Faltering BMW I3 Gets Bigger Battery, Better Range for 2019

Originally dubbed the “Mega City Vehicle,” BMW’s i3 garnered a lot of positive attention for its modern styling and adherence to alternative-energy powertrains when it launched in 2014. This did not translate into sales, however. As its former name implies, the i3 isn’t incredibly useful outside of an urban environment due to its meager range. Customers seem to have noticed. Despite moving 11,024 units in the United States in 2015, BMW looks to be on pace for half that volume this year.

For 2019, the automaker is offering the little EV with a new 42.2-kWh battery, which Bimmer says is good enough for 153 miles of all-electric driving. That’s a significant improvement over the the current 33-kWh model’s 115 miles of electric range and an absolute triumph over the i3’s initial 60 Ah (roughly 18.8 kWh) cell, which was only good for about 80 miles.

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  • Ras815 Tesla is going to make for one of those fantastic corporate case studies someday. They had it all, and all it took was an increasingly erratic CEO empowered to make a few terrible, unchallenged ideas to wreck it.
  • Dave Holzman Golden2husky remember you from well over decade ago in these comments. If I wanted to have a screen name that reflected my canine companionship, I'd be BorderCollie as of about five years go. Life is definitely better with dogs.
  • Dave Holzman You're right about that!
  • EBFlex It will have exactly zero effect
  • THX1136 What happened to the other companies that were going to build charging stations? Maybe I'm not remembering clearly OR maybe the money the government gave them hasn't been applied to building some at this point. Sincere question/no snark.