BMW i3 Training Autocross Video

*Hat tip to insideevs.com for finding this first!


BMW has been holding i3 training events to get the new BMW Product Geniuses up to speed on what they need to know about the car. As I have written here many times, there is so much about this car that is completely different than anything BMW has ever sold before that they really need to dive deep into the training of their client advisers and especially these new Product Geniuses. As good as the car is, if they fail to have the ability to properly help the customer decide if the car is right for them, then they won't sell nearly as many as they could have. This is going to have to play itself out before we can gauge if BMW did indeed do everything they could have to give the dealers the tools they need to sell these vehicles.

However in my opinion this video is promising. Not only is BMW holding training sessions where the Product Geniuses will learn about he cars, but they are getting the chance to take once out and do an autocrossing session in one. Plus, in addition to getting to drive in the i3, they also get to drive in a couple i3 competitors, like Chevy Volts and Nissan LEAFs while they are there so they can see how much better the i3 performs.

I assume the above video was taken by one of the Product Geniuses during one of the training sessions and posted on YouTube. It's not a professional quality video by any means, but it does show he was indeed impressed with the i3's performance.  

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State of Washington Approves BMW i3 REx For Sales Tax Exemption

A little over a month ago we learned that BMW i3 REx buyers in New Jersey wouldn't have to pay sales tax on the vehicle as the State was including it in the zero emission vehicle tax exemption. That will obviously help i3 REx sales immensely since it will likely save the average i3 REx buyer in New Jersey about $3,500. There was never a question of whether the BEV i3 would be tax exempt, since it is truly a zero emission vehicle, but the i3 REx isn't. The range extended Chevy Volt, for example is not tax exempt in NJ. The reasoning behind the i3 REx exemption is two fold. First, the i3 REx has about an 80 mile all electric range which is more than double the Volt's. This means for most buyers the i3 REx will likely be driven on electric much more than the average Volt owner drives their car on electricity. Secondly, the i3's range extender isn't as robust as the Volts. You could easily drive the Volt all the time without ever plugging it in. I don't know why you would buy a Volt and do that, but you could without any problem. The i3 REx on the other hand could not be driven like that, and it really needs to be charged and driven in electric mode most of the time.

So today we got news that Washington State followed New Jersey's lead and certified both the i3 BEV and i3 REx to get the State's zero emission tax exemption, saving i3 REx buyers in The Evergreen State a good chunk of change. In fact, most i3 REx buyers there will likely save as much as the REx option costs-$3,850!

I noticed that InsideEVs just put up a post about this and since I'm currently in Geneva covering the Geneva Motor show for them I figured I'd "borrow" Eric Loveday's post on this. Below is the full post he made for InsideEVs.com:

“We ARE smarter than California,” says Washington state representative Chad Magendanz.

BMW i3 With REx Qualifies For Sales Tax Exemption in Washington

Magendanz made that statement before and now he’s saying it again.

When Magendanz stated that previously, it was to make it know that he was urging the state of Washington to grant the BMW i3 REx sales tax exemption.  This idea was that Washington would jump in front of California, a state that seems reluctant to award EREVs due to the ICE on board.

Now, Magendanz is saying “We ARE smarter than California” again, but this time it’s to celebrate the fact that the i3 REx will be sales tax exempt in Washington.

Per the press release sent to InsideEVs:

• Dept. of Revenue reverses itself, says new electric BMW with made-in-WA parts will get tax exemption after all
• State Rep. Chad Magendanz was happy to find out that one of his prime-sponsored bills is unnecessary, now that a state agency has reversed its position on a tax exemption for electric cars.

The Issaquah Republican had been pushing legislation to clarify that electric vehicles such as the new BMW i3 qualify for a state sales tax exemption. The state Department of Revenue (DOR) told Magendanz last month that the i3 – which has carbon fiber parts made in Washington – wouldn’t qualify because of an optional gas-powered “range extender” BMW offers to consumers worried about their car running out of power. Magendanz introduced the bill to counter the department’s interpretation of the exemption law, but last week DOR informed lawmakers it had changed its mind.

“It’s a great thing when common sense prevails in government,” said Magendanz. “Unlike California, Washington is sending the message that we encourage innovative, environmentally-friendly automotive technology.”

The issue of the sales tax exemption came to Magendanz’s attention when he read that California had backed out of a deal with BMW to grant the i3 the state’s coveted “Clean Air Vehicle” white decal, which gives drivers full access to HOV lanes. California said the range extender – even though it’s optional and not permanently connected to the car – compromised the i-3’s status as a solely electric vehicle.

The i3 is expected to hit the U.S. market this spring. SGL Group in Moses Lake produced carbon fiber components for the car’s passenger compartment.

The bolded statement of “not permanently connected to the car” is clearly inaccurate when one opts for the i3 with REx.  And some of the anit-California comments are untrue too, such as the i3 not qualifying for the white sticker, which is actually does, provided its the BEV version.

Washington joins New Jersey, site of BMW’s US headquarters, in exempting the i3 REx from sales tax.

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BMW i3 Born Electric Guest Blogger: Meet Toni From Belgium

A while ago I announced that I would be starting a new series here called, "I was Born Electric on...". The series will be featuring readers who are i3 owners and who are willing to share their thoughts on the car after owning it for a while. They will begin the post by introducing themselves and stating the date they were Born Electric, which is when they picked up their i3. Andy from the UK kicked off the Born Electric series and we then visited Hil from Holland. We'll now be traveling to Belgium to visit with Toni and his new Capparis White i3:  

My name is Toni and I was Born Electric on Monday, 27th January, 2014.

