BMW I3 looks like a VERY important milestone [View all]

[BlueStreak]

It could become as important a milestone as the original Prius.

What is it? It is basically a Chevy Volt in more of a minicar package with all the right numbers. It is either EV-only or serial hybrid, with a small 2-cylinder engine extending the range. The key is that the battery-only range is 80-100 miles on a charge. That is huge. That pushed the vehicle right into the sweet spot where most people could use it daily and rarely have to fire up the gas engine.

So it goes way beyond the Volt in the battery-only power. It is in the range of the Leaf, but has the gas engine option to eliminate any range anxiety issues. And the price, I believe, will be substantially below the Volt.

It is a small vehicle, but doesn't appear to be ridiculously tiny, like the "Smart". Looks to me like it is bigger than a Fiat 500 or Mini Cooper.

I'm not saying that BMW will sell 20 million of these things, but I believe this is the way forward for the next 10-15 years -- basically the Volt concept, but within the requirements and budgets of the mass market. This is what car makers should be going for in the near term. Longer term, fuel cells might make sense. But really, with an 80-mile battery range, this thing will use so little gasoline (with the lifestyles of most people) it is a solution that could be very good for the next 25 years. In other words, it will have a lot more impact to get millions of cars that use very little gas versus getting a few hundred thousand cars that don't use any gas at all.

Basically, this looks like the first really practical EV for the broad market.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car-manufacturers/bmw/10208797/BMW-i3-revealed.html