BMW took a gamble with its innovative approach to the i3 and it has paid off, with this electric vehicle showing that the future of motoring can be radical yet functional.
With a driveaway price of $83,500, it sits at the top end of new electric vehicles now on sale in New Zealand, but it’s already made an impact on our market winning AA/NZ Motoring Writers’ Guild Car of the Year last week.
The i3 is famously known as being “designed from the ground up” and is made of a carbon-fibre passenger cell and recycled thermal plastic panels, keeping weight down to to 1320kg to offset the weight of the batteries.
There is a 120kg, 96-cell, 360V, 22kWh battery pack in the floor to power a 230kg, 125kW/250Nm electric motor near the rear axle.
It’s also a fun car to drive, with instant response from a tap on the accelerator and in the case of the i3, instant decrease when you move your foot off.
It’s also a stylish car with a very big nod to Scandinavian design inside.