The first time I realized that there was an alternative to fossil fuels for propelling a car was in early 2011, when I came across an electronic brochure about the Opel Ampera, the European sibling of the Volt. The more I read about it, the more I was convinced that my next car had to be an electric one.

The reason why I didn't go for the Ampera back then was stupidly financial : 50.000€ for a car was way above what I was willing/able to pay. 

Of course, there were other more affordable electric cars out there. But maybe I was not ready for the leap of faith into electro-mobility yet. Range anxiety was clearly an issue I had to deal with while I waited for my savings account to be able to take the hit of a new car.

Three years later, things had clearly evolved. Both on the EV market and in my personal situation. In the latter, I had enough spare funds to afford a reasonable down payment on a premium car. Moreover, the extensive immersion into electric car literature helped me to come to the conclusion that I did not really need a range extender since more than 95% of my daily commuting could easily be covered by a BEV. The question was then : which car was going to be the one. Ampera/Volt? No, though it definitely is a fantastic car, it still has a tail pipe and I did not want to buy an end-of-cycle model. Tesla? No, too big and too expensive, I did not want to take out a mortgage for the sake of buying a car.  Nissan Leaf? Er, no.  

The BMW i3? Well ... I must admit that my first impression was negative. Not because of its design; actually I am fond of its looks since the very first concepts that appeared in 2011.  But rather because it is a BMW! I never liked BMW. I always considered that BMW was making cars to suit arrogant petrolhead jerks (with all due respect, of course!).

And then I test-drove it. And fell in love.

Was I ready to overcome my prejudices and become a BMW driver myself?  Definitely. Biases are wrong, the car drives like a breeze, the technology inside is outstanding and I too can be a jerk sometimes. : )

So, in order to do penance for my past biases, I decided to devote this blog post to crushing some preconceptions that have been floating around the i3 in some reviews.  And I'll do that from the authoritative position of being the happy owner of a "Shamu Edition" (Capparis white & black - think Shamu the whale)

It is a city car:

No, it is not. Though the car handles incredibly well in an urban environment, it has nothing to be ashamed of when cruising at highway speed. It is fast and responsive. Steering is precise and forgiving at 130 km/h (80 mph).  Overtaking on motorways is a feast. It is a BMW after all, is it not?

The i3 is particularly noisy at high speed:

No, it is not. My first extended drive of the i3 has been the trip back home after delivery at my iAgent dealership. 50 km (30 mi) from Waterloo (Brussels area) to the Mons area where I live. Since the battery was almost fully charged, I decided that I could afford the luxury of squandering away precious kWh's on the E19 motorway. In addition to discovering the driving dynamics described above, I was also curious to put to the test the recurrent criticism I read about unpleasant airflow noises.  I can confirm that in-cabin noises are like taste; there is no accounting for them. I, for one, was not inconvenienced by the airflow at all. I even enjoyed it.

The trunk is too small and the suicide doors are a hindrance:

The question is : Compared to what? 

I am a small car guy. Before the i3, my car was a Mini Cooper. Before that, I owned a Mercedes A-Class (2004 model). Before that, a (discontinued) Rover 220sdi. I know what a small car is. And the i3 is no small car at all by my standards. The trunk offers enough space to generously accommodate the weekly shopping for a family of four. There is plenty of space for my Victorian longbow, arrows included, or for my eldest son's guitar, amp included. 

As for the coach doors, once again it all depends on where you come from. Compared to the coupé-style doors of my Mini, the i3's "antagonist" doors, as they are called in French, are a major step forward in terms of ease of access and comfort. Or to put it in my youngest son's words : "Sooo cooool!".

Materials used for interior trims do not feel "premium":

That was a tricky one.

As I said, price was an important parameter for me, as it surely is for most of us. Given that I accepted the idea of disbursing 40.000+ € for a car, the outlook of spending my driving time in a sleazy environment was distressing me. Of course, I did have the opportunity to feel, touch, smell the interior materials a couple of times before I ordered the car. But assessing the quality of a dashboard or of a leather upholstery is like testing a spring mattress at the mattress store.  No matter how long you try to figure it out, the only way to be sure is to turn the lights off and literally sleep on it.

Though I have not slept in my car (yet), now, I know. The interior is largely up to the price paid. Comfy, stylish, extremely well finished down to the most minute detail. I am almost ashamed of having doubted.  By the way, my i3 has the Lodge interior (Giga world). 

The i3 is just an overpriced Zoe: (I've been reading this one a lot in the French-speaking press).

For the non-European reader, let me first explain that the Renault Zoe (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Zoe) is a sort of cute good looking Nissan Leaf, with a French touch.  Don't get me wrong; I think that the Zoe is a nice little car but, c'me on! 

How can a professional journalist put the i3 and the Zoe on the same footing.  How can you compare the past to the future? A car made of steel to the first mass produced car made of aluminum and carbon fibre?

I wish I were an engineer and be able to explain why and how a car with a CFRP body drives so much better than a conventional one. But I am just a linguist and you'll have to bear with my poor description : in the i3, you're just in control!  

The rigidity of the thing makes you feel that there is nothing the car won't take.  You feel light and super secure at the same time.  If you don't believe me, just arrange your own test drive.

Considering the technology, range is unimpressive:

My take on that may sound unconventional.

More range would have been inconsistent with the concept of “great driving experience in a sustainable way”. If my average daily need is 40, why should I store in my car 4, 6 or even 8 times the energy and resources that are necessary?  

