i3 [Official] The BMW i3 LCI and i3s

[hovabongZA]

100 000 i3s is quite good.

 

[Deleted member 25]

Nice

 

[Centurion]

100 000 i3s is quite good.

I don't think so.
In January this year, Nissan had produced 170,000 LEAFs.
In December 2016, 540,000 Model S had been sold in the US alone, and that's a much more expensive car.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

For 4 years of production this means 25k per year. BMW have never announced officially the projected numbers, but the expectations were at about 30k per year (maybe for all i cars)

 

[Matski]

I don't think so.
In January this year, Nissan had produced 170,000 LEAFs.
In December 2016, 540,000 Model S had been sold in the US alone, and that's a much more expensive car.

540,000 for the S... I mean, I know it's wikipedia... but they've got 197,639 for cumulative global sales Q3 2012 - Q3 2017

 

[Centurion]

540,000 for the S... I mean, I know it's wikipedia... but they've got 197,639 for cumulative global sales Q3 2012 - Q3 2017

Hmmm I fund some sketchy information then. Will have another dig around.

 

[EnI]

Model S: 197,600 units sold up-to-date (June 2012 to September 2017)
Model X: ~59,000 units sold up-to-date (September 2015 to September 2017).
Tesla total up-to-date global sales passed 255,000 units in September 2017.

Nissan Leaf: >275.000 units sold from January 2011 to the end of September 2017.

Renault Zoe: ~85.000 units sold worldwide (sold in Europe only) from January 2013 to the end of September 2017.

BMW i3: >100.000 units produced from September 2013 to the end of October 2017 (approx. sales figures: ~100.000 units worldwide between November 2013 and November 2017)

For what it is - a small (B-segment) premium city 3+2dr hatchback - BMW i3 does quite well. Sure it will be outsold by eg. cheaper rivals (eg. Zoe, Bolt etc) & by more family-oriented larger cars (Leaf, S, X etc).

BUT ... the real challenge is still coming ... new rivals are about to be launched, many with better mileage & performance. IMHO BMW will have to step up the game significantly in the next few years with the i3: eg. introducing 120Ah battery in late 2018 (and even more potent battery later - eg. by 2020 at latest), and ditching 60Ah battery altogether or at least significantly lower the price of the model with that particular battery on board. With MINI electric being offered - also as premium segment-B city hatchback (3dr though) - the price positioning of i3 will have to be aligned with MINI and also with its rivals.

It's obvious BMW i3 - @ current price, mileage & performance - is not competitive & future-proof enough. Period. BMW will have to do more to sty competitive with the i3.

Although ... the BMW i sub-brand gained quite an image & status - especially due to futuristic design and styling & exotic materials used. It's different. More like a statement. Perhaps the product is not the best in the market but the image of the brand says it much. And it profited from being the first electric sub-brand of a premium carmaker. MB is years behind brand wise with its EQ sub-brand.

Sure BMW i products are not Tesla level ... yet. But it's BMW (i) that's usually compared to & mentioned with Tesla. The brand exposure is huge! And in premium market image DOES count. A lot. I'm eagerly awaiting the production launch of the MB EQ sub-brand. But Daimler will have to pour tons of money into EQ promotion to make it visible.While others don't stand a chance (incl. Audi's e-tron) when it comes to the sub-brand image.

 

[Touring]

Doing well in Norway. Second column total this year, first column September

 

[Rainer271]

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[SCOTT27]

i3 S is wunderbar.

 

[bialkov]

This BMW i3 Goes 435 Miles Per Charge
The all-new 100kWh, denser and safer battery proves to be a big range provider.
For the BMW i3, the jury is somewhat still out. The futuristic, all-electric city slicker is one of those cars whose value you cannot fully grasp. When it was released, the BMW i3 produced kind of an underwhelming feeling. But, at the same time, it was one of the most highly-coveted pieces of EVs money can buy. Just like with its bigger sibling – the BMW i8 – some boxes were clearly not ticked. While the all-electric configuration and performance were touted as the biggest drawbacks of what is actually a solid all-around car, for the i3, the range was the biggest drawback.
When released, the small electric car from the Bavarian car maker featured a somewhat tiny 33kWh battery which provides 114 miles of driving range, according to the EPA. Good for the town, bad for pretty much everything else. Naturally, BMW tried to combat that with the REx version which employed a petrol powerplant that provided more juice for the batteries. However, range clearly was too low.

Hence, in order to prove what this modular platform can do, a German energy storage company Lion Smart just revealed their own battery pack for the i3. While still in development, this “Light Battery” pack concept uses a modular design meant to reduce costs and improve safety. For the BMW i3, however, that means the German company crammed a high-density 100kWh battery pack into the BMW i3. In turn, that results in a range of about 435 miles (700 kilometers).

