BMW is making some upgrades to its i3 electric car. The range is the most important factor for an electric car and that’s one of the areas where BMW has focused on the 2017 model, which comes with a bigger battery and thus with more range. The bigger battery is set to increase the i3’s range from 80 miles to 114 miles.
The range increase has been made possible by a 50 percent increase in battery capacity. Denser lithium ion batteries enable the i3 to upgrade from 22 kWh to 33 kWh without having to make room for physically bigger battery packs.
BMW has also slightly increased the fuel tank on the Range Extender model of the i3 which comes with a 650cc two-cylinder petrol engine which doesn’t drive the wheels, it’s used to charge the batteries on longer journeys to ensure that drivers are not stranded once their car runs out of juice. The fuel capacity has been increased from 1.9 to 2.4 gallons.
The German car maker is yet to confirm what the combined range of the i3 is going to be when you take into account the additional fuel capacity and better range. The previous model could go for 150 miles on a full tank and full charge.
BMW fans will appreciate that the company has finally decided to offer the new i3 model in Protonic Blue color in the U.S. which was previously available only on the BMW i8.