In all fairness though, I must confess that I am still struggling with an instinctual range anxiety.

And this is where technology comes to the rescue. The amount of information that comes through the screens is just impressive. The dynamic range assistant, the Eco-route guidance, the graphics, everything has been thought and designed in order to alleviate whatever range fear that I still could have. And it works. On top of that, the resolution quality of the 10.2" screen (professional nav) is remarkable.

I know that there is a bit of controversy as to why BMW did not include a State Of Charge reading in the i3 as in the ActiveE or the Mini E.  Since I never had the chance to drive an EV with a SOC, I guess that my point of view may be considered as neutral on that.

The i3 is an expensive high-tech toy for tree-hugging geeks:

Yes.

It is.

But it is much more than that at the same time.

It's a car.

With all the features, functionalities, looks, behavior, style, technology and feel of a great car.

And yes, it is electric.

So is my i3 living up to all of its promises?

Not quite all of them, for the moment at least.

In Belgium, some of the much anticipated 360° Electric services have not been fully rolled out yet. The Add-On-Mobility (Access or Alternate Mobility program as it is called on other markets) is still largely undefined and the ConnectedDrive services are having a bumpy debut.  Nevertheless, the local BMWi team is working hard on it.

As far as the actual car is concerned though, I can happily report that I haven't found the least flaw yet.

My i3 is the second BMWi to have been registered in Belgium.

And I am very proud to be among the first owners. 

2/5/14 EDIT:
Toni has had a few people ask him about the range since this post went up so he asked me if I could add these words to the post to cover what he has observed so far:

Hi, thank you all for the the nice words!

As for the range, I haven't pushed it to its limits yet. And I doubt I'll ever try to; I'd rather do away with my range anxiety in a non-traumatic way :)

Apart from the maximum range, I think you have to consider the "comfortable" range the car is giving you. By "comfortable" range, I mean the distance you can cover without ever bothering about modes, driving style or even outside temperature and this includes short highway portions. In the case of the i3 (BEV), my experience of the "comfortable" distance is ~62mi (100 km) on one charge.  Remember that, within this range you can drive the way you want. Of course, this "comfortable" range can be jeopardized by a particularly aggressive and non-responsible driving. But, as far as I know, only anti-EV journalists are capable of driving this way.

If your daily commuting includes larger highway portions and/or represents between 62 and 80 mi (100 to 130 km), then I recommend using ECOPRO. Mind you, ECOPRO is not a sub-standard COMFORT mode. The car behaves much like it does in COMFORT mode with only slight differences. Most of them remain unseen by the driver. The only one you do notice is the max speed capping. This speed capping works much like a speed limiter on a conventional car, i.e. you can adjust it in the settings and override it by pressing the right pedal down to "full throttle" when overtaking or in case of emergency. For Europe, ECOPRO default setting is 110km/h (~68 mph).

If you really need to go much farther than 80 mi (130 km) on one charge in a consistent way, you'll probably have to master hypermiling techniques and accept that the ride may become stressing sometimes :)
In this case, I'd recommend going to for the REx version.

If you own an i3 and would like to participate in the Born Electric series here, you can email me at: tom.moloughney@gmail.com

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BMW i3: Tax Credits and Leases and Residuals, Oh My!

Will BMW's financing options put the i3 out of reach for many of its enthusiasts?

There have been many discussions on various websites since an internal BMW document surfaced that led to people to believe the BMW i3 lease terms in the US would be very high. One potential i3 buyer even has his local dealer (Stevens Creek BMW) work up a lease quote using the information on the document. The i3 he built had a total price of $55,978.52. With very little money down the lease payment came out to be $930 per month. There were a couple things that led to this very high lease estimation and I thought it would be worth while to discuss them here.

The proposed i3 lease was posted by insideevs.com

First, the residual values on the document were very low, around 40%. Unfortunately this is basically in line with residual values of other electric cars and there are basically two reasons for it. First, electric cars are new to most people and there is a lot of uncertainty regarding what the secondary market will be. What will a 3 years old i3 with 40,000 miles be worth? How much will the battery have degraded? What will its practical range be at at that point? Until we have years of EV use behind us with tens of thousands of examples to draw data from, finance companies will likely err on the side of caution and offer low residuals on EV's. Then there are the tax credits and rebates. California is the largest market for EV's in the country and basically paves the way for everywhere else. EV's buyers in California not only get the $7,500 federal tax credit, but they also get up to a $2,500 State rebate. Therefore a used EV is instantly worth $10,000 less than a new one as soon as it rolls out of the lot.  So to be fair, you really should include the tax incentives and rebates in the equation when you discuss electric vehicle residual values, because that is the actual effective cost of the car to the buyer.. If you do that, the i3 residuals jump up to nearly 50%. That is still a bit low, but not really far off of what a typical car would be worth after a three year lease. 

The tax credit is now a center of debate

The document also showed that BMW is only going to apply $4,875 of the expected $7,500 federal tax credit as a capitol cost reduction to leases. This led some people to assume BMW is simply pocketing the $2,625. I raised this question to Timm Bock, Product Development & Pricing Manager for BMW Financial Services and he told me that BMW will only realize $4,875 for the federal tax credit and that they will pass every cent of what they get along to the customer. I still don't know exactly why they don't get the full $7,500 because it seems the other EV manufacturers do since they pass it along to the customer as a capitol cost reduction in their lease offerings. So either they get more than BMW does which would be surprising, or they are eating the $2,625 in an effort to push their electric vehicle offerings. This to me would be equally surprising, so I really don't know what the truth is at this point, but I will continue to investigate this. 

