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.