollutants, in this case, oil and gas lobby pollutants that clog are air, soil, and water, but nobody seems to think that electric cars pose an environmental disaster, but they do! Wild day to day driving does take a lot of CO two out of the atmosphere, nobody seems to wonder what happens when the car has reach the end of its lifespan, what do they do with all those batteries that are highly toxic? To me we are just replacing one type of pollutants to another, I don’t know if I’ll ever find a vehicle that is completely environmentally friendly, aside from the bicycle, but electric cars to me or not the answer, because as time goes on will create just as many problems as they fix, am I the only person to think like this?
The charger to this #bmwi3 is some what awesome because you can actually go to an electric gas station to pump up gas in the tank, I mean how cool is that!
WTF has bmw done?! This is the stupidest looking thing since the smart car. Thee most favorite car I've ever owned was a 96 318i convertable and boy do I miss it. Even more than the girl passenger side. >_< barely. But what breaks my heart even more is to think future generations will think of this as what a bmw was. It's a travesty on Pontiac levels
I have driven BMWs since 1985. I currently have a 2010 M6 which I love. The M6 was in the shop for service and they lent me one of these i3s. In a 20 minute time frame, I fell in love with it. 10 days later I had my own fully loaded i3 and I can not say enough how great this BMW is. When I first saw it at the auto show, I said, what the heck did BMW do. Its ugly. Well it grows on you fast. Tint all the windows and you got yourself one cool car.
You traded in the M6?
How do you even fit in this car?
Jim Martin I did my research, took a test drive and was sold. It's a very cool car, very advanced and yet extremely easy to get used to.
Holy shit I sure hope you didn't trade the M6 for this shitbox. I love BMWs too, but this thing? I don't know...
I am working with an energy consulting firm and all our company cars are I3's. Driven them a fair few times and absolutely love them. Driving is quick and agile, range isn't really an issue as long as you don't need the freeways all day. Premium EV for sure!
I test drove one it's a blast to drive
Gonna chop veggies on that dash?
I own a older Porsche Boxster and a 2003 Infiniti Q45. In the past I've owned a Benz, 7 series BMW, Nissan 350Z, Audi, Toyota & Saab 900 Turbo. So I know the status quo fairly well. But when I drove the Leaf, I fell in love. I needed a 5 passenger for when my granddaughters spend the summers with my wife & I. Or I may have considered the i3. But driving an electric car is way different, and shall I dare say "cool?" And the instant torque of an electric vehicle is addictive! I bought my used Leaf fully loaded with 13k miles, Nav System, leather, Bose stereo & a quick charge port, for about $16k. Could have gotten less options for a lot less money, but I loved the car so much, I wanted all it offered. I was even able to buy an 8 year, 100k warranty on a used car for only $1,600. That shows how low maintenance & trouble free the warranty company knows the Leaf's are after being available since 2011. I plan to buy a used Tesla in the future, when they become cheap & old enough for me to afford!
This is a really good car. One downside for me is the lack of the middle seat in the back.
Nice music selection Kelley Blue Book. The perfect theme for the car that sports the technological revolution in dystopian times.
No sunroof available in the US on any trim/ "world" level. Also the navigation screen size can be increased with a package on any of the trim levels.
I wouldn't have expected such an animated, entertaining review from an old "serious" name like Kelley Blue Book. Good job! Interesting car.
I love my Volt, and i can take it on long hauls. Averaging 193 MPG. However, i really find the aesthetics of the i3 pleasing!
Your not meant to reach through the steering wheel to select park. Selecting park or the stop/start button is done with ones thumb while your open palm is hovering over the drive selector, couldn't be easier.
I think the person with the electric Chevy Spark has the best idea. Simple Cheap Transportation with out the high prices. And the SPARK EV has quicker acceleration this year with no loss in battery and 4G connectivity comes loaded for $27K before any incentives by State or Fed.
It really is a great little thing! But it's a compliance car. Sales (and inventory) are tight, while BMW is selling 1000 units per month now, of which, after 3 or 4 months of being on sale, that's impressive!
The last problems the Spark EV has is charging. It doesn't have 32 amp (3 - 4 hour) charging like the i3 or LEAF. It has to do with an outdated 7 to 8 hour charge.
dont forget 400 torque haha CRAZY!
I just totaled my Spark EV, which I loved, and I'm now going to purchase a used BMW I3. It is amazing how much these drop in cost over a 2 or 3 year period. The adaptive cruise control is also something I've been wanting for some time.