Timm was kind enough to also include an overview of the financing options BMW Financial Services will be offering for the i3, and this is what he sent me:

Tom,

Please see my response below regarding the Lease and OwnerChoice products you had asked about, as well as how each product relates to the Federal EV Tax Credit when purchasing a BMW i3.

Traditional Lease - Our tax team has advised us that each leased BMW i3 qualifies us for a Federal EV Tax Credit of $4,875 - all of which is passed on to the consumer.  This $4,875 Lease Credit can be directly applied as a Capitalized Cost Reduction, or to other costs, at the time of lease-signing.  Regardless of your tax situation, by choosing a BMW FS lease with the $4,875 Lease Credit, you'll know exactly how much you will benefit, it’s applied at the time of purchase and there is no subsequent filing, administration or personal tax implications.
(As a reminder, only EVs purchased for personal use are eligible for the maximum $7,500 tax credit.  However, the benefit is reduced to $4,875 for 100% business use.  Regarding Nissan and Chevy, we can’t speak to why they are choosing to offer $7,500 or more; this may be part of the their incentive or discount strategy.)

But for customers who want to claim the maximum tax credits, we have made attractive alternatives to leasing available:  OwnersChoice and OwnersChoice with Flex.

· OwnersChoice – OwnersChoice provides:  low lease-like monthly payments, the lease-like option to return the car at the end of the term AND the eligibility for you to claim the maximum income tax credits.  

· OwnersChoice with Flex - In addition to the OwnersChoice benefits above, OwnersChoice with Flex allows you to increase your final balloon payment due at the end of the contract term by up to $7,500. Increasing the final balloon payment due further reduces your monthly payments, and in this way provides you with the opportunity to benefit from the $7,500 immediately.  OwnersChoice with Flex bridges the time-gap between the vehicle’s purchase date and your tax filing date.  We are proud to say that BMW FS is the first in the industry to develop an enhanced balloon finance solution like this for EVs. 

BMW Financial Services will also offer our traditional loan product.  Like both of the OwnersChoice products above, a BMW FS loan provides you the eligibility to claim the maximum $7,500 Federal EV Income Tax Credit.  

In general, due to the uncertainty and complexity of tax credit rules, we encourage anyone considering an EV to consult with a tax professional.

While this doesn't really clear up the tax credit questions, it does give some clarity on the OwnersChoice with Flex product that they developed specifically for the i3. This will allow a buyer to get the full $7,500 tax credit, yet still return the car like a lease at the end of a predetermined period. It's a purchase, but allows the buyer to have a capitol cost reduction up to $7,500 (the customer decides how much they want BMW FS to deduct as a cap cost reduction) to lower their monthly payments. That money is then owed to BMW FS and the owner can pay it off anytime they want. The owner will then have the option of making a balloon payment equal to the residual value plus the additional $7,500 and buying the car outright, refinancing the balance and keeping the car, or simply paying back the $7,500 and returning the car as if it were leased. 

There is interest charged on the $7,500 cap cost reduction they applied that is baked into your monthly payment, but BMW will allow you to pay it back early and save on the interest expense. The best way to utilize the OwersChoice with Flex may be to pay the $7,500 up front when you take delivery of the car, therefore you'll never have paid a penny of interest on it. Of course you'll need to have the finances to do this, but since you'll be recovering the $7,500 a few months later when you do your taxes, you will only be a short time without the funds. (provided you qualify for the full tax credit)

I hope that provides a little insight into the OwnersChoice with Flex. However, admittedly it doesn't get us any closer to really knowing what leasing deals BMW will be offering. Until we get the official residual values, interest rates and terms, we're all just guessing. I just hope people don't expect the i3 to have leasing deals that are comparable to some other much less expensive EV's like the LEAF or Volt, let alone the great deals on some of the other manufacturers compliance EV's. These cars are subsidized by tens of thousands of dollars per vehicle just so the manufacturer can lease the minimum required be California, in order to continue to sell their gas cars there. BMW has been consistent with saying the i3 is going to be profitable from day 1, and BMW will not subsidize it. This will likely make the i3 more expensive to lease in California than a Honda Fit EV, a Fiat 500e or a Toyota RAV4 EV. However for the rest of the country this comparison really doesn't matter because those cars aren't available nationally like the i3 will be.

Personally I expect to BMW to announce the financing details pretty soon, like within the next couple weeks and I will certainly post them here. There is hope that BMW may surprise up with a good leasing deal after all though. This week at the NADA convention in New Orleans BMW's North American CEO Ludwig Willisch said "It will be an attractive lease offer" and "It will be in the ballpark of a normally equipped 3 Series". A friend of mine recently leased a pretty well equipped 328i and with $3,000 down and he's paying $415/month. I find it hard to believe the i3 will lease for that low, but I suppose it's possible on a base BEV i3 without any options. I'll pick this back up here once the details are revealed. 

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Strong Turnout at JMK BMW For i3 Drive Event

One of the i3's at JMK before they needed to take it off the showroom floor to use for test drives. I'd guess at least 50 test drives were given during the day.

Manny Antunes, JMK BMW client adviser and BMW i3 specialist admitted he was overwhelmed with the amount of people that came to check out and drive the i3's the dealership had for the day last Thursday. BMW gave JMK two i3's for the day and the original plan was to leave one on the showroom floor and use the other one for test drives. However as soon as the day began it became clear they needed both cars for test drives because there were so many people there that signed up to drive an i3. Manny did a great job and was at it all day. He didn't even stop for lunch as there was a line of people waiting all day for test drives.

