The BMW i3 may not be a common vehicle on the road just yet, which is surprising considering that the vehicle came out in 2012.
It has not been one of the success stories for the German luxury auto car maker. However, BMW has recently shown its tendency to stick with the ‘i’ generation models as it represents the future of the war with companies like Tesla. The commitment to the ‘i’ products is clear from the fact that the company are preparing to launch the redesigned i3 in 2017.
BMW planning to give the BMW i3 more than just a visual makeover, as it will come with better battery and, consequently, more range. One of the main areas further design would be improved is in the front, which is often considered as one of the weak links for the BMW i3. In terms of the battery capacity, the use of a gas powered range extender could increase the mileage of the vehicle to around 180 miles compared to the current generation BMW i3.
A 50% range increase on the 2017 BMW i3 will be a positive step forward considering that the current generation vehicle only offers around 114 miles on a full charge of battery. Even after this 50% increase, the BMW i3 will be at a significant disadvantage compared to the Tesla models. One of the upcoming Tesla vehicles, the Model 3, is expected to offer around 215 miles of minimum range even on the base model. The vehicle is expected to start at $35,000, which is once again better than the $ 47,450 price tag for the BMW i3 with the range extender.
Even though the German luxury carmaker loaded the BMW i3 with plenty of design and forward-thinking technologies, it still has not been able to make much of an impact in the segment. It managed to come up with a paltry sales figures of just 25,000 vehicles in 2015. BMW certainly have their work cut out in order to make the new model more attractive to customers. The company believes that the growing electric vehicle market will be important for the company’s future especially considering that it has been faced with falling sales across all models.
Rival brands like Jaguar and Mercedes, though, have been growing at a furious pace in recent years and they have also hinted at the expansion of their lineup of electric vehicles.