See all Motoring NewsBMW is expanding the i3 electric city car range from two models into four with the addition of a pair of new 'long range' variants.
Essentially, what BMW's i division has done is added a battery pack that has a higher storage density of the lithium-ion cells (94 amp hours, or Ah, compared to 60Ah before) and thus more capacity (33 kilowatt hours (kWh) with 29kWh net, compared to 22kWh gross, 19kWh net previously), meaning it can go 300km on a single charge in ideal conditions, instead of 190km. BMW says the 94Ah i3 can even do 200km in bad weather conditions and with the climate control running full tilt, so that's pretty impressive.
Little else has changed. The same 170hp/250Nm electric motor is fitted, but the weight of the car has crept up from 1,195kg to 1,245kg. That ever so slightly blunts performance, with 0-100km/h in 7.3 seconds (7.2 seconds in the 60Ah version of the BMW i3) and 0-60km/h in 3.8 seconds (3.7 seconds before), but the rear-wheel drive i3 94Ah still gets to the same 150km/h limited maximum speed.
Electricity consumption has been trimmed on the 94Ah compared to the 60Ah, thanks to revised electric motor management and advanced low-resistance tyres, putting the long-range i3 at 12.6kWh/100km; the 60Ah version does 12.9kWh/100km. Perhaps the best news is that, despite being 50 per cent more capacious, a fresh AC fast charging system developed for the 94Ah model - which can use 11kW, three-phase charging capacity, rather than the 7.3kW, single-phase system of the 60Ah - means it can still be charged in less than three hours, the same time as the current i3. Use a standard 2.8kW domestic power socket, though, and it'll take nearly ten hours to top up the 94Ah, rather than the eight hours of the 60Ah. DC fast charging is also quicker for the 'old' technology, as the 60Ah battery is capable of being re-juiced in 25 minutes against 40 minutes for the newcomer.
But if you still have range anxiety, even with a potential 300km under your belt, the i3 94Ah can be had as a Range Extender with the 650cc, 38hp petrol engine mounted in the back giving another 150km of range. The 60Ah Range Extender continues in production too.
All 94Ah i3s have the same eight-year, 100,000km warranty on the battery as existing i3s, and if you want your car to stand out from the crowd, it can be specified in the same Protonic Blue metallic as the BMW i8 sports car - the 60Ah isn't allowed this hue. Five more colours - Capparis White and Fluid Black non-metallic, along with Mineral Grey, Platin Silver and Ionic Silver metallic - are all offered.
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