BMW finally unveils the i3
BMW has finally unveiled its first electric car, the i3, which is available as either a pure electric vehicle or as a range extender and can be bought outright or leased from the company.
We reported a few days ago that BMW had released pricing information regarding its first electric car, the i3. The car has officially been launched and is now available for the public. Originally dubbed as the Mega City Vehicle during its development, the BMW i3 will be available with two powertrains.
The i3 can be had as an all-electric car or as a range extender. The all-electric variant is powered by a 168bhp and 249Nm electric motor and juice is supplied via a compact battery pack. Based on real world usage, the i3 should be able to provide a range of 129km to 161km on a single charge.
BMW’s range extender variant of the i3, named the i3 REx, has a 650cc two cylinder petrol engine, which is the same as the one used by the BMW maxi-scooter. Unlike hybrids, a range extender vehicle’s engine does not power the wheels. All it does is burn fuel to generate electricity in order to boost the distance that the car can travel. In the case of the i3 REx, the car is said to have a range of 338km provided that the special low torque, 80km/h-limited EcoPro+ mode is used.
In the UK the car can be had through either a leasing plan or by buying the car outright. We have covered the leasing price in our previous article so click here to know more about it.
