Review BMW i3 the recommended affordable electric luxury cars

Review BMW i3 the recommended affordable electric luxury cars

The i3 is the start of future motoring in accordance with BMW - a pretty bold statement that had us in the beginning feel sceptical, perhaps cynical. However, the extra time we spent at the wheel of the BMW i3 the more we smiled and agreed with BMW's apparently outrageous forecast.

The i3 offers a unique modular structure BMW calls LifeDrive. Passengers sit in the Life Module and that is a CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) ultra-lightweight structure. The aluminum drive module encompasses the powertrain and chassis. By storing the battery in the floor of the Life module, the regular divider in the floor is done away with, allowing the passengers with a lot more space.

While the switchgear is recognisably BMW, there are numerous features of the i3’s interior that can seem foreign - as well as a touch exotic - to existing BMW owners. And that’s due to the fact that much of the i3’s cabin is constructed of new materials that place an focus on renewability, recyclability and lightness. Materials like Eucalyptus wood, wool, compressed kenaf fibres and carbon fibre. There’s leather as well, and it’s tanned by an eco-friendly olive leaf extract instead of regular tanning chemicals.

The rear-wheel-drive BMW i3 have an electric motor run by a 22-kilowatt-hour (kWh) lithium-ion battery packet. The motor's outcome is rated at 170 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque. The Range Extender version combines a 0.6-liter 2-cylinder gasoline engine rated at 38 hp and 41 lb-ft that works as a emergency energy resource for the electric motor.

The Car Connection bought the BMW i3 a 10 out of 10 for Fuel Economy and MPG, in fact it is the single most efficient electric car sold in America. Is included a 125-kilowatt (170 horsepower) electric motor allowing the i3 to accelerate properly, and the motor is fed by a 22-kilowatt-hour liquid cooled lithium-ion battery pack in the floorpan. It comes with a level of 124 MPGe (Mile Per Gallon Equivalent unit, a length that the distance a car are able to cover electrically on the same number of energy on 1 gallon of gasoline). A driver just might get it for 150 miles before the next fill-up, and it will take much less than 4 hours to charge-up to about 80 percent battery capability.

The i3 is definitely smooth and quiet, like just about any good modern electric, but what possibly will catch new drivers by surprise is its regenerative braking, which starts when the driver eases off the accelerator pedal. Indicates the brake pedal is essential only to take the car to a full stop or in the event of an emergency, and this will definitely take some getting familiar with. That said, it most likely won’t take long, and urban drivers on tight, narrow highway will rejoice at the i3’s extraordinary turning circle of over 32 feet.