The i3

BMW’s i3 series is in its sixth year or production. Currently the company is on its fifth iteration of this model. They have sold over 150,000 of them so far and demand has increased. For the first half of the year sales were 21 percent higher than the year before. Since last August, sales were 30 percent higher.

There were also no problems with performance. The car continuously performed well and showed that it was able to keep up with traditional petrol engines. It is fast, but safe. The i3 even has lower insurance rates because of its safety rating. While electric cars typically test well for safety, they are not always the cheapest to insure because they are usually more expensive than your average vehicle.

Going Electric

Despite the popularity of the electric i3 model, BMW has decided to stop making the car. While some think this is a bad decision, the goal is to promote new electric models of their older cars. For example, they will be premiering a new Mini Electric. BMW plans to have no less than 13 battery exclusive models by 2023.

Creating structures that enable our production facilities to build models with combustion engines, plug-in hybrids, and full electric models. Instead of focusing on making new models from scratch, they will modernize their popular cars. Still it appears they are hesitant to go fully electric. The transition will be slow, and the company hopes that they will keep their popularity and sales up.

Competition

The automobile industry has been slow to embrace electric vehicles, but at some point there is no choice. The future of cars is electric. With environmental concerns and the ability to save with electric automobiles, the industry will be forced to concede and make more electric vehicles.

For now, the competition is limited. But not for long. Tesla is the one and only all-electric car company, and since they have come onto the scene they have been near-dominant. Competition is growing, however. Acccording to the experts at the website MoneyPug, a site that is used to find cheap car insurance, with luxury companies like Jaguar and Porsche making their own electric models, BMW will be entering a more cutthroat market. It’s not just these companies that will be competition for the German automaker. Economical automobile producers like Volvo are also making electric models.

More and more car companies will, and the competition will only grow. Some say it is smart for BMW to dive deeper into this market while others say it is too late. But if they can stay popular with their loyal fans and attract new customers with electric models they will be able to stay relevant and popular.

Before it’s too Late

The BMW i3 model is popular, but it didn’t catch on in certain places. Australia is one of them. Only around 150 were sold in its first year of sales. It could catch on further, but it seems to be the goal of BMW to get out of their commitment to the i3 before it is too late. They still have time to make their old models electric and keep the popularity of the i3. With demand for these vehicles going up, it will be curious to see if they make a brand new electric model.

Scrapping a model that sells is a tough decision, and you can be sure that BMW has done their homework on what will happen when they put their resources into electrifying old models. Still, people like new. To keep people interested, they may want to premier new electric models in addition to modernizing their old ones.

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The guys from 3D Design and Studie Japan are responsible in part for this, as they have brought yet another tuning project for the BMW i3.

We all know how much Japanese love kei cars, so it sort of makes sense why there is so much love for the small city car. The tuning kit contains only aesthetic upgrades, as no aftermarket specialist has yet to meddle with the powertrain. That being said, this particular kit is quite awesome.

First off, it is obvious that the tuners decided to go with a new paint job, sporting a Fire Orange color, and an interesting design. Along with a set of MAK wheels, the BMW i3 also received a lowering kit, bringing the car closer to earth by 30mm. The fitted a new roof spoiler as well as a new front lip spoiler, which is nicely complemented by a redesigned grille. Inside we find more of the same theme, as much of the upholstery has been dyed orange. The seats were replaced by Recaro LX-F seats, and as a final nice touch, the BMW active sounds was set to be able to reproduce the sounds of an inline 6, V8, V10 or even a V12 engine.

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While an i8 would look awesome with the right kit, the fact that the smaller BMW i3 isn’t such a serious looking car, the possibilities are far more numerous.

A very good example of what you can do to a BMW i3 to make it look awesome but never to a i8 comes from Japan, where a lot of people go nuts for small cars. They even have a trend about tuning compact vehicles, which they call kei cars. Applying the same treatment to the BMW i3 resulted in what the tuner calls BMW EVO i3.

The build is purely aesthetic, and I have a sneaky suspicion it will be a while until we see a performance tune for the i sub brand. Even so, the new look of the BMW i3 is just awesome. If there is one thing that stands out on the build it has to be the massive air intakes for a better flow for the… electric engine?

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The i3, while having a head start on the sportier hybrid, didn’t go over so great with the tuners.

It’s to be expected, as the smaller city car is just that, a small city car. While it does look a lot better than most other boxy competitors, it’s still quite ugly for a Bimmer, and so it was mostly ignored by tuners. Lumma Design seems to be a bit more fair for the two green models from BMW.

Recently they published a couple of renderings portraying what they have in mind to change on both the vehicles. The i8 wears matte black custom wheels, and a new front spoiler and side skirts were added. The smaller i3 displays the same level of alteration, with a set of 22 inch wheels and new front spoiler lip and side skirts. Whether this will make it on the kit Lumma Design is prepping remains to be seen.

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