While it’s still unclear whether that’s based on the NEDC or WLTP cycle, or the company’s own internal testing, this is an impressive uptake over the OEM range provided by this vehicle. To make matters even more compelling, that’s the same range that BMW expects from their own iNext EV, slated for a 2022 debut. In reality, it seems that BMW – alongside other German car makers – produced impressive modular technology for their new cars. However, they lack in the battery departments.

You can learn all about the BMW i3 they’ve used and the Lion Light battery technology in the video below. Some impressive engineering & design ideas are implemented to make this battery pack, allowing it to be completely flexible in terms of capacity, voltage and physical dimensions.

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[Rolf]

The Lion Smart battery has the potential to be a serious world player and if given enough support from the German car industry giants then VAG, BMW and Mercedes could benefit hugely and probably at a competitive price also

 

[SCOTT27]

The Lion Smart battery has the potential to be a serious world player and if given enough support from the German car industry giants then VAG, BMW and Mercedes could benefit hugely and probably at a competitive price also

Yes the inclusion in the i3S is no fluke. And has even been driven by BMW Board Members and engineers.

 

[bialkov]

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[SCOTT27]

Where is it said that the i3 is a direct competitor for the Model 3? And why do many continue this assumption.

 

[bmwblog]

Where is it said that the i3 is a direct competitor for the Model 3? And why do many continue this assumption.

No one said that, yet many customers compare them. So if you watch the full video, you'll get an idea what this comparison is about. Lots of work went into it.

 

[Busty]

BUT ... the real challenge is still coming ... new rivals are about to be launched, many with better mileage & performance. IMHO BMW will have to step up the game significantly in the next few years with the i3: eg. introducing 120Ah battery in late 2018 (and even more potent battery later - eg. by 2020 at latest), and ditching 60Ah battery altogether or at least significantly lower the price of the model with that particular battery on board. With MINI electric being offered - also as premium segment-B city hatchback (3dr though) - the price positioning of i3 will have to be aligned with MINI and also with its rivals.

It's obvious BMW i3 - @ current price, mileage & performance - is not competitive & future-proof enough. Period. BMW will have to do more to sty competitive with the i3.

Although ... the BMW i sub-brand gained quite an image & status - especially due to futuristic design and styling & exotic materials used. It's different. More like a statement. Perhaps the product is not the best in the market but the image of the brand says it much. And it profited from being the first electric sub-brand of a premium carmaker. MB is years behind brand wise with its EQ sub-brand.

Sure BMW i products are not Tesla level ... yet. But it's BMW (i) that's usually compared to & mentioned with Tesla. The brand exposure is huge! And in premium market image DOES count. A lot. I'm eagerly awaiting the production launch of the MB EQ sub-brand. But Daimler will have to pour tons of money into EQ promotion to make it visible.While others don't stand a chance (incl. Audi's e-tron) when it comes to the sub-brand image.

I work a lot with strategists who are either employed directly at an OEM or at one of the big consultancies. Even though mass media, interested non-insiders, e-car enthusiasts etc. paint a very different picture, it is common understanding among technical and strategic experts that excessive introduction of electric passenger cars for private use (so not speaking about public transport, car sharing solutions, taxis, freight forwarding etc.) is a marketing thing or finger exercise at best but still does not make sense from an ecological/CO2 saving perspective, especially for big brands. However, OEMs do not wanna miss the party and they need data on user behavior and stuff in order to better understand what future vehicles should offer. And, of course, they want to demonstrate presence.
But from a strictly functional and a collective/societal (instead of an individual) point of view, electric cars still come with a lot of problems. Several big OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers are convinced (and have good reason to be convinced) that the ICE will live on and maybe even outlive electric cars. I still have the impression that BMW has a major advantage compared to most of its competitors in terms of knowledge of and basic research on electromobility potentials AND its limitations. And the latter may be even more important and relevant in the future.
So even though I think BMW did not always treat its i subbrand very well (almost like a stepchild), they are still the ones with the most profound electromobility strategy.

 

[EnI]

No one said that, yet many customers compare them. So if you watch the full video, you'll get an idea what this comparison is about. Lots of work went into it.

All those 2 cars have in common is powertrain type: both are BEVs. And that's it.

It's like comparing BMW 3er Sedan to eg. MINI 3dr. Different shapes, different purpose, different clientele.

I don't understand "journalists" tend to compare completely different car types & shapes only because they are BEVs. They don't do that in ICEV or even PHEV case. I guess it's due to lack of BEVs. Eg. i3 vs Bolt comparison makes more sense.

Model3 vs i4 will be a proper comparison. Or Tesla X vs iNext.

 

[SCOTT27]

All those 2 cars have in common is powertrain type: both are BEVs. And that's it.

It's like comparing BMW 3er Sedan to eg. MINI 3dr. Different shapes, different purpose, different clientele.

I don't understand "journalists" tend to compare completely different car types & shapes only because they are BEVs. They don't do that in ICEV or even PHEV case. I gue...

On Sunday they did not exactly wax lyrical over competition between iNext and Model X.

 

[SCOTT27]