At this moment, electric cars are still a specialty.
You could choose to hide the thriving technology in a tamed design.
On the other hand, you could choose to attract a lot of attention.
BMW has chosen for the latter with their i3.
The design of that car is quite progressive, with that aluminium chassis, the carbon-fibre reinforced passenger cell,
it's quite a special car, and it looks the part.
Producing 170 horsepower, it's quick as well.
If that's still not enough, there's good news for you.
Not only has the i3 been facelifted, a sporty version has appeared as well.
The BMW i3s.
It's good there's a new sporty version coming. Other changes are quite clear.
A new front- and rear bumper, LED-indicators, and some small exterior changes.
Also, the logo's on the rear have been positioned more to the outside, so it looks wider.
You can put the ESP in Sports Mode now, so actually there aren't a lot of changes.
That's because the i3 has already received a technical update, in which it received a new 33 kWh-battery pack,
which gave it a bigger range. It was meant as a supportive option for the 22 kWh-package,
but that latter has now been removed from the line up. From now on, it's always 33 kWh.
So, the i3s. A sports version according to the old school recipe.
A lower sports chassis, which puts it one centimetre closer to the tarmac.
It's got stiffer dampers, stiffer stabilizers, wider tires, it's been widened as well.
So it's really an old school recipe.
Slightly more power as well.
Only, in practice... It doesn't really convince me.
True, it's a tad tighter on the road, only the normal i3 is so cleverly designed,
it drives in a way above expectation.
That's because of the usage of carbon, aluminium, and other natural materials.
So it isn't too heavy, only 1200 kg.
Also, most of the mass is low in the car, so it drives quite well already.
This indeed is a bit sharper to steer, but it isn't a shocking difference.
Also, the comfort is a bit compromised. Even when you're driving on roads that aren't really bad or anything,
there's always unrest in the chassis. If you're driving on worse roads, you'll be going like this...
Of that. The normal i3 is actually a better car to drive.
In a normal way that is. That's also because if you're going to push,
it's not incredibly better or anything. The tires are wider, but they're only 195 mm,
and that's not incredibly wide. Also, they're Bridgestone Ecopia's.
And that brings us to the problem. The i3s is quite a paradoxal car,
it's almost like a healthy cigarette.
The interests conflict with each other. In a sports car, you want as much resistance,
because you want more grip and more traction, so you'll be able to go quicker in corners.
But in an electric car, you want as less resistance as possible,
so you'll get more range. That's why it's got Ecopia-tires.
So, eventually you'll get a compromised car. If you use the Sports Mode,
you'll get 200 km. Which is enough for the Netherlands, but it's not enough to go flatout without a care.
I've been alternating between two driving styles; Eco Pro, Sport, going faster, going slower...
If you do that, you'll only have 170 kilometres to drive.
I think it's an interesting experiment, and there's a lot of potention for an electrically powered sporty version,
but in this form... It's just too much compromise.
Everything put together, it's quite an interesting version, this i3s.
It's not a very accomplished car to be honest, especially because it's costs quite a lot more.
It'll set you back an extra €3600. The i3 isn't cheap to begin with,
the standard version without range extender and without S, already costs €39.549,
there are competitors which have a bigger range, or are cheaper, or even both.
It doesn't mean that the base principle is very interesting. The i3s is quick, quiet and it's quite a refined choice within the electric segment.
This BMW i3s however... It's new, but it's not the one you'd want.