Live From The LA Auto Show

I just arrived in LA for the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show. In addition to their usual area inside the show floor, BMW has an additional pavilion set up outside, across the street from the Convention Center in one of the parking lots of the Staples Center. This has been set up to allow people to test drive the i3.

The i3s are starting to arrive today

Even though there will be about seventy i3s there for test drives, members of the press had to schedule their time with the car because BMW expects a strong demand for test drives as this is the first time the i3 has been available to the media in the US.  I have a test drive scheduled for tomorrow morning, the opening day of the press activities. This i3 test drive pavilion will be open to the general public starting this Friday. 

I'll also have another chance to test drive one on Thursday. BMW has set up a private event for ActiveE lessees. We will be able to drive an i3, ask program managers questions and we will hopefully learn if BMW is going to offer those of us who have been participating in the trial lease program any kind of special deal or preferred ordering should we want to go directly from our ActiveE into an i3. I'll have a full report on the i3 driving experience in a couple of days, once I get back home. If there are any particular details or pictures you'd like me to get just leave them in the comment section and I'll do my best.

The BMW i pavilion is set up in the Staples Center parking lot across the street from the LA Convention Center. This is where the i3s will be staged for the test drives.

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The i3 World Premier: What was Learned?

Photo by Hugo Becker of BMWBLOG

The much anticipated World Premier of the i3 has come and gone, so now it's time to look at what was learned. There was a lot of information released and I'll try to touch on as much as I can here, but I also recommend reading the full press release I posted on my post yesterday.

With the range extender - pretty tight!

I had a chance to talk at length with Oliver Walter, Head of Product Management for the i3. We discussed many things, but what stuck out in my mind the most was our discussion about the performance of the range extender. During the day it seemed to me that when reporters asked some of the speakers about the performance of the range extender, they never got a clear answer. So while I had Oliver all to myself I asked him directly if the i3's performance will be drastically reduced as many speculated. When I mentioned the term limp-mode, he looked at me like he was surprised I would even ask that and quickly said "No this is absolutely not a limp mode". He further went on to say the car will actually behave pretty

Without the range extender

normal and that the drive can continue to drive along - even at highway speeds, just as they were before. It will have slightly less power, but still be capable of driving normally in most conditions. Evidently BMW has designed it to come on while the car still has a reasonable amount of battery charge left, so there is enough of a buffer to allow the car to reach back and get the extra energy needed for bursts of speed and to climb long hills. So this also means the car will have a shorter all electric range with the range extender because you'll only have access to the first 80% or so of your battery power before the REx turns on. However I did find out that the driver can turn the REx off so it never comes on if they know they'll make their destination without needing the range extender. Therefore, you can have access to 100% of the fully charged battery as long as you can make it to the next plug without needing the REx to help out. I really like this feature and think users will also. However you cannot turn the REx on manually, before it turns on itself, like you can with a Chevy Volt's "Mountain Mode" This mode allows you to use the generator early in your travels so you save the battery charge for later when you may need the extra energy to drive up very steep hills or mountains. The i3 will have difficulty in these rare situations. If you drive it until the Rex comes on and you then need to drive up very steep inclines for a long time - like 10 miles or so, the REx may not be able to keep up with the energy output the electric motor needs after a while and will likely slow down at that point. This is a complex topic and I suspect the only way to really determine exactly what conditions will be too much for the REx will be once people start driving it. However in most normal driving circumstances, it appears the REx will be able to allow the driver to continue along without any issues for as long as they need to. The range extender option costs $3,850 and which brings the cost up to $45,200 without any other options.We also learned the US i3's will come standard with all LED exterior lighting but the European versions will have halogen lights standard and LED's optional.

There are three trim levels that can be ordered. They are named Mega World (the standard trim level) with Giga World and Tera World available as options and here is what each consists of: (US pricing for options has not been announced)

 Mega World ($41,350; $45,200 w/REx)

• BMW Navigation
• BMW ConnectedDrive with eCall
• BMW i Remote
• Alarm
• Bright, lightweight Sensatec and sustainable cloth made from recycled materials
• Leather trimmed steering wheel
• Grained dash trim

Giga World

• All Mega World features, plus:
• Interior wrapped in leather and wool cloth
• Universal garage door opener
• Comfort Access
• Sunroof
• Satellite radio
• Leather-trimmed steering with contrasting stitching

Tera World

• All Giga World features, plus:
• Luxurious full leather
• Olive leaf-tanned interior, with textile accents and contrasting stitching
• Anthracite floors mats.

An i3 in Solar Orange with the optional 20 inch "Double Spoke" wheels

The 19 inch "Turbine" wheels

However the BMW i3 online Visualizer offers four different interior design styles called Antelier, Lodge, Loft & Suite. I am not entirely clear yet how these fit into the different "World" trim levels, but I'll get that cleared up soon. If you want to go to the i3 Visualizer you can from this link. Each World trim level comes with a different 19" wheel and all are visual upgrades from the standard wheel in my opinion. However to me the best wheel is the optional 20" one that also has wider and lower profile tires then the 19" wheels. These will undoubtedly provide better performance but will likely shave a couple miles off the range of the car because of higher rolling resistance and greater weight.

Ionic Silver with the 20" wheels

My previous post over two weeks ago was 100% correct about the color options. The only thing I didn't have was the official color names. They are "Ionic Silver" which is silver blue, "Andesite Silver" which I called basic silver, "Arravani Gray" which I called dark gray, "Laurel Gray" which I called basic gray, "Capparis White" which I simply called white and I did have the Solar Metallic Orange correct. I expect the Solar Metallic Orange to be a very popular color choice as most people I ask seem to like that the best. It's really the only bold color that "pops". I haven't decided which color I'll choose and I'll wait till I see them all in person. That being said I think the only colors that are out of the running for me are the Capparis White and Andesite Silver, they just aren't for me.

BMW also released the performance figures. It's important to note that the i3 with the range extender will be slightly slower because it weighs 260 more pounds. Here are the performance figures for the i3 without the REx option:

0-35 mph     3.5 Sec.
0-60 mph     7.0 Sec.
50-75 mph   5.4 Sec.
Top Speed   93 mph (electronically governed)

Without the need for engine cooling, the i3's "double kidney" grill is solid to improve aerodynamics. The small grill under the license plate provides all the air flow needed for the thermal management system.

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BMW i3 Rendering Review

I have heard from various sources that BMW is going to publicly unveil their pre-production version of the 2013 i3 at a press gathering on July 28th. I have had a few journalists that have been invited reach out to me and ask if I would be attending also. I will not, but I'm sure it won't be long after that I get the details of what whs announced and even some nice photo's of the i3.

Since we'll finally get to see what the BMW designers have come up with, I thought I'd post some of the artist renderings we have has to look at since the i3 was first announced last year. Back then, BMW would only refer to it as the MegaCity vehicle. I'll start it off with the spy photograph that was taken of the car during cold weather testing is Sweden earlier this year.  You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

As you can see there are common themes that hold up through most of the renderings. In less than a month I think we'll know who was closest to the mark. Stay tuned...

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