It is extremely heartbreaking to see BMW discontinue its little electric hatchback after nine years on the market given how great it was.
In 2011, as interest in electric vehicles increased, the BMW i3 was first unveiled as a concept car. The design was later evolved into a working model that was released for purchase in 2013 as a 2014 model. The BMW i3 has enjoyed considerable success since that time. The compact electric hatchback from BMW has sold over 250,000 units and was named the World Car Design and World Green Car of the Year winners at the 2014 World Car Awards.
Unfortunately, all wonderful things must eventually come to an end. BMW terminated the i3 in all markets in July 2022 after ceasing manufacturing for the US market in July 2021. The company cited consumer demand for larger-than-the-i3 electric automobiles as justification for the withdrawal. Another reason is that the manufacturer wants to move away from the i3’s distinctive appearance and produce electric vehicles with more traditional styling. The BMW i4 and BMW iX models are taking the place of the i3 as a result. We are sad to see the i3 depart, but there are other reasons as well.
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BMW will discontinue producing the i3 in July.
In July 2022, BMW will stop making the i3 in Leipzig. This is most likely due to the plant’s changeover to the production of upcoming electric vehicles.
According to a manufacturing representative quoted in the British magazine Autocar, production has come to an end. As a result, the information can be regarded as fact and not as conjecture. Oliver Zipse, the CEO of BMW, continued to say that the i3 would be produced in Leipzig through 2024 in December 2019. It was still believed at the time that the i3 will get another model update to make it marketable by 2024. An earlier end is now more plausible because such an update did not occur.
The i3’s now-apparently-early demise coincides with the Leipzig plant’s restructuring in the second half of 2022 in anticipation of the start of production of the new generation Mini Countryman, which, according to reports, will also be produced at the Leipzig BMW plant starting in 2023 with a pure electric drive. The production facilities for the Countryman will need to be rebuilt using BMW’s FAAR front-wheel drive architecture because the i3 is based on a stand-alone platform with an aluminum chassis and carbon fiber passenger cell.
Because the iX1 electric variant of the new X1 will debut later this year, the BMW i3 is also being phased out. Originally, a new production facility in Debrecen, Hungary, was going to be used to construct the iX1. It will now be manufactured at the BMW facility in Regensburg until 2024 as a result of construction delays, according to Autocar. Despite being around 40 centimeters longer than the i3, the interior space of the iX1 is comparable to that of the i3 thanks to its combustion engine base. Because of this, and despite the iX1’s unusual body concept, BMW intends to present it as a sort of successor.
In October 2021, the i3, which was introduced in 2013, has reached 200,000 units produced. BMW anticipates producing 250,000 copies of the i3 by the time it is retired in July 2022. The 2018 battery update to 42.2 kWh gross resulted in a steady rise in the number of i3 registrations. The nine-year-old model still registered 12,178 new vehicles in Germany in 2021, placing it 10th among all electric vehicles, ahead of the Opel Corsa-e, Audi e-tron, and Hyundai Ioniq 5.
The fate of the BMW i3 had already been the subject of numerous rumors. In response to rumors concerning the model’s future at the end of 2019, Zipse has indicated, as previously reported, that production of the i3 would “continue beyond 2024.” Then, in June 2021, it was made public that BMW intended to stop selling the i3 in the US as early as July 2022, which is the current confirmed end-of-production date for the model. In terms of naming, the demise of the i3 is also intriguing: A completely electric BMW 3 Series will be introduced in China, and it may carry the i3 moniker.
The final BMW i3 electric vehicles have been delivered.
BMW i3 is no longer available. The final 18 examples of BMW’s first electric vehicle were delivered a few days ago. After producing almost 250,000 BMW i3s in Leipzig, the company stopped making the electric pioneer at the end of June.
Galvanic Gold Metallic i3 vehicles make up the final 18 vehicles that were delivered at the BMW Welt in Munich. “The BMW Welt has long been a hub for interaction and invention. Therefore, it was more than appropriate that the impulsive BMW i3 received a brilliant and respectful send-off for its final delivery “the manufacturer says.
BMW has identified a direct substitute for the i3 model name while the four-meter-long electric car with its distinctive carbon-fibre shell is being decommissioned without a replacement. The BMW i3 eDrive 35L has been leaving the production line at the new Lydia facility in Shenyang, China, since mid-May, when the i3 was still running in Leipzig. Despite the nomenclature being identical, the electric automobile based on the BMW 3 Series is completely different from the European i3.
The BMW i3 has sold in 74 countries since it first went on sale in 2013. The i3’s registration numbers rapidly grew with the second battery update in 2018 to 42.2 kWh gross. The nine-year-old model still registered 12,178 new vehicles in Germany in 2021, placing it 10th among all electric vehicles, ahead of the Opel Corsa-e, Audi e-tron, and Hyundai Ioniq 5. According to the German automaker, the series passed the 250,000 unit mark in 2022, ranking it among the most popular electric vehicles globally in the premium compact sector.
BMW has not yet introduced a predecessor in the market or, it would seem, has transferred this responsibility to its subsidiary Mini. The BMW i3 was supposed to be discontinued in 2024 according to earlier reports from 2019, but we only learned about it in January. The i3’s early demise coincides with the Leipzig plant’s restructuring in preparation for the commencement of production of the new generation Mini Countryman. The new EV, built on BMW’s FAAR front-wheel drive architecture, will debut in Leipzig in 2023.