Manny Antunes & I after a long day

The problem was, once they took the car off the showroom floor there was nothing there for the people waiting for their turn to test drive one to look at. Plus since Manny had to use another client adviser to accompany the customers in the test drives, there really wasn't even anybody from the dealership that could stand there and take on all the i3 questions. However that's exactly why he asked me to stop by, just in case they needed help with answering questions about the i3 or electric cars in general. I usually never mind talking about electric cars, but even I was worn out after over 8 hours of nonstop questions from the 100 or so people that came to see and drive the i3.

Even with running both cars not everybody got to drive one, since both cars drove well over 150 miles they needed to be charged a few times during the day to keep them going. Witnessing the strong demand for test drives was very promising. The range of people I talked to was also surprisingly varied. There were Nissan LEAF owners as well as people that have never even driven in an electric car but had heard about the i3 and were interested in buying one. We also had about six ActiveE drivers stop by to take another look before they decide to place their order for the Electronaut Edition i3 or not.

I'm really happy Manny and JMK reached out to me to give them a hand with the i3 launch. The i3 is going to be like nothing that BMW dealers have ever had to deal with before. Dealers that understand this and reach out for help will be the ones that excel with the i brand and sell a lot of i3's. Nissan and Chevy went through the same thing when they launched their electric car offerings. Some of their dealers are selling plenty of LEAF's and Volt's, yet other dealers in the same markets sell very little. What is the difference? Being prepared. Knowing the product and training the client advisers to know what questions to expect will make all the difference. I know JMK BMW is taking this serious and I'm sure they are going to be one of the areas leading i brand dealerships. Wherever you live, if you are thinking about getting an i3 check out a few of your local BMW dealerships and feel them out a bit. Make sure you find one that is making an effort to really know the i3 and have people on hand that can answer the unique questions that battery electric cars have. If your dealer doesn't know the difference in level 1 and level 2 charging, or they don't know the details of the i3 battery warranty then my recommendation would be to look elsewhere.

It was a crazy hectic day, but it was really great to see how many people came out to test drive this truly revolutionary new BMW.

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The First Volt Owner in Georgia Explains What He Doesn't Like About the BMW i3... and Why He's Buying One!

Chris Campbell with his Volt. Chris was actually the first Volt owner in the State of Georgia. Now that his 3 year lease is coming to an end he's chosen to replace his Volt with a BMW i3.

Chris Campbell has been following my blogs for a while now, and has commented on many posts. He's an avid electric car supporter and is a member of the BMW i3 Facebook group. Chris has been following the BMW i3 for a while now and he's been really anxious to test drive one. As you'll read below, the driving experience is really important to him - as it is for me. Chris finally has his chance to test drive the i3 (twice actually) and shortly after declared on a post in the Facebook group "I did test drive #2 this morning. That's it, I'm in.". I know Chris knows a lot about EV's, and I know he had his doubts about whether the i3 would be the right EV for him, after all he really loves his Volt. So when I read his declaration, I asked him if he would like to do a guest post here, to offer his story of  how he came to the conclusion the i3 would be the EV that would replace his Volt. He accepted the invitation, and sent me the post below:

GETTING OVER IT AND CHOOSING THE BMW I3

I am an electric vehicle enthusiast.  The wave of EVs in the late 1990s piqued my interested, but it was a lucky chance at a long test drive of a Tesla Roadster in April 2009 that gave me the EV religion.  By 2010 I was ready for a new car and the market was finally ready to give me an EV.  In my case the Chevy Volt was good choice because I have a short commute, well within the electric range of the Volt, but also wanted the ability to take the car anywhere at any time and not have to worry about range.  Note that there was virtually ZERO public charging infrastructure in 2010 when I got the Volt.

Fast forward three years and I'm now at the end of my three year Volt lease, and looking for my next car. The Volt has been great, and in fact I still believe it is the BEST car on the market, especially for anyone new to EVs.  After three years of tweaks, and this year's dramatic price drop, the Volt is even more compelling than when I took my somewhat risky plunge in 2010.  But, for me personally, as my Volt lease ends I'm now looking to move on to the next thing.

I've been following BMW's EV developments closely for a few years now, and after a second test drive this past Friday, I've decided that the BMW i3 is going to be my next car.  I'll explain why, but I'm also going to take a sober look at the car, probably unlike any other i3 review you've seen.

EVs are an absolute thrill to drive, and there was no doubt that my next car would be another EV.  While the environmental and geopolitical reasons for getting an EV are important to me, what really draws me is the sheer power (well, torque) of the electric drivetrain.  Once you experience that "stealth V8" power you just can't live without it.

So, for me, the very top issue in selecting the next car was POWER. How fast was it?  The Volt (and Leaf, even) are deceptively powerful, and a blast to drive, but I consider them to have only the MINIMUM required power.  More is better!  And early reports on the BMW i3 indicated that it was going to be more powerful than anything on the market short of the (sadly unattainable) Tesla models, so I've been following it very closely for over a year now.

There are lots of features that I like about the i3.  The carbon fiber structure is certainly cool.  I'm tall, and the long coupe-style front doors place the pseudo B-pillars (and seatbelt anchors) nicely back and out of my peripheral vision.  The i3 will have an available DC fast charging option, and I decided earlier this year that my next car simply had to have DCFC capability.  The drive train is well engineered, following four years of careful testing in BMW's MINI-E and ActiveE programs.  It's a BMW, so you're going to get a driver's car.

