i3 is BMW’s completely electric small car.
Let’s see if this i3, with different design, has driving features of normal cars? Let’s analyze it together.
DESIGN
There are lots of things to be said about the design of the i3. Therefore, to make a long story short, let me broach the subject directly. For one thing, when you look at the i3 from the front it is not easy to realize that it is a BMW model if you don’t count the BMW’s signature kidneys and propeller like logo.With the extremely wide bumper and headlamps with LED technology that slant backwards the i3 looks very aggressive and powerful from the front. When you observe the i3 from the side, it is also very different design wise. Firstly, the roof is sloping downwards here as you can see. The front door after descending here, re increase rearwards and ensure the car to attain very different form.
In this car, very different dimensions that we are unaccustomed such as 155/70R19 tires and wheel rims are used. The wheel rims are in a closed form with 5 spoke. There is, of course a reason for this. The reason, that the wheel rims are in a closed form and the tires are very thin, is as you can guess about wind resistance and friction. Nonetheless, the footboard has a very different design too. The reason for this is also the same, to catch the friction coefficient. But the blue detail you see just as in the front is one of the features that emphasize that the car is electrical.
When you look at the doors of the car, it may be hard for some to say that it is a 5-doors car, because there is no door handle on this rear door. But when you want to open the door, you first open the front door, then you open the rear door, and then you are able to get into the rear seats. Since there is no B column here, it is not hard to get in, but it is not easy to close the front door after closing the rear.INTERIOR
The design of the i3 is generally futuristic. But if you inquire which part is most attention grabbing, I can without hesitation tell you that it is the rear. In other words when you look at the i3 from the rear, you no doubt, get the impression that it came to the present from the future. First of all you see a narrow car. It has very thin tires reminiscent of motorcycle tires, but most importantly the taillights have been positioned behind this glass panel that you see. These make the i3 to appear very interesting from the rear.
Alright, let me tell you briefly, what kind of loading capacity the i3 has. As this is an electrical car and as the batteries are under the boot, naturally it does not have very big loading capacity. But if you remember that you will spend your time with this car in the city, I can say that there is capacity to satisfy your expectations in the daily usage.Now comes the fun part. At last I am behind the steering wheel of the i3. First of all, it is not easy to realize that you are driving a BMW model as soon as you enter the i3 because you meet a design you have never seen before. In front of you there is a completely digital rectangular dashboard; two spoke steering wheel, big multimedia screen and a very different design mid console.
The BMW try to emphasize its environmentalism not only with the electrical motor but with recycled materials used in the entire interior. The materials used are all good quality and pleasing to the eye. There is a place reserved for your small items above the mid console. Furthermore, the glove compartment possesses wideness enough to accommodate articles. There are also areas underhand for your small items, here in front of the iDrive two cup-holders, in front of that an armrest and under the armrest a wide space is offered. You are able to sit here very comfortably. Even though the seats are in a slightly built form, in my opinion they are very comfortable.ENGINE
Let us come to the hotly anticipated engine and driving features of the i3. In the i3 an electrical motor that exactly develops 170 HP and 250 Nm of torque is functioning. If you ask me what kind of gearbox, I can tell you that there is no gearbox in this car. In other words you are able to move forward if you choose D mode and reverse if you choose R mode. You can think it just like the remote controlled cars you use to play in your childhood.
The engine’s performance value is unpredictably good. This car can reach 100km/h in 7.2 seconds. In other words you may think looking at the i3’s small, sympathetic type that it will not be a fast car, but if you are thinking like that then I can clearly say that you are mistaken.
To begin with, as this is an electrical car, it does not reach the torque like conventional cars at definite rpm juncture. That is to say, the car can generate the same HP from the moment it starts to accelerate. Therefore, from the time you press the throttle and push it to the carpet it reaches its top speed hands down. The speed of the i3 has been limited to 150km/h.
The i3 necessitates certain accustomedness in driving just as all the electric cars. First of all, your right foot, namely the foot that commands the throttle needs to be a bit trained. The relation between your right foot and throttle is relevant to every thing from the range you will cover to how much the passengers will be shaken.
Let me explain more plainly like so, this car advances when you touch the throttle. But when you remove your foot from the throttle it starts to slow down and even if you are downhill and even if you do not press the break pedal it stops. I have taken my foot from the throttle and even though we are at the moment on an inclined ground it stopped. Let me explain the reason to you immediately.
