2022/23 BMW i3: electric 3 series…
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While the BMW i3 design was not for everyone (and was not intended to be), I really liked it. I felt it was a breath of futuristic fresh air in a sea of increasingly boring BMW designs.
And a very nice driving car.
Recently BMW did a 180 with their “i” series of electric cars. We just saw the new i4 which is an electric version of the 4 series.
And now this. What they call the new i3 is just an EV version of the 3-year-old 3 series sedan.
So visually, not a thing new at all.
I guess BMW will not have the problem of 2 parallel lineups anymore. Like VW with their ID models. Volvo with Polestar. Or even Hyundai and Kia with Ioniq and “EV”. Since in a few years everything will be electric, these sub-brands will be irrelevant.
BMW won’t have that problem since their “i” cars are just electric versions of their regular models.
Or maybe they just want to cater to the super conservative crowd. People who really don’t want anyone to know they are driving an electric car.
Or the “anti-Tesla”…
Or maybe the designers just gave up? Or the suits told them to?
Who knows…
Given the current direction of BMW styling, it's a good thing they've done as little as possible with this car.
It's modern, quite good-looking and generally anonymous. It'll be bought by people who have heard that cars are all going electric, but don't want to drive a spaceship or a suppository.
Looks good. Glad it doesn't have the giant disgusting grill from the iX or XM.