The car is so tiny and cute
I live in a midwest city of about 500,000 and just saw my first one today. As much as I wish I could love it, I can't. Besides being pricey, it is hindered by three huge flaws. The first is its range. I suppose that there are people that only drive 50 miles at a time but in most major US cities, you can easily go half that distance driving across town. Couple with that the slow charge times, even 20 minutes would be too long, and it just doesn't work. The next flaw is that even with battery life extended to even 7 years, imagine how bad your resale value will be. When anyone sells one or trades it in, if they don't first put new batteries in it, expect nobody to want it. Who would buy a used car that they knew might need a huge repair cost? You would get the same at a dealership. The dealer would need to put batteries in it, so he would have to figure that into the equasion. The third problem is the looks. The Pontiac Aztec is considered the car that killed Pontiac. It is considered the uglies car of this century and this car looks worse,
All good points. But have you seen the new Honda Odyssey? That is no the ugliest car ever made.
Volt and Model S look the best in my opinion
chltmdwp Model S is meant to be a supercar. So you might compare it to the i8, even tho it's hybrid but can still drive it in full electric mode. Model S looks like a Jaguar....very boring.
Fuck all these cars. If you put an electric motor in a car anywhere from 190? To the 1960s it would be an electric car with style coming out its ears. Something dark has been happening to car design since the 70s
Would be nice if the infotainment screen didn't look like a computer from the 90s
Forty-Two-Thousand Dollars..... RIGHT..... For that money you can buy a Fully Spec out Accord Hybrid Touring with all the Accessories which gets you 50mpg and 0 to 60 in 7 seconds with plenty more room, better driving dynamics, better storage and still have money to spare. Why would anyone bother experimenting with an I3?
skirmich depreciation. That's why.
The BMW also has depreciation.
used i3's now cost $15,000 with 10k+ miles.
Pandascams I got one for $19k with 14k miles. Damn good car. A friend of mine has a 2018 Leaf and the i3 from 2015 is almost as good as the 2018 Leaf. (Although I realllllly like the 2018 Leaf).
Does anyone know how much on average a lease would be with a credit score of 720? I don't want to get a quote by salesman right now because they have a hard sale specially by my area -.-
great video KBB!
Nice! The charger door flex reminds me of a Saturn, which was all plastic body.
80 mile range with 20 hour charge time?
i love the car. would buy one if i had the money.
A 1920 Model T got 20hp, 20 MPG, 35 MPH top speed, 2 gears and at 9 to 19 gallon fuel tank. Considering how we've only had electric cars for 10 years, they're making improvements. So if you had a 9 gallon tank you'd be getting only 180 miles. Besides, go 100 miles a day, plug it in at night for 6 hours. You're topped up. Only if you're doing long road trips would it be a hassle.
Electric cars came before petrol cars
$50k and I cant leave town, no way
How safe is the carbon fiber ?
mark williams The i3 hasn’t been tested by the NHTSA yet. What we do know is that it has passed all US federal crash standards. We also know that it scored 4 out of 5 stars in Euro NCAP testing. However, that was due largely to pedestrian safety issues; not anything related to the i3’s carbon fiber construction.
+mark williams Considering F1 cars and most race cars are made with CF...it should be plenty safe if they engineer it right.
Carbon fibre is one the the strongest materials
'tis not the "body" that's made of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic... it's what's directly under it... the "passenger pod"... aka "life module".It's the skeleton that surrounds the "life forms" that sit inside. The outer skin (body panels) are plastic, and the roof panel is also of CFRP. The rolling chassis (onto which all suspension is mounted, as well as the battery pack) is of aluminium, or on our side of the pond... "aluminum". No mention of self-parking? lane assist?
So if power goes out in your area for a few days then your stuck at home.
BBBYpsi not if u have the extended gas engine
My house has an automatic backup generator.
Claustrophobia free backseats? I don't think so since the windows don't roll down. And no sunroof or moonroof options at all.
they should make an i3 but as a sedan
Breakthrough car for sure.
I own a 2015 i3...best car I ever owned...and it hauls ass!!
can you please tell about batteries how will they last ,, are they like smartphone batteries gonna give you less time after one year or more ? or something like that
Abdulmalek Salem warranty is till 90k miles for battery
Do you ever film in Murrieta or Temecula?
Is the 240V charging locked at 7.2 kw, or can that charge at a lower current/speed?
Late reply but more like max 3kw at 240v. You can alter charge speed from max medium and low though.
finally a good looking electric car. up to now its seems that they were made ugly on purpose. if i had the money of a lawyer or a doctor i would definitely buy one of these hands down.
