BMW has been on somewhat of an electrified vehicle offensive lately with each couple of months not able to go by without some news of a fully or partially electrified Bimmer. This year alone saw the introduction of their iPerformance range, comprising of X5, 3 Series, 7 Series plug-in hybrids.
Now, though, BMW Australia is introducing an updated version of the i3 city car. It’s a version that had previously launched in other markets not long ago and primarily brings added range via a larger battery (33kWh) making possible a maximum range of 390km. That figure is for the Range Extender version of the i3 that’s equipped with a two-cylinder 650cc petrol motor to provide additional distance.
The purely battery-powered version of the i3, the BEV (or Battery Electric Vehicle), now has a claimed maximum range of 310km as opposed to the 200km it was capable of previously with the lower capacity cell.
The cell stacks (12 in total) themselves are not any larger than before, leaving the interior space untouched, but BMW has managed to eek out the range increases by utilising more densely packed lithium-ion cells manufactured by technical partner Samsung SDI.
More good news comes from the charging cycle too, with the Munich automaker saying that the denser battery pack does not require a longer charge time than the usual three hours when using a normal wall socket due to a new power controller that can allow energy to flow quicker into the battery.
Using fast EV chargers at 7.4kW at 32 amps, however, can result in charge times being reduced to 40 minutes to reach 80 percent capacity.
The inclusion of the 94Ah version of the BMW i3 means that there is a total of four variants in the updated range, starting with the standard i3 with the smaller pure EV version with a 22kWh battery up to the 33kWh version with Range Extender.
- BMW i3: $63,900
- BMW i3 with Range Extender: $69,900
- BMW i3 94Ah Electric Vehicle: $65,900
- BMW i3 94Ah with Range Extender: $71,900
BMW Australia’s Managing Director, Marc Werner, said: “BMW remains at the forefront of providing e-mobility solutions, and the upgraded battery package of the latest BMW i3 is proof of this. It reinforces the BMW i brand’s innovative strength and builds on the positive reactions drawn from the recently-launched iPerformance vehicles; products that directly benefit from the work done at BMW i.”
For more on BMW vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
