Fast forward four years, the i3 is South Africa’s best-selling electric vehicle, well mostly because there aren’t many competitors out there, but it’s still noteworthy that BMW has, in many ways, pioneered the all-electric scene in South Africa with both products and infrastructure. There’s now an updated i3 as well as a slightly sportier i3s available, which both promise improved driving range. I had an opportunity to sample the updated model in Johannesburg recently.
The highest mileage i3 in Africa
Before we had an opportunity to learn more about the updated i3, we were introduced to Shaun Maidment, who purchased an i3 some three years ago and has racked-up over 200 000 km in the vehicle already as a result of using it for business and personal transportation. Listening to Mr Maidment speak, I could tell that he was totally converted to electric mobility. Some of his stories, such as his four-day trip to Cape Town in the car, the low cost of maintenance and recharging and the way that he has adapted his life to driving an electric car presented a polarising view of owning an EV locally.
The updated i3
The updated model now features a battery capacity of 120Ah, versus the 60Ah previously, which now provides a claimed range of 260 km versus the initial 130 km and, in 2016, the updated version with 200 km of range. This should prevent many of the potentially annoying aspects of electric car ownership that I surmised from listening to Mr Maidment’s experience. Other changes are mild to say the least with a new body colour accent option, a new interior colour option and adaptive LED headlights with matrix function. This i3 still looks very current, if you’ll pardon the pun, meaning that any drastic changes to the car could be seen as unnecessary.
The new i3 range
As before, the i3 comes with two options, a BEV, which is an all-electric version as well as a REx, which has a small two-cylinder petrol engine at the rear which acts as a generator to produce more electric power when the change runs low. The output has remained the same at 125 kW with 250 N.m of torque. This translates into a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 7.3 seconds and a top speed of 160 km/h. At the launch event, I had an opportunity to drive from Midrand to Pretoria North where we utilised a fast charger to top-up the vehicle and then drive back.
In our 40 km-or-so drive, the i3 used 11% of its battery reserve going to Zambesi Auto and a similar amount on the route back. This means that one could get around 250 km comfortably from a charge, making the i3 now far more impressive as a real-world mobility solution. BMW also introduced the i3s at the event, which features gloss bumper covers, black wheel wells, new 20-inch alloy wheels and a 40 millimetre-wider track. In addition to the cosmetic enhancements, the i3s, as its badge suggests, is a sportier take on BMW’s small electric car. With 135 kW and 270 N.m of torque, this model is claimed to be able to sprint to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds.
Infrastructure
At the recent Jaguar I-Pace launch, the brand announced that it would be investing, as BMW and Nissan continue to, in public charging infrastructure. However, at that event, there was a massive emphasis placed on charging your I-Pace at home which makes sense to me, transforming your vehicle into something that’s treated with the same charging procedure as your smartphone. BMW has the optional i Wallbox charger for home charging, but it’s the 58 Charge Now stations, some of which are shared with Nissan, as well as the five DC fast chargers at dealerships across the country that is the most encouraging.
Verdict
The updated i3 has improved upon what was a fantastic first attempt at electric mobility from the Bavarian brand while addressing the shortcomings of the earlier i3 models. While still in its infancy, electric mobility is certainly something that will increase in popularity locally and with BMW’s continued investment and support, the brand is well poised to capture its desired market share.