Good looking? Wow.
@@djmotise it is.
Leather-like upholstery when you shave $10,000...lol. :-D
it's a nice electric care but I can't get over the low range sure it would be good for everyday driving but it just can't go for the exciting long adventures you can have with a gas guzzler of BMW will imply that if you can afford one you probably already have a second car that runs on gas.
Yeah - I have one and while in 5 months, I haven't needed to use the gas car, it's nice to know it's there if I need it. It's probably saved me 2 weeks of car hire in fuel so far though.
great review, also very funny....thanks!
And for sure this is definitely NOT the EV car for me :-)
It's the BMW Aztec.
80-100 mile range for a $40,000 car, what a joke.
BldgWha7 its a BMW thats why every car they make is too expensive!
Umair Gaming drive (a good) one and you’ll understand their pricing
The new one with 120 Ah costs the same and will get you 200 miles.
He looks cute!
Why do electric cars have to bee so ugly and child-like...???. (Have they not heard of Tesla.???...They actually make great looking cars !!) I really want to buy an electric car at a reasonable price, - but I am not willing to look humiliated in public.
+55nonni Just wait 2-3 years, then you will have some choices (besides Model 3 ofc).
They do have bigger screen, why they didnt test a fully loaded model
So funny...I recognize this area...south Orange County Irvine/Lake Forest
@Sir Weenie the tesla is capable of 300. The 270 is average. Don't pay the troll any kind
Is there any front storage under the hood?
only enough for milk lol
Would it really have been that difficult of a task to make this car look better...? Come on BMW.
At first I thought it was ugly. As I saw more of them on the road I got used to the shape. Then I test drove one and was blown away. I drive a 5 series now but would love to get an i3. Sorry if you think it's ugly - the BMW designers (and many others) disagree.
MikeDLA I've test driven an i3, and I was anything but blown away. Don't get me wrong, it's more than enough for most people. But it's going to have to do so much more, and look so much better than something that I have to get use to (which I have yet to do, even with the increase in i3s in my area), for me to spend over $40,000 on it.
You're the ginger for me.
Pointless without the range extender. The frunk isn't watertight. The Euro version has a larger gas tank. The 1st row has to let the 2nd row person out.
It's ugly but this would be perfect for me. 90% of my driving would be covered by EV range.
Driven one. It is fun. But prefer my Volt.
Eco, sure, but what about the other millions of 1, 3, 5, and 7 series? Those babies are luxury, luxury, and more luxury, with more weight and extras. It is just like pasta sauce...make so many variations that you appeal to all.
We originally designed electric cars to get away from pollutants, in this case, oil and gas lobby pollutants that clog are air, soil, and water, but nobody seems to think that electric cars pose an environmental disaster, but they do! Wild day to day driving does take a lot of CO two out of the atmosphere, nobody seems to wonder what happens when the car has reach the end of its lifespan, what do they do with all those batteries that are highly toxic? To me we are just replacing one type of pollutants to another, I don’t know if I’ll ever find a vehicle that is completely environmentally friendly, aside from the bicycle, but electric cars to me or not the answer, because as time goes on will create just as many problems as they fix, am I the only person to think like this?
42 grand yeah no thanks
Price?
Base is $42,000 US Dollars. He says it 6:20
did I hear 20 hours charging for 80 miles? uhhh
No.
I just can't get on board with the styling. Tries way too hard to be different and quirky looking.
The electric car that has the answers.
I like the wwe reference
When?
+Everett Hamby (Ev) 04.06
not a good car range is too low
Anyone thinks this looks like the Kia Picanto?
wow
Why would you buy this when you could buy a tesla model 3?
This is much easier to park and doesn’t have build quality issues.
This car is for those with more money than brains.
Well said.
chancy319 finally someone gets it
Agreed. Psssttt... [Vegans] with more money then brains...
42k? Yeesh Would buy a Tesla instead any day. I wouldn’t spend 42k grand on some trash car
looks like an aztek or a vibe, but uglier. i hate this car so much
Futuuuuure
The charger to this #bmwi3 is some what awesome because you can actually go to an electric gas station to pump up gas in the tank, I mean how cool is that!
Waaaaaaaaay overprices
WTF has bmw done?! This is the stupidest looking thing since the smart car. Thee most favorite car I've ever owned was a 96 318i convertable and boy do I miss it. Even more than the girl passenger side. >_< barely. But what breaks my heart even more is to think future generations will think of this as what a bmw was. It's a travesty on Pontiac levels
LAME!