All these things are great, but certainly the car isn't perfect.  No car is perfect.  And in fact, that's how it usually works, right?  You fall in love with a car, then you find out something about the car that you DON'T like, and then you have to decide whether you can get over it.  Do the pros outweigh the cons?

The Nissan Leaf is ugly, has a spartan interior, and has a cheaper battery technology that makes it susceptible to weather extremes.  The Chevy Volt is a bit pricey and can't seat more than two people in the back (and the EV purists turn their noses up at it).  The Ford models have that hulking battery pack messing up the trunk, signifying the worst of "conversion car" engineering.  And so forth -- you can always find something wrong with a car.  Even the vaunted Tesla Model S has problems, most prominently its stratospheric price tag, but upon closer examination there are plenty of other problems.

So, I've got problems with the BMW i3.  Can I get over it?

I'm an engineer, and I can't help but try to analyze this decision soberly and methodically.  Anticipating that I'd be back in the market for a new EV after the Volt lease, a year ago I started assembling my checklist for the perfect electric vehicle.  This long document is a collection of every feature in every EV on the market, and serves as a way to honestly evaluate the cars on the market.  No car is perfect, not even the Tesla Model S, and my list serves to remind me that there are tradeoffs in any car.

With that, I will now itemize the top things that I do NOT like about the BMW i3.  See, I told you this would be unlike any review you'd read!  Again, I've said above that I AM going to buy an i3, in fact I will be happy to be the first in my home state, as I was with the Chevy Volt three years ago, and probably will be as big a cheerleader as anyone about the car (well, except for Tom M...).  But I'm doing this with a clear-eyed view of the pros AND the cons of the car.

In essence, this is a list of the things that I had to "get over" in order to commit to the i3.

IT'S UGLY!

While the i3 has some sexy angles, it has some real stinkers too. Look at it straight on from the front, or straight at the rear.  In both of those angles the weird design is jarring, and the skinny tires jump out at you.  I know, I know, 19-20 inch tires, contact patch size blah blah blah -- it just LOOKS bad.  But it's a thrill to drive!  So I'll get over the looks, or least tolerate the snide remarks.  At least I shouldn't have to worry about those kinds of comments from Nissan Leaf owners, right?  That has got to be the ugliest car on the market, from ALL angles!  Ha!

NO CLIMATE PRESTART ON KEYFOB

You're not going to believe this, but this feature is THE most important feature to me in an EV, putting aside the headline features of the drivetrain, battery and charging technology.  The same way you get addicted to the instantaneous torque of an EV drivetrain, I have become addicted to that little button ON THE KEYFOB of my Chevy Volt that starts up the climate control.  I use it every ... single ... time ... I get into my car (so at least twice daily), from inside the house as I'm getting ready to leave in the morning, and then on the way home as I'm approaching the car at my workplace.  Yeah yeah, sure, I can use the smartphone app -- wanna race?  It takes me 3 seconds (and minimal cognitive engagement) to get the car warming up, and I can do it blind with the keyfob in my pocket.  Try THAT with your smartphone.  Scheduling the prestart doesn't solve this for me because I don't get in the car at the same time every day.

There is a "diamond" button on the i3 keyfob that acts as a panic button, but I've heard a rumor that it is actually *configurable*, and that climate prestart may be one of the configurable options.  If so, congratulations BMW on a brilliant solution, and scratch this off the cons list!  But I haven't seen confirmation, so it remains on my short list of problems with the i3.  Trust me, once you have this feature, you can't live without it.

CHARGE PORT ON WRONG SIDE OF CAR


You will plug and unplug the car EVERY DAY.  That's at least two trips to the charge port location, and therefore it should be as close as possible to the driver's door.  BMW stuck it in the right rear corner, just about the worst possible place.  I'm sure they have their reasons, but from a usability perspective it's just all wrong.  I have seen some factory photos of the CFRP passenger cell that have shown that the interior structure of the car has cutouts on BOTH sides, so it's possible that they may relocate the port to the rear left side in the future, but for now -- it's in the wrong spot and will annoy me twice a day for my entire life with the car.

NO POWER SEATS
Power seats aren't even available as an option.  It takes me forever to get the seat adjusted just right, and thus I really want the memory function of the power seats so I can put it back the way I like it after someone else has driven the car (spouse, mechanic, etc.).  A car that approaches $50,000 when loaded with options should offer power seats as one of those options.  And don't try to tell me that it's left out for energy saving reasons, that's simply nonsense.  I'll buy the weight savings argument, but still, this should be an option.
 
WHAT'S NOT ON THIS LIST

There are many things that other people have complained about that are NOT a problem for me:

- It's a four seater.  You can't put three people in the back seat, even three kids, as there's a console in the middle and no third set of seatbelts.  That's fine with me.


- There is no SOC percentage showing the exact state of the battery charge.  I know the other i3 fans are screaming about this, but I could not care less.  I'll trust the indication of mileage remaining, and will eventually learn how to correct for challenging driving ahead.

- Range: 80-100 is plenty for me.  In fact, using the VoltStats.net data from my last three years of Volt driving, I recently found that 80-100 is perfect for me.  Give me the DCFC interface and even just a hint of a future charging network and I've got all I need.

I GOT OVER IT

And here we are.  I've listed some big problems I have with the i3, and I've listed even more on the full EV checklist on www.ElectrifyAtlanta.com (now updated with i3 data).  And yet ... the drive is intoxicating.  It's got more power (more more more gimme) and can carve through turns like it's on rails.  Check out Chris Neff's recent report on his day with an i3 as a professional race car driver flung it around a racetrack for 10 hours!

