BMW i3 EV revealed. It’s clever, but it’s not exactly pretty

The new BMW i3 electric car has been revealed at events around the world ahead of a debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show and in sale in 2014.

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The BMW i3 – the first of BMW’s production ‘i’ electric cars – has finally been revealed at events in London, New York and Beijing as BMW plots its course to bring a premium electric city car to the world.

Looking much like the original Mega City Concept, the i3 debuts a number of innovations from BMW – which are very clever – but it also debuts perhaps the worst looking BMW we’ve ever seen, with its incongruous lines, bulging bonnet, odd shapes on the flanks and slab-backed rear view.

But what underpins the i3 is clever indeed, with a lightweight inner body made from carbon fibre and carbon fibre reinforced body panels providing the skin, all conspiring to make the i3 light – 1195kg, despite 25 per cent or so of that being batteries – and very rigid.

So rigid that BMW has managed to dispense with B-Pillars altogether and give the production i3 a pair of small, rear-hinged doors (a bit like the RX-9) for getting little uns in the back and making the i3 – notionally – a five-door EV.

In terms of size, the i3 is BMW’s smallest car by far, a chunk shorten than a 1-Series (3999mm) but taller and about as wide, with a wheelbase of 2570mm and relatively small overhangs front and back.

Under the clever skin lies an equally clever powertrain, with a synchronous electric motor at the back driving the rear wheels with 168bhp and 184lb/ft of torque, with a single speed gearbox and a choice of three driving modes – Comfort, Eco Pro and Eco Pro+.

The 22kWh battery pack (96 little batteries lurking under the floor) gets a six year/100,00 mile warranty and can deliver a theoretical range of 118 miles, although BMW are saying that’s more like 80-100 miles in the real world (and a chunk less if it’s very hot or very cold or very congested or…).

But BMW are being clever by offering a range-extender option too – a 650cc 2-pot BMW motorcycle engine – which will increase the range by a factor of two and allow you to top up with fuel when even that gets low, so the i3 is an EV that can do more than run around town.

Performance is more than adequate for City car, with BMW claiming a 0-62mph time of just 7.2 seconds which increases to 7.9 seconds if you opt for the range-extender (the extra weight of the engine blunts performance a bit).

Inside, the BMW i3 offers seating for four in a cabin that’s highly stylised and just slightly more appealing than the exterior. It will be offered in three trim levels – levels BMW are calling ‘Worlds – Standard, Loft, Lodge and Suite.

It’s a strong offering from BMW to make their mark on the EV market, but it’s clearly aimed at families wanting a second car and who want the posh badge and don’t really care the i3 is an ugly duckling.

At a starting point of £25,680 (£28,830 for the range-extender option, including a £5k bribe from the taxpayer to buy) the BMW i3 will no doubt sell strongly.

The order book for the BMW i3 opens next month and launches in the UK on 16th November.