Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, BMW, AutoblogGreen Exclusive
The production version of the BMW i3 was unveiled Monday at three simultaneous events in New York City, London and Beijing. Given that the i3 grew out a BMW electric vehicle project called Megacity, the urban debut locations make a lot of sense. Since BMW literally spent years researching urban trends in the Megacity project, years when the competition was building and selling EVs already, there is a lot of pressure on the German automaker to come out with an EV that is the right fit for today’s cities.
BMW’s message is that the i3 actually represents the beginning of electric mobility for the company.
BMW had help in this from the Mini E and Active E electric vehicle pilot programs. One way you can see the company’s EV history is in the location of the charge port on the rear passenger side. Most plug-in vehicles today put the charging connector in the front, but both the Mini E and Active E had a rear charge port and BMW didn’t get enough complaints to change it for the i3. If you opt to pay the roughly $4,000 extra for the gas-powered range extender, then your i3 will be built with a second fuel door, this one on the right front of the car. Putting the ports in these locations cuts down on the amount of fuel lines and wires required in the car, which in turn contributes to the i3’s light weight (official figures are not yet available, but BMW estimates the i3 weighs around 2,700 pounds). It’s all connected.
Despite BMW’s years of testing and driver feedback on earlier EV programs, the official message in New York was that the i3 actually represents the beginning of electric mobility for the company. As Norbert Reithofer, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG, said in New York, “The car has existed for nearly 130 years. Today marks a shift – a change – in the future of mobility.
Does it?
Continue reading BMW i3 tries to be the answer for a changing world [w/video]
BMW i3 tries to be the answer for a changing world [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The manual, of course, makes the process of popping off this panel seem easy. Put your thumb on the top of the panel and lift the panel up from the bottom. In reality, the nearly invisible recess at the bottom of the panel is blocked by the buttons below it, and unless you have long and particularly strong fingernails, the tight-fitting panel’s not coming off without some outside assistance. A pocket knife would work best, but all I had at the time was a small key. Since I didn’t want to scratch the aforementioned buttons, I tried lifting the panel off a little to the right of the recess. With much effort and a grunt for good measure, the panel came flying off the console.