Rob Maetzig
More than three years after its international launch, BMW’s allelectric i3 hatch continues to make the news.
For example, early last month when it was learnt the Los Angeles Police Department was to be supplied with 100 of the fivedoor hatchbacks, coverage of that announcement flashed around the world.
It wasn’t as if the i3s were going to be used as police pursuit cars, either. Instead, they were chosen as maneouvrable, economical and environmentally-friendly means of transporting police officers, and for what the LAPD describes as community outreach, whatever that means.
But the transaction made news because the BMW i3 is an electric vehicle – and right now EVs are fashionable.
More news. There has been a significant rise in worldwide orders for the vehicle following a BMW announcement that it is to be fitted with a longer-range battery, with deliveries from the end of this month. That announcement was in May, and as of last week the order bank for the updated i3 had passed 5000.
Now that’s real news – far more significant than the fact the LA police are using 100 of the BMWs as personnel delivery vehicles. It’s significant because it shows that EVs are benefiting from the process of continual improvement. In this case, the availability of a new 94 ampere hour (Ah) battery to replace the current i3’s 60Ah version will extend its electric-only range by more than 50 per cent.
What this development shows is that the car industry is making progress in ridding the world of a dreaded modern-day motoring ailment – range anxiety. That’s the affliction that causes heart rates to increase and blood pressures to rise when the person behind the wheel of an EV realises there might not be enough charge left in the car’s batteries to let the vehicle get to a planned destination.
This isn’t really an issue with i3 owners in New Zealand – yet – because the only model sold new thus far has been a range-ended version that is fitted with a little two-cylinder engine 647cc petrol engine that acts as a sort of mini power station, generating the electricity necessary to keep the BMW going. That means our model has a range of 340 kilometres, which can be extended even further by simply filling the petrol tank.
A fascinating development overseas is that a certain amount of new-age one-upmanship has apparently developed over the two versions of the i3 – the batteryonly model which is known as BEV, and the range-extended model known as REX.
It all sounds like fun. The REX model such as the one we can currently buy in New Zealand has two flaps on its flanks, one covering the charge-up socket, and the other covering the fuel filler nozzle. But the BEV version only has one flap. Word is that depending on which model is owned by many overseas customers, that second flap is known either as the Flap of Freedom because it frees the operator of range anxiety, or the Flap of Shame because the BMW still runs a petrol engine.
That fun is soon to be imported here. BMW New Zealand has announced that a BEV version of the i3, complete with the 94Ah battery, is to go on sale in this country from September or October, priced at $74,300. At the same time the REX version will also start arriving with the larger battery, and will continue to be priced at $85,300.
And what about the 50 or so customers who have purchased an i3 thus far? While in Europe it is possible to have the improved battery retro-fitted (they are identical sizes), in New Zealand that cannot happen. But it doesn’t really matter, because there aren’t any of the smaller-battery BEV models in the country anyway.
When the new versions of the i3 do arrive here, the battery-only versions will have a range of around 300km according to the European NEDC standard, which means that in real-world motoring conditions with such things as air conditioning and audio running, the range from a single electric charge will be around 200km.
That means the BEV model will remain very much an urban vehicle because the range anxiety will still exist – albeit at a lesser level
Meanwhile the REX version’s range on a single electric charge and with a tank full of petrol will be around 450km, which is a lot more acceptable – and, as we said before, it can be extended even more by simply popping into a service station and refuelling with petrol.
Not only that, but both of the new models will also come standard with a DC charging system that will be capable of providing charge to 80 per cent capacity in around 40 minutes.
There’s plenty of potential behind the prospect of BMW offering a fully-electric car with a range of 200km or more for the $74,300, which is not only $11,000 less than the asking price for the current range-extended version, but which is also a little less expensive than its main