Breaking: BMW i3 Wins 2014 World Green Car And World Car Design Of The Year!

Breaking news from InsideEvs.com. The BMW i3 swept both awards it was a finalist for which were 2014 World Green Car And 2014 World Car Design Of The Year. Here's what InsideEVs had to say:

From the shortlist of finalists, a winner in both categories emerged. Here first are the shortlisted automobiles:

World Green Car
- Audi A3 Sportback g-tron (+ Audi e-gas)
- BMW i3
- Volkswagen XL1

World Car Design of the Year
- BMW i3
- Mazda3
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class

The winner, in both categories, is the BMW i3.

So, BMW can now add 2014 World Green Car and 2014 World Car Design of the Year to the list of awards the i3 has racked up.

In regards to the 2014 World Green Car award, BMW’s Dr. Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Sales and Marketing, stated:

“To have the BMW i3 named World Green Car of the Year is a great honor.  From the production process onwards, the BMW i3 is a truly sustainable vehicle, created with the needs of the 21st century city in mind.”

Meanwhile, the World Green Car judges offered this comment:

“Radical in looks, construction, and powertrain, the BMW i3 is one of very few clean-sheet-of-paper cars designed from the ground up for efficiency, with the different needs of the new century’s megacities in mind. From its last-kilometer navigation system to take drivers from car to destination, to the shipped-around-the-world carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic body shell without a B-pillar, the BMW i3 pushes boundaries on many fronts.”

Eligibility for World Green Car is as follows:

To be eligible for the 2014 World Green Car award, a vehicle had to be all-new, or substantially revised, in production and introduced for sale or lease to the public in quantities of at least 10 in at least one major market during the period beginning January 1, 2013 and ending May 31, 2014. Tailpipe emissions, fuel consumption, and use of a major advanced power plant technology (beyond engine componentry), aimed specifically at increasing the vehicle’s environmental responsibility, were all taken into consideration.

Moving on to the World Car Design of the Year award, BMW’s Dr. Ian Robertson commented:

“On behalf of the BMW design team, we are delighted that the BMW i3 has received the World Car Design of the Year award.  Our designers created a car that, through its design and use of sustainable materials, is an expression of the future.”

The design judges posted this statement on the i3′s selection:

“Unlike other BMW cars, the i3 has a boxy shape, which suggests roominess and efficiency. But it still retains BMW’s typical dynamism thanks to the larger diameter wheels and the very short overhangs both on front and rear. Besides that, the i3 expresses the sub-brand’s own character with using unique design features, including the black bonnet and the side window graphics that goes through the rear pillar. The interior is more surprising and attractive. It marks radical leap of car interior design, and it spreads as calm yet rich feeling as a modern living room.”

 About the World Car Awards

Now in their tenth year, the annual World Car Awards are now the number one awards program in the world based on Prime Research’s 2013 report. The awards were inaugurated in 2003, and officially launched in January 2004, to reflect the reality of the global marketplace, as well as to recognize and reward automotive excellence on an international scale. The awards are intended to complement, not compete, with existing national and regional Car of the Year programs.

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BMW i3: It's bigger on the inside!

Can the interior of a car be bigger then the exterior is? That seems to be the case when I talk to people that have seen and driven in the 2013 BMW i3. I'm not talking about the concept i3 that has been floating around for about 8 months now, I've had the opportunity to speak to people that have driven in a real one during testing.

Just a couple weeks ago I spoke to BMW board member Ian Robertson at the New York Auto Show. Ian was there to make a speech and introduce the new BMW lineup showcased at the show. Right before he was to go on stage for the speech, I just about bumped into him so I introduced myself and we spoke for a good ten minutes. After we spoke for a while he recognized me as the MINI-E pioneer that drove the most miles and he asked how I liked my ActiveE so far. He then told me he recently drove an i3 and promised I would not be disappointed. He sighted the life-drive architecture and floor mounted battery as being responsible for the great performance and the optimization of space in the passenger compartment, allowing the car to feel much larger than what it actually is. Ian isn't the only person I've heard that from either. Also, since the battery is mounted so low and is completely flat, the interior has no transmission tunnel at all and allows the floor to be flat straight across unlike any passenger car that I've ever seen. This, along with the 'bench style' front seats will allow the front passengers to enter or exit the car from either side with ease.

The i3 is also taller and wider than any other car in its class and will have a lot of glass(although not as much as the concept i3 that has glass doors and roof!) providing great outward vision in all directions. This also adds to the feeling of openness. So it seems smaller is bigger with the i3, I hope to get the opportunity to see first hand sometime soon!

Even though the i3 is only 8 inches longer than a MINI Cooper, the interior is much more spacious

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