By now we’ve all been somewhat familiarised with the BMW i3. It’s a small unique-looking city car that’s made mostly of carbon fibre reinforced plastic runs entirely on battery power except when its specified with a small range-extending petrol engine.
And the upgraded version, lovingly called the i3 94Ah, doesn’t bring the EV game further along other than the fact that it measurably does, offering a NEDC estimated range of 310km in its pure EV form or as much as 390km when equipped with the range extender option - a 650cc two-cylinder petrol engine used as a generator to top up battery low battery levels.
While the range extender option isn’t anything new, and in fact the internal combustion unit is unchanged, the real innovation involves a more advanced battery pack - the result of development work between BMW and technical partner Samsung SDI - which manages to improve cell density and energy capacity without changing the car or battery enclosure’s physical dimensions.
The gross battery energy has increased in the i3 to 33kWh, of which 27kWh can be effectively used. This is a substantial increase from the initial version’s 60Ah battery produces 22kWh with 19kWh being usable. Basically, the i3’s battery is effectively a third larger.
In simpler terms, the i3’s electricity consumption has improved 0.3kWh/100km to 12.6kWh/100km. The instant torque generated by the synchronous eDrive electric motor (250Nm) means that the 125kW of power propels the all-electric i3 to 100km/h in just 7.3 seconds while the heavier Range Extender takes 8.1 seconds due to its 120kg weight penalty.
BMW has designed the i3’s battery pack to be easily replaceable if a fault is found, another advantage of its carbon-intensive construction that has its key structural components relying on the frame of the car. That said, customers receive an eight-year or 100,000km warranty on the battery.
- BMW i3 Electric Vehicle: $63,900
- BMW i3 with Range Extender: $69,900
- BMW i3 94Ah Electric Vehicle: $65,900
- BMW i3 94Ah with Range Extender: $71,900
For more on BMW vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