It's got good range.  It has a sunroof option, and I love the doors. It offers HD Radio and RDS, which are radio tuner features that I really wish all cars had. I even love the underdog factor of having the SAE Combo DC fast charging interface that all the Nissan and Tesla partisans are howling at.  Game on, let's go.

And so I got over it.  Take my money, BMW, the sooner the better.  Can I be first in Georgia again?

Chris Campbell
www.ElectrifyAtlanta.com

The only question I now have for Chris is what color does he want. Will he choose Laurel Gray like I plan to order?

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BMW i3 Earns 4 Out of 5 Rating in Euro NCAP Crash Tests

The i3 scored very high marks for passenger safety in all crash tests, so why only a 4 of 5 star rating?

Much to the surprise of quite a few people, the BMW i3 earned a 4 out of 5 rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests. BMW has been proudly proclaiming how incredibly safe and strong the car is due the the rigid carbon fiber passenger cell. In fact it was so strong, they were able to eliminate the need for a proper B-pillar and offer the coach style door setup. So why not a top score? Well like anything, the devil is in the details.

Most people don't want to waste time reading crash test scores, they usually just look at the star rating. If they see a five star rating, they assume the car is as safe as it should be and anything less than a 5 out of 5 can be viewed as a failure on the manufacturers part to produce a car that's as safe as possible. So what went wrong here? We've been hearing how strong the CFRP passenger shell is and how incredibly well it will protect the passengers in the event of a crash for a couple years now. In fact I personally had a lengthy conversation with BMW board member Ian Robertson about this and he went on and on about how incredibly well the i3 did in their internal crash tests, so why now did it not do well? The truth is, the car actually did very well in crash tests, in fact it did actually score a 5 star rating in crash tests for passenger protection, but the overall combined score fell a couple points under the threshold for 5 stars.

What held them back? When I tell you you'll either laugh off your seat or shake your head at the foolishness that allowed them to miss the coveted 5 star rating. Ready? Here goes: For some crazy reason, they made the seat belt warning light for the rear seats not a standard feature, instead you have to get it in a package that is an optional (I'm still confirming this - it's possible that it may not be offered at all though). EDIT: There is no rear seat seatbelt warning system on the i3.  That, plus the fact that the speed regulation is optional in most European countries (that is the feature that displays the current speed limit of the road you are driving on and it's a standard feature on all US i3's) conspired to give the i3 an extremely low score in the "Safety Assist" category. Those two oversights caused the overall score to dip just below the 85% needed to achieve a 5 star rating. The fact that they were rated 4 of 5 stars really had nothing to do with how the passengers fared in the crash tests, because the i3 actually had high scores in that area. In fact, the i3 achieved a higher score for passenger safety than a Chevy Volt, which did achieve an overall 5 star rating. (see graph below for comparison)

The BMW i3 compared to the Chevy Volt in the Euro NCAP safety rating

This is a pretty substantial mistake on BMW's part in my opinion. While the car tested out to be very safe in crashes for all of the occupants, the 4 out of 5 rating will give the casual observer the impression that it may not do well in crashes. Could it be BMW thought the crash scores would be so high they would overcome the low score in the Safety Assist category and still average out to be 5 stars? Whatever the cause I can't help but think this was a major faux pas. This sets the stage for an interesting and highly anticipated crash test rating for the US when NHTSA and the IIHS get their hands on some i3's in the Spring.

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Strong US i3 Demand Expected, Says CEO Willisch

Predicting demand for electric vehicles has proven to be a difficult task. Both GM and Nissan had admit to not hitting their sales predictions when they first launched their respective electric vehicles. Tesla, on the other hand seems to have their sales constricted by battery supply issues and not by a lack of customer demand.

BMW has been very quiet with regard to talking about sales targets for the i3. It has been reported that BMW will have the ability to make 30,000 i3's per year and could possibly push that up to 40,000 if the demand warrants it. However that isn't right out of the gate. The first year of production will most certainly be much lower than 30,000 regardless of the demand.  Because everything about the i3 requires a completely new manufacturing process it's going to take a little while for BMW to work out any initial kinks in the assembly process. Plus, BMW can only make as many i3's as they get battery cells for. Yes BMW does assemble the battery pack in-house at their Landshut plant, but they do get the cells from a supplier (Samsung) and will be limited to what Samsung can supply.

The i3 battery pack consists of  8 modules, each consisting of 12 individual cells. Pictured above is one i3 module with an individual cell positioned in front.

Initial European orders have been very strong which is good for BMW and a good sign in general for the EV industry, but may squeeze i3 availability for the US market. BMW North American CEO Ludwig Willisch recently told the Automotive News that he believes BMW will sell every i3 allocated to US dealers and wouldn't comment on volume any more than saying  the US would get "more than a few thousand". In 2011, the first full year of US sales for the Volt and the LEAF, they sold 7,345 and 9,655 units respectively. The market for electric vehicles has matured a bit since then which is an advantage for the i3, but the i3 is also much more expensive than either the Volt or the LEAF so that will certainly be a sales-restricting factor in itself. Throw in the fact that we don't know how many i3's BMW can supply the US in the first year and it really is difficult to even guess how many will be sold in 2014. Maybe that's why Willisch and the others at BMW are reluctant to offer any real sales prediction other than to say "strong demand"; or perhaps it's because they watched Nissan and GM fall short and have to address their mistakes and eat a little crow. My guess is it's the latter.

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What Should The i3 Be Compared To?