According to reports, Mini won’t introduce a new model with an internal combustion engine option again until 2025. Only all-electric vehicles will then be released, making Mini an all-EV brand by 2030.
BMW, however, still seems unsure. The new class, or Neue Klasse as the German automaker refers to its next-generation cars, will include a new 3-series model, but how it will look and how it will drive are still up in the air.
One could argue that it would be wonderful to see some of the innovative souls from the BMW i3 return as soon as possible.
After eight years, manufacture of the BMW i3 electric city car comes to an end.
The final BMW i3 electric vehicle has rolled off the assembly line; it will be replaced indirectly by a much more traditional compact electric SUV.
After almost nine years of production, the BMW i3 city car is no longer available, bringing an end to one of the first mass-produced luxury electric cars.
Nearly nine years after manufacturing of the eccentric i3 hatch began in September 2013, the final examples of the vehicle rolled off the assembly line at BMW’s Leipzig plant at the end of June, just days after the 250,000th vehicle was constructed.
Ten i3 HomeRun Edition models were made to commemorate the conclusion of manufacturing. These models were distinguishable by Frozen Dark Grey or Frozen Dark Red II paint, as well as, according to official images, special front grille inserts.
The i3 was BMW’s first contemporary electric vehicle when it was introduced in 2013 and was supported by a custom platform built around a body shell made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic and a “skateboard” battery under the floor.
The electric version of the BMW i3 was debuted with a 60 amp-hour (or 18.3 kilowatt-hour, kWh) battery paired to a 125kW rear electric motor, with a stated range of 190 kilometers. It was developed alongside the hybrid i8 sports car as part of BMW’s “Project i.”
Priced from $63,900 plus on-road expenses when it was introduced in Australia in late 2014, it ranked third among small hatchbacks for sale in terms of price, after the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG and the BMW M135i hot hatchbacks.
For $69,900, the i3 ‘REx’ range-extender, which added a little 647cc two-cylinder motorbike engine for when the battery runs out and increased total driving range approaching 250km, was available alongside the pure EV for customers who needed extra range.
Sales of the BMW i3 peaked in Australia in 2015 with 150 sales, then fell off in 2016 and had their second-best performance in 2017 with 118 vehicles, which coincided with a battery update to 27kWh (94Ah), increasing the EV’s stated range to 300km on a charge (a lenient measurement).
The faster i3s variant was debuted in 2018 thanks to a stylistic upgrade. It has greater power, a lower sports suspension, and wider (and one-inch larger) wheels. In 2019, a larger-still 38kWh battery emerged with a stated range of 330 km (or 250km in the real world).
The range-extender REx and ordinary i3 electric models had been discontinued by the time the i3’s production in Australia came to an end, leaving just the i3s EV, which started at $71,900 plus applicable taxes.
BMW’s entry into electric vehicles began with the i3, but the corporation is currently in the second phase with the i4, iX3, and iX electric vehicles, as well as the planned i7, i5, and iX1 models.
The ‘Neue Klasse’ electric-only architecture, which will support the replacement for the current 3 Series sedan and wagon as well as the following iX3 midsize SUV, will make its debut in 2025 as the third phase.
Sales of the BMW i3 weren’t too bad.
Forbes points out that despite the BMW i3 still being phased out, the i3s sales have climbed every year. From 2014 to 2016, it was the third most popular electric car in the world, and by 2020, it had sold around 40,000 cars. Even yet, the i3 received honors including World Car Design of the Year. In 2014, it was also named the World Green Car of the Year.
When creating its first electric vehicle, BMW experimented with various ideas. They are now able to see a future for BMW that is powered by electricity. The fully electric BMW iX and BMW i4 Gran Coupe, both of which will be available in the US early next year, are the first examples of BMW’s next generation of electric vehicles. According to a statement from BMW, “the success of the BMW i3 and the experience gained in developing and manufacturing it have laid the groundwork for the next generation of BMW electric vehicles.”
BMW will shortly stop producing its i3 electric hatchback, blaming declining sales for the decision.
The 2013 BMW i3 is the company’s first electric vehicle.
The range of the BMW i3 is 130 to 160 kilometers on a single charge.
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The first BMW I vehicle in series production, the i3, is reportedly going out of production later this year. According to a report by Autocar, a BMW representative said the last i3 will come off the assembly line in July.
The model’s US trim was discontinued last year because to declining sales, but the EV has been quite popular in Europe since up until the epidemic, sales figures showed rising demand.
What does the BMW i3’s future hold?
The rear-wheel-drive i3, the centerpiece of BMW’s electric vehicle program, was initially available with a single electric drivetrain or a range extender (REx) drivetrain, which combines a 647cc two-cylinder petrol motorcycle engine and an electric motor. It generated a maximum power of 168 horsepower in both instances and utilized a 22.2 kWh lithium ion battery.
The battery capacity was then increased in 2017 to 33.3kWh. The i3 S, a performance model with wider tracks and 181 horsepower, was added to the lineup that same year.
In October 2021, BMW said i3 production had topped 200,000 units. Officials anticipate that it will have sold more than 250,000 units by the time production ends in July 2022.
The Mini Electric or the future BMW iX1 will ideally fulfill today’s customers who seek a fully electric city car that is tailored for urban driving or a small but roomy vehicle for an active lifestyle. These vehicles will encourage more people to switch to all-electric driving.
“Therefore, the decision has been made to stop BMW i3 production from summer 2022,” reads the statement. “After a decade of establishing the standard in its class and paving the path for today’s generation of electric automobiles.”