BMW Ad Claims Purchasing An i3 Is A Bold Decision - But Is It A Foolish One As Well?

The i3 and i8 are both complete afterthoughts in the all-EV market. Instead of focusing on these impractical EVs, BMW should have been focusing on delivering a traditional all-electric sedan or SUV. BMW has fallen years behind with Audi, Porsche and Jaguar all reaching the market with more traditional electric offerings far earlier than BMW.

So BMW beat Audi, Porsche and Jaguar to the market with carbon fiber electric cars but now they are behind these late comers who just introduced under performing electric cars or have none at all?

Do you have any clue which way is up or down as you seem most confused.

BMW rushed to market with total garbage and fell flat on their faces.

A ton of resources were wasted in this attempt to create the i sub brand. The X7 was delayed because of this move. At this point in the EV game, it's not set in stone yet so no real loss, except bad will for a poor execution.

Buying one brand new is doesn't make much financial sense when you can find low mileage examples for less than $20K on various car selling sites.

Lease new, buy used.

If you want a German EV - go down to your Mercedes dealer and buy a Smart - with discounts they are about $20,000. You can get a used one with lo-miles for about $10,000.

Waste of time, talent, and money. Kill the i3.

The i3 is a turd of a car.

THere is plenty of time to decide what type of EV (Or Hybrid) to buy. THe current infrastructure simply cannot support our country today with a huge number of EVs. WE don't have the equivalent of all the gas - in Electric capacity - available - plus there remains few places to "plug in".

Just as today's EVs are leagues ahead of the GM EV1 - I expect that the technologies involved will need still another big leap before they get adopted widely (Like much faster charging - or maybe even replaceable battery packs) - and those who bought now will be left in the past too.

For example - in England - they just passed a law outlining how to Insure such Electric Vehicles - those with auto driving functions - that would pay - but allow the insurance company to collect from a manufacturer if it turns out to be their error(Software maybe). Now think of that one. Every claim will need to be investigated to determine what caused the problem - and how much and where fault came from. This alone will be a nightmare.OF course - who is going to insure the manufacturer - and if they must "insure" their vehicles - how much more cost will have to be added to cover possible problems. Today - driver's error(At some level) exists in about 94 percent of accidents. Next we will be talking about Programmers error! I remain thankful that I will likely be gone long before this happens.

Same old FUD, incoherent at best.

Buying a used I3 with a reprogrammed range extender(REX)makes it possible for it to be a single family car if desired. Buying new makes no sense and the Rex is programmed all wrong for the US. However BMW was forced to make this change in order to comply with CARB rules for EV's. However in Europe up until the 2019 model year the Rex operates totally differently than in the US. First the Rex is programmed in Europe to carry more fuel(I think 2.1 gallons vs 1.5 for the US). Second whenever the battery energy gets to 75% the REX in Europe kicks in keeping the battery at 75% charge until it runs out of fuel(about 85 miles). The US version REX does not kick in until the battery charge is depleted down to 6%. Due to this one has to stop traveling until the REX charges the battery up 75-80%. Proceeeding before the REX has a chance to charge reduces your speed to like 30 MPH. The US version therefore limits you in distance before having to recharge where the Euro version simply makes you stop at regular gas station to fill up the REX. For 2019 there is a larger battery giving an effective range of about 180 miles. Adding in a REX increases this by 75 miles.If you wait 2 or 3 years the cost of an I3 is drops by more than 50%. Most I3's from 2014-2017 can be bought in the 17K to 25K range. Reprogramming the REX makes it a good in-between EV until EV batteries extend range beyond 400 miles and infrastructure catches up. True it is an Odd Ball car with tall skinny wheels. However it has a carbon fiber tub, it is roomy for its size and can potentially be an only family vehicle if the REX is reprogrammed(available on line). With the wood trim it has an Ikea like dashboard. With the amount of money car makers are throwing at EV's Ford, GM VW, BMW, Hyundai/Kia etc. there is going to be a ton of this vehicles on the market within just a couple of years. The infrastructure will also be much improved within just a couple of years as well.