Now that BMW has revealed the production version of the i3, including most of its specifications and the MSRP with and without the range extender option, it seems journalists are struggling a bit when they are deciding what other car to compare it to. The result is, they are comparing it to just about everything else with a plug.

A LEAF charging at my restaurant

Since BMW claims it will have about an 80-100 mi range, the inevitable comparisons to the Nissan LEAF have happened. These have largely said the i3 will be faster, offer a better driving experience, has a nicer interior and offers electronic packages and a range extender that Nissan doesn't offer. At the same time, the i3 is $14,000 more than a base LEAF S, has only a marginally better range, has less cargo room and the rear coach doors will be less functional than the LEAF's conventional doors. The LEAF seats 5, while the i3 only seats 4. Exterior styling is pretty much a push, as both cars have unconventional styling that many have said they do not appreciate.

Others have pit the i3 against the Chevy Volt. There is a lot of sense to this comparison because the i3 and the Volt are the only two electric vehicles that have a range extender. The range extender is standard on the Volt; you can't order one without it, while on the i3 it is an option. BMW has stated that they expect the vast

A Volt on display at Nauna's

majority of i3s sold in the US to have the range extender option and I agree with that line of thinking. The i3 has more than two and a half times the electric range of the Volt, allowing most owners to drive on electric a much higher percentage of the time, while the Volt's range extender is more robust and allows the driver to continue driving uninhibitedly once it turns on, even up long mountain climbs. There is still some speculation that the i3 may have difficulty with long, steep mountain climbs once the range extender has come on. The thought is the REx may have difficulty replenishing the energy used in these extreme situations quick enough, but this is still an unknown. Also, the Volt has a 9.3 gallon gas tank so you can drive it up to 380 miles without stopping for gas. The i3 has a 2.4 gallon gas tank so the total range will be less than 200 miles before needing to stop to refuel. The i3 is faster (0-60 in 7.0 seconds compared to the Volts 8.7 sec). Both cars seat 4 with comparable passenger volume but the Volt has more cargo room. The Volt's recent $5,000 price reduction makes it about $10,000 less than an i3 with the REx option, which should be the version of the i3 you use to compare the two. This is a significant advantage for the Volt and the recent surge in Volt sales is proof that people will buy them in large numbers if they believe they are properly priced. A typical BMW customer is accustomed to paying more than a typical Chevrolet customer, but will they see the i3's advantages (performance, much longer AER, cutting edge tech, carbon fiber construction) as worth the premium is yet to be seen.

The i3's interior is nicer than any other IMO

I believe if you must find an EV to compare the i3 to, the Volt is a particularly good one because they are the only two EVs that have range extenders and I definitely believe many customers will select the REx option. I believe that is true partly because many first time EV buyers will want the security of having the range extender there "just in case" and others will opt for it because they find the i3's electric range to be short of what they want in an electric vehicle. I believe if BMW gave the i3 15% to 20% more electric range then the take rate on the range extender would drop precipitously. This is where I think BMW swung and missed. They had the opportunity to put some distance between themselves and every other EV out there other than Tesla's products which are much more expensive. An i3 with an EPA range rating of 110  to 120 miles would have really created a new class of EV, instead they now have a premium version of a Volt combined with a LEAF. With electric cars, a lot of what's premium about the car is range and I'm a bit surprised BMW didn't get that message and offer slightly more range. They didn't need to match Tesla's long range vehicles though. If they just put some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack I think they would have hit a home run. I do believe the i3 will sell well, but it would have been much better received if it offered a slightly longer electric range.

My Model S for a day!

Then there is the Model S. A lot of recent news stories are comparing the i3 to it. Tesla's Model S is the benchmark that all other EVs, rightly or wrongly, will be compared to. That is because it's such a great car. However nothing offered today deserves to be compared to the Model S, it really stands alone at the top of he EV hierarchy. It's not only a great EV, it's great compared to just about anything. I don't like this comparison though, not because the i3 comes up short (literally), but because the least expensive Model S is nearly $30,000 more than an i3. In fact for what the least expensive Model S costs you could buy an i3 and a LEAF S and still have enough money left over to pay for the electricity to drive them both a combined 135,000 miles! Still, I understand why some people want to compare the i3 to the Model S. The i3 is the first EV coming from a "premium" auto manufacturer so they assume BMW was trying to go head to head with Tesla which they obviously weren't. The i3 may very well prove to be as good at what it was designed for as the Model S is at what it was designed for, but only time will tell.

I haven't seen anybody compare it to any of the low volume compliance cars currently being offered and I avoided using any of them here also. As compliance cars the manufacturers only goal is to get them leased or sold as quickly and as painlessly as possible and they can accept huge losses in doing so by heavily discounting them, offering unlimited mileage leases and even giving away free charging equipment. This is all great for the customer, but it doesn't allow a fair comparison.

I've seen a few people say it reminds them of an iMiEV and granted the stubby nose can draw some similarities to the shape, but having driven a few iMiEV's and have sat in a few i3's now I'd advise people to see and drive the i3 before you try to lump them together because they really aren't similar once you've seen the i3 in person. The i3 is more than a foot longer and 7 1/2 inches wider than an iMiEV and has much more interior volume, plus it has 40% more range and the performance isn't really comparable.

So while there is no perfect apples to apples comparison, I think the Chevy Volt is probably what makes sense the most to compare it to and that's only if you are comparing it to the i3 with range extender. However I believe the i3 is different enough that it's going to draw people that may not have bought a LEAF or a Volt, which is good for the plug-in industry. More choices will get more EV's on the road and as they say, a rising tide raises all boats.

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