BMW is planning pricing for its i3 electric car to come in around $40,000, or about $32,500 after a federal tax credit, which is pretty darn close to the 3-Series they already sell.
The company will also create a program allowing i3 drivers to borrow a conventionally-powered car for longer trips for "additional mobility," BMW North America CEO Ludwig Willisch told the Automotive News, because who knows how far the actual range of these cars will be in real-world conditions.
$32,500 is quite a bit of money for something that appears to be not much bigger than the dishwasher-like Toyota iQ and that will primarily compete with the Nissan Leaf, which sells for around $10,000 less, though it does come with a BMW badge and it's made out of carbon fiber, so there's that.
Let's hope both of those things translate into some semblance of driving fun, as electric motors usually have big torque and Bavarian Motor Works is usually known for their suspensions. That fat lump of batteries that make it ride so tall, however, might just put a damper on all that black woven plastic that makes up the structure.
Then again, the original Tesla Roadster had pretty much the same recipe, and that wasn't so bad now was it?
Just remember, this thing also has an available motorbike engine as a range-extender, though it won't power the wheels. Maybe for an M version it could, in my dreams.
Buzzy little engine, carbon fiber, four wheels. It sounds like a recipe for something wonderful, except it's not for you, but for your kids.
The question is, if they're priced about the same, will people take this over a standard 3-Series?
Photo credit: Andrew Horne