BMW i3: RWD & Mid-Engined

BMW i3 - could be quicker than we might have expected

It has been revealed that the BMW i3 – BMW MegaCity – will get a mid-engined platform. And it could be very swift.

February saw the official launch of BMW’s new sub-brand, BMW “i”, and the news that the first two cars out of the gate will be the BMW i3 and BMW i8; the i3 is the MegaCity car , the i8 the Vision EfficientDynamics car.

A big, shiny new dawn for eco-Beemers, which we hope will take with then the ‘Joy’ tag and leave the ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’ for the core range. But probably not. Still, even the little i3 City Car will be rear wheel drive – a proper BMW

We’d always expected the i3 to have its power sent to the rear wheels, and we’d half expected BMW to do a VW and hang the engine out the back too. But it now seems clear that, if anything, the BMW i3 could be best described as ‘Mid-Engined’.

Actually, that may have to be ‘Mid-Motored’, as the i3 will be powered by an electric motor bolted in ahead of the rear wheels with the batteries to propel it sandwiched under the boot, thanks to the custom chassis BMW has developed for the i3.

What we don’t know is what will happen when BMW fit the i3 with a range extender engine, which we know will become an option. Will they stick that in the boot?

It also looks as if this same – or very similar – setup is going to be bolted in the the BMW ActiveE 1-Series, at least according to Autoblog. If that is true – and we already know that the 1-Series ActiveE will get a rear-mounted electric motor, so it does add up – the BMW i3 could be very nimble indeed.

When BMW revealed the 1-Series ActiveE at Detroit last year we were told it could do 0-60mph in 8.5 seconds. Which is perfectly reasonable for a 1-Series EV and on a par with a 118d. But the 118d weighs in at 1385kg and the i3 at… we don’t actually know.

But we do know it will have carbonfibre monocoque and bodywork so the expectation is for a very light package. Which could give us a little electric city runaround in the BMW i3 that will blow everything away at the traffic light grand prix.

Wouldn’t that be a hoot?