An understatement...

Maybe Todd's eyesight is failing in his old age but not on this end of the computer...

I saw one last week - parked at our grocery store. I like it. Design is not only in the eye of the beholder but most importantly in the eye of potential customers. Since NS is not only a potential customer and likes the way it looks/drives, then I'd say BMW marketing is doing their job.

The car is a risk for BMW and it isn't clear that it is winning yet. They have gone with a different tech and aesthetic that is polarizing. But you really have to get in one and drive it to "get it." You still may not like it, but pictures do not tell the story.

From top gear: Top Gear drives the mighty BMW i3 - BBC Top Gear

As this orange BMW i3 is weaving its way among the black cabs, red buses and blue bikes of Piccadilly Circus, I wouldn't be surprised if every living soul who sees it has an opinion. Our First Drive story on TopGear.com had the comments box lit up like no other time I can remember. This is by far the most controversial BMW since, well, since the Isetta. The army of haters and trolls might never be convinced by the i3, but even reasonable people have questions. Won't a tall, short city car inevitably be dull to look at and be in, and generally represent the very antithesis of what we all hope BMW does best? Especially if it's powered by battery? And does its limited range undermine the very freedom that defines an automobile?

So, forgive me if I get a bit defensive at times on the i3's behalf. Everyone at TopGear who's been exposed to the i3 has been warmed by it. Whether we approached it curious, indifferent or even hostile, we all came away affectionate. A car that can change minds (change open minds, at least) is to be cherished.

The charm of the thing is threefold. First: the stimulation it gives the mind, the new ways it proposes for engineering and building our cars, and because the execution is so good it fuels our passion for them. Second: the way it goes, its smooth acceleration, refined silence and even its nippy direction-changing.

And third: its design, the interior especially, but also the exterior, which is fascinating in the way it adds progressive touches to relatively mundane mini-MPV proportions, thanks to its aero details and the glossy black band from its bonnet over the roof and rear end, unifying its forms and lending it the enigmatic glamour of wraparound shades.

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And car connection: 2014 BMW i3 Review, Ratings, Specs, Prices, and Photos - The Car Connection

The i3 represents an entirely new approach for a new century of congestion, carbon limits, and electronics dominating driving experience. It's the first of a new line of "i" plug-in models, including the 2015 BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sport coupe that will go on sale late in 2014. While BMW's U.S. marketers may find their heads exploding at the challenge--and traditionalists will scoff and sneer--the 2014 BMW i3 isn't primarily aimed at North America.

It's likely to sell in traditional cities like New York and Boston and San Francisco, and perhaps in the more affluent quarters of sprawling conurbations like Atlanta and Dallas and Los Angeles. It works fine on highways and open roads, though its roadholding won't please any owner of a BMW M sedan who drives it hard. That poses a major challenge to North American buyers, however. The electric i3's unexpected genius--providing a calm, soothing, capable vehicle in which to travel through crowded, dense urban areas, one that makes stop-and-go traffic tolerable--is far from what U.S. buyers associate with BMW.

The new i3 plug-in electric car is an "ultimate driving machine" only if you "driving" includes navigating rush-hour traffic, zipping down narrow alleys and around the tightest of corners, and parking in minimal curb-side spaces or high-rise garage structures. And it's likely the first BMW ever whose design team stressed their mission of providing a calming environment for travel. They've created an interior that evokes spacious, open loft living; and a car that shows you not only roads but walking routes, bus and train schedules, and multiple transport modes.

Everybody claimed to love the Edsel when it came out too.

I saw one on the freeway and they look way better in person, it appeared to be dark blue or black and didn't seem to have the two tone paint (it zipped past me and I couldn't catch up to get a better look... stupid L.A. traffic)

This car could check a lot of boxes for me, free charger here at work, access to HOV lane, I love my little (little being the active word here) Miata but it is kinda redonkulous as a commuter car.

I would just presume this is out of my budget... If you don't mind maybe you could post what you monthly lease payment is going to be?

A quick trip to the BMW website and they quote $500 a month lease.. cool little car but too rich for my blood... carry on, nothing to see here!

Right now the straight EV lease deal (per the web site) is $499/mo (before tax), Rex is $549. That is using some BMW credit as cap reduction. There is a $2500 rebate from the state and rebates for installing home charging as well. No Fed tax credit for a lease deal. HOV sticker application is $8.

If you want cheap it is not the way to go. The Fiat is $199/mo and Volt and Leaf are similar. You're paying a significant premium for the BMW - same as it ever was. They just bumped the residual up so it was even more expensive at launch. Look for the price to drop over the next 6-12 months as I don't think these will go like hotcakes. Time will tell. I've got enough money chunked away in savings to cover the 3 years of lease payments so we'll just drive it and see how it goes.

Yuck.... Does it come with a sticker that says "I am gubmint subsidized"?

In truth, electric cars can pencil-out well for around town commuters/grocery-getters in a warm place like L.A. There is free charging all over the place now, which is a perk not so much for the cost of the electricity as the range extending benefit of recharging the car several times a day. I spoke to a photographer with a Volt not long ago and he told me that he charges it only at night at home and it always lasts him all day and costs ~$13.00 a month in electricity. He had done the metering.

Contrast that to the cost of fuel in CA. and the 100 miles a day that many people drive and that lease starts getting cheaper and cheaper. And that's not to even mention the stray action you might get. GD, need to get to the Beemer dealer.

boom! :D

My wife was spending about $300/mo in gas when she had her truck. That dropped when she got the Fiat, and it will really drop now. Certainly not enough to offset the price of admission, but life is short - have fun while you can.

And yes, I'd imagine hanging outside one of the yoga studios on 2nd street would result in significant action. I had a meeting some months back near there and I got whiplash just from the walk from my car to the building...

Yoga studio sidewalk=quick charge. :)

~$300/month over a Volt. Wow. The BMW probably wins in feel the category, both suck in style IMO, but if I were in the market for a EV I would want the additional range flexibility of the Volt. Ultimately the EV is about the numbers right?

Depends on what numbers you're talking about. My old '79 SC would lose a numbers game to almost any modern car. 172 hp and no creature comforts? Yet that car made me giggle like school girl when I fired it up and it was a hoot even when taking urban corners/onramps. To be honest when I drove the i3 I had kinda the same feeling. Totally different vehicle and totally different itches being scratched, but the fun factor was there, and the quirky styling along with the striking interior made it enjoyable. An alternative kind of visceral entertainment.

I totally get people not liking the exterior. But I like it way more than the Volt or the Leaf - meh. There are cars that are appliances and highly functional, and cars that are fun. Some of the more ideal ones combine elements of both. To me, the i3 does just that. Ymmv, but don't totally dismiss it (unless you don't want to pay the price - understandable, though this is a Porsche forum ;)) until you drive it. Is it the greatest car ever? No way. But for fun practicality at a price, it checks off a lot of boxes.

Numbers?

it's about The Future...


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1408740231.jpg

How much is it if you just want to buy the thing?

Sticker on the one we're getting is $51950. Invoice is a couple $K less. If you buy, there is a $7500 fed tax credit and $2500 state rebate so that makes is closer to $40K.

The most expensive car I've had - with the exception of the 79 SC. Just that the money for that was spread out a bit more...

I think they list at $45K... but then you subtract the subsidies blah, blah, blah...

Edit, Todd beat me to it, he has better info because I just scanned the BMW several hours ago.

The straight EV is $41K, Rex is $45K. With options it goes up from there, like all BMWs.

I like the looks but someone will make money selling pre-painted stick-on panels to fill in the side panel gulch eyesore

What kind of tail do you get with the electric Fiat?