BMW’s i3 makes global debut in New York, London and BEIJING

JULY 31: The BMW Group debuted the series version of its pure electric vehicles, the BMW i3, simultaneously in New York, London and Beijing. On hand to launch this vehicle was chairman, Norbert Reithofer who said “The i3 is a revolutionary step towards sustainable mobility. It is purpose-built around an electric powertrain to serve the needs of our megacity customers.”

The i3 achieves a range of 130 to 160 km The car is also available with a range-extender, which maintains the charge of the lithium-ion battery at a constant level en route, as soon as it falls below a specified value. This is performed by a two-cylinder petrol engine with 34 hp (25 kW), mounted adjacent to the electric motor above the rear axle. The range extender increases the car’s maximum range in day-to-day driving to around 300 km, BMW said.

The BMW i3 will be launch the car in Germany and other European markets in November 2013. The launch in the USA, China, Japan and several other markets will take place in the first half of 2014. The base price has been set at 34,950 Euros (about Rs 27 lakh) in Germany. If customers opt to purchase the Range Extender as an extra, the price in Germany will amount to 39,450 Euros.

Apart from it being pure electric, the BMW i3 features a large number of technological innovations – such as a carbon-fibre passenger cell and a chassis made of aluminium – and sets new standards in lightweight construction. With a curb weight of 1,195 kgs, it is lighter than most vehicles in the compact segment, yet offers significantly more space for up to four occupants, the company said.

The car’s electric drive-train generates output of 125 kW/170 hp and peak torque of 250 Newton metres, which is immediately available from a standing start. The BMW i3 sprints from 0 to 60 km/h in 3.7 seconds and from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.2 seconds. Its top speed is limited to 150 km/h for efficiency reasons.

The BMW Group has also used its sustainability initiative across the car’s value chain, the company said. For example, the electricity needed for production of the BMW i3 at the Leipzig plant is generated from wind power. In addition to its CO2-free electricity supply, the plant also uses 50 percent less energy and 70 percent less water than the average for the already highly-efficient BMW production network.

The car will be marketed through a multi-channel sales model comprising authorised retail partners, a multimedia customer interaction centre (CIC) and an online sales platform. The company said buyers can easily switch between all four channels.

According to BMW, 93,000 electric vehicles were registered worldwide last year and a total of 150,000 units is already forecast for 2014.