BMW i3 Euro NCAP Crash Test Video

My previous post discussed the four out of five star rating the i3 received from the Euro NCAP crash tests. Above is a video provided by the NCAP which shows the various tests being performed on the car.Additionally, BMW offered a press release today, seemingly as a response to the 4 star overall rating, with the intention of reminding customers that the i3 did sores a perfect 5 or 5 in the actual crash:The BMW i3 achieved the highest rating of five stars in the Euro NCAP crash tests governing occupant protection and child protection that coincided...

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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...

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The LA Auto Show: Driving Impressions & Details Learned

It's been a long time coming but I finally got to drive an i3. I've actually been getting tired of having journalists contact me and ask me for my opinion of it on the road compared to the MINI-E and ActiveE and having to tell them I haven't had the opportunity to drive one yet! So did it live up to my (high) expectations? Yes, it did. It's certainly not "the perfect EV," but in my opinion, it does do more things better than any other electric vehicle...

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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 todayEven though there will be about seventy i3s there for test drives, members of the press had to schedule...

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NYC Infrastructure Hearing

The ChargePoint map of charger locations in NYCThis isn't an i3-specific post, however it is very important to the i3 and to all other plug in vehicles. The city of New York is considering legislation that would help to dramatically increase the number of public charging stations within city limits. While New York has been steadily adding charging stations in private garages and parking lots, there are currently only about 140 chargers in the entire...

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i3 vs M3: Mano e Mano

Last week BMW held a press event for the UK launch of the i3 and allowed journalists the opportunity to have an extended test drive of an i3. However that's not all they let them do. BMW also arraigned to have the journalists drag race an M3 that was driven by one of BMW's professional drivers.The first day of the event the i3 was beating the M3 to 60 mph which took a lot of people by surprise. While the i3 is a very quick car, it isn't M3-quick so some of the journalists were scratching their heads a bit. However it was lightly raining that day...

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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...

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Have i3 Questions? Ask Nikki!

A good friend of mine, Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield just reached out to me to let me know she would have some driving time in an i3 this Friday. Nikki runs the Transport Evolved Network and has had me as a guest on her Transport Evolved podcast a few times in the past. Anyway, she scored an i3 for an extended drive  and wanted to know if any of my followers had any specific questions that she could answer, or any road test she could perform for you...

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How Long Will it Take To Charge an i3?

The i3 will charge in about 3 hours on a standard level 2 supply.Since installing public charging stations at my restaurant in Montclair NJ, I have conversations with EV-interested folks nearly every day. One of the most popular questions they seem to always ask is how long does an electric car take to charge?I wish I could just give a quick answer, but it's just not that easy. Nearly every EV takes a different amount of time to charge since they...

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