BMW i3 Test Drive, I Want More Electric!

What flies and is two-tone? (Source: EV Parade)

So the post test-drive BMW i3 survey asked what I thought of the handling and performance? Excellence, check.

Next, what about acceleration? Here comes a BIG checkmark for "excellence" on the electronic survey. The car is really fast due to the electric propulsion but this car—read why the car is light—is so light and the handling is a ball.

What's not to like? One thing: lack of EV miles from one of the recognized leaders in the automotive industry. There's a reason why the slogan is "Drive the Future," for its electric line of cars, not "the ultimate driving experience."

During my test drive last week, my BMW drive advisor told me that the BMW i3 averages about 70 to 90 miles and after last year's winter in Chicago, that makes you cringe. Imaging going driving to the United Center or McCormick Place from the suburbs, heating will take enough of your charge to make you think too much about your return trip home.  

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So you're forced to get the BMW i3 version with the rEX, a combustion engine that feeds the electric motor for another 39 miles (the gas tank is 1.9 gallons). I started to wonder after my test drive why didn't BMW just add another 22 kWh to the electric battery, the current size of the battery?

The 1.9 gallon gas tank for the extended range version, REx i3. (Copyright: EV Parade)If they made the BMW i3 all electric and added another 70 electric miles, the price would have made the car much more expensive. The i3 would then cost right around $54-56K (approximately a $550 kWh x another 22 kWh battery, source Barclays)).

When you hit that price point, you start comparison shopping with the Tesla Model S, 60 kWh battery...and a whole lot more room in that car, not to mention the interior superiority of the Model S. The i3 is terrific for a really small slice of the driving public and they did a great job pricing below 50K, but it's not the ultimate driving experience with only 72 electric miles.

*One additional note! I hope the opening of the Tesla's patents will push BMW further toward a longer range vehicle and there seems to some action on that front: Electric Car Groups Eye Collaboration over Charging Technology

**Can you imagine getting 55 miles of charge for your BMW i3 in a matter of minutes via TM's supercharging technology? That's a paradigm shift.