In conclusion, the batteries do not only be charged by electric current. In other words, while you are driving the car, when you do not touch the throttle, or when you break, the kinetic energy that arises charges the batteries, Correspondingly, how much range you will cover or not depends on your driving.
You can drive the i3 by 3 different driving modes. These are almost the same driving modes we are accustomed from the other BMW models. In the i3 Comfort, Eco Pro and Eco Pro Plus are used. In Comfort you do not encounter any restrictions, namely you can reach any speed, you can command the A/C and music system and all the rest. When you choose Eco Pro mode, it steers you to a more economic drive. Therefore, if you drive that way it ensures the car to cover further range. In this mode you are only able to reach maximum speed of 130 km/h. But if you select the Eco Pro Plus mode you are steered to the most frugal driving and even the A/C works as ventilation only.
The factory data indicates that the range of i3 in the Comfort mode is between 130-160 km., when Eco Pro is selected over 20 km. and when Eco Pro Plus is selected another 20 km. is added to the range. In other words, in total you are able to drive this car approximately 200km. in the Eco Pro Plus mode.
All right does it work like this in the daily life? Let me briefly tell you about it. Just as in the internal combustion engine cars the factory data in this car also does not verify the daily values. Therefore, as always, let me convey to you my experiences about this car.
I have been driving this car for 5 days and have covered 170 km. Naturally, as I can not give you fuel consumption averages, let me tell you briefly what I have lived through. On the second day of the time that I have encountered the car I somewhat got accustomed to it and covered 80 km. The trip computer indicated that I still had 48 km. of range in reserve. In other words if you add up this two values in reality you can say that this car has a range of 120-130 km. I should state that I personally have driven the car all day in the Eco Pro Plus mode.
Similarly, I have driven today with full charged battery for 54 km. and at the moment 75 km. reserve range is indicated to me. When we add up these two as well, we reach resembling values that the i3 can reach.
CHARGING / CONSUMPTION
Alright, how do you charge the i3? Let me also tell you about it briefly. There are 3 different ways for it. One is the way we all know, plugging it to 220 volts socket at home. As you can guess this take a very long time. I do not really know how much time it exactly takes but I think it probably requires 8-10 hours. Besides, you are able to charge the i3 at charging stations at shopping centers with the blue cable you carry in the boot. This of course will be much faster than the home charging.
But there is another way, which is the fastest you can charge the i3. As far as I know, the fast charging stations can charge the empty battery to full charge at 2 hours. Of course, one should not be very pessimistic about the subject of charging because these values are from completely empty to completely full charges. In other words you can fill the batteries 80% by the way I just mentioned in 40 minutes.
Finally, I can tell you this about the range of the i3 that if you are not driving more than 100-120 km. per day then you can use this car very easily. Your expectations in this matter will explicitly be satisfied. But if the thought struck you and you feel you should go to Bolu, unfortunately you will not be able to actualize it.
DRIVING
After talking so much about the consumption, let me explain the details of this car’s driving features.
The i3’s road holding is good and it has an agile disposition. But as you will guess, its suspensions are a bit firm. Especially in the city where road surfaces are rough like our İstanbul, the low comfort level unfortunately can disturb you. However, when you drive on smooth asphalt you neither senses the firm suspensions nor the decreasing of comfort level.
From the very beginning I have been saying that the i3 neither with its interior nor with its appearance is like a real BMW. But in reality it eludes this by its driving features. The i3 is a rear wheel drive car as are many BMW models. Of course there is a small trick here because i3’s engine as well as the batteries are located at the rear. The steering system of the i3 with its fast responses deserves praise. Nothing is lacking as far as insulation is concerned. Since there is no internal combustion engine, an engine noise is not a question anyway. At certain speeds you do not even hear the wind noise. But when you press the throttle hard and want to achieve high speeds you hear the buzz of the electric motor a bit. But this is definitely not disturbing, as a matter of fact even joyous. You can reach many data about i3 from an application called iRemote. It is enough to download the application to your mobile.
Another thing is that it will be beneficiary for you to know that curious eyes will be on you when you are driving the i3. The BMW i3 reveals that it is a very logical choice in our days of extremely high petrol prices with its electrical construction. But its 47.900 Euro price is definitely too costly. In other words you have to be prepared to sacrifice at the beginning the savings you will make later on.
If you are ready to give this money in the beginning, I can say that the BMW i3 will satisfy all your expectation explicitly like the other normal cars except long travels. But with the stress of my battery is out and I am stranded.
See you…
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