
BMW's New Electric Car Is Just Like a Tesla, Only Much, Much Worse - nealabq
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/07/29/bmw_i3_review_electric_car_is_a_cheap_ugly_tesla_model_s_with_an_suv_on.html
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scrrr
First of all, it has a shorter range, accelerates not as quickly as a car in
another category and the looks don't appeal to the author. What else is "much
much worse"?

Secondly:

"All I can say for now is, let's hope it drives better than it looks."

Exactly, you haven't even driven it. This article is a waste of time.

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clicks
What a lousy hitjob.

Offering loan backup vehicles, a backup gas tank, etc. are not necessarily
"shortcomings" or "apologies", they're things to make the vehicle a little
more affordable and a little more practical. They're things that're needed to
soften the transition to greater EV adoption.

If these things are apologies, Tesla made a really really big apology by
pricing its first vehicle (the Roadster) way, way outside even the moderately
rich class's price range.

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w0utert
Yeah, wake me up when Tesla builds an EV that's within a affordable price
range for someone like myself, making about twice the median income and still
nowhere near being able to buy myself a $70K car (which would be over 70K Euro
where I live).

As much as I like the Model S for its design and performance, I wouldn't bet
on Tesla taking over any meaningful market share from the big manufacturers
anytime soon. Tesla built something beautiful, but it's so far out of reach
for such a large majority of people, I can't make more of it than a very nice
curiosity.

I have a better comparison: suppose I had $70K to blow on a new car, the price
of the base Tesla S, the least expensive version available, I could by myself
a petrol-based car that would be miles ahead of the Tesla S in about every way
imaginable except environmental impact.

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bebna
If you could live with two, you could split the 70k and buy one of those ev
variants of an British sports car and a modern german coupe from one of their
fuel saving lines. Which would probably result in a better env. impact then
going with the tesla s.

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Uchikoma
Not that I want to endorse BMWs car, but the author creates the argument that
BMW intends this as a Tesla S rival, then knocks it down. Not sure BMW
considers this a Tesla S rival, especially with a $40k vs. $70k (nearly twice
the price) price tag. So the story is more about the journalists view on the
world than anything else.

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bradleyland
Yeah, this entire article was a real groaner.

The author asks the question, "How does the i3 compare to the Tesla S?" That's
the least relevant question I can think of in this context. The i3 is the
furthest thing from a Model S that you can find. One is a compact "city car",
while the other is a premium sports saloon.

A much more interesting question is, why did BMW choose to avoid the Model S
altogether? BMW's opening salvo from their "i" program is a compact city car
(i3) and an ultra-coupe (i8). Where's the i equivalent of the 5-series. Why
attach the 3 moniker to their city car instead of saving it for a yuppie-
accessible sedan?

The entire alignment of the i program has created a lot of questions for me as
a BMW enthusiast. I appreciate what the i3 is, and there is some incredible
technology therein (CFRP anyone?), but I cannot figure out why BMW chose to
release a Leaf/Volt competitor (in form factor, not in price), rather than
something that slides in just beneath the Model S.

Imagine the i design aesthetic applied to a car that is more along the lines
of a 3-series in proportion and size; a smaller i8 with 4-doors and a little
less rakish profile. Combine that with the jaw dropping interior design found
in the i3, and you'd have the car that most of us who grew up drooling over
early-90's concept cars would line up to buy. Instead, BMW has built a car
that appears to target a very limited number of metropolitan markets. I just
don't get it.

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mtgx
I think BMW and pretty much everyone else besides Tesla still sees electric
cars as something "weird", and designs them accordingly, like they were some
kind of "concept products", instead of products meant for the mainstream
market, that also happen to be beautiful, like what Tesla is trying to
achieve.

Everything about this car screams that it was designed for a niche of electric
car "weirdos", and not for regular people that may prefer electric vehicles
over gas-powered ones.

The fact that they're also making available a regular engine that can be
installed along the electric one also shows what BMW thinks about electric
cars.

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sschueller
What about Mercedes? The 2014 Electric SLS
([http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2014-mercedes-benz-sls-
amg-...](http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2014-mercedes-benz-sls-amg-electric-
drive-photos-and-info-news)) looks identical to the Petrol version.

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acd
When electric cars will have batteries that last 10000 charge cycles I will
buy one. Right now the cost of the battery vs the car price is too high and
the battery needs replacement after 10 years which will ruin the used car
price.

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tocomment
Yeah, but try to factor in the cost of ownership too. If you drive a lot you
might save the entire price of the car in just a few years. Then any used car
value is pure bonus.

(At least for a cheap EV)

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philhippus
The styling, while not the best BMW have come up with, seems to be consistent
with their current direction. It certainly is not as ugly as the Pontiac Aztec
to which the author equates it, IMHO.

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chiph
I won't hit it with the Aztek stick (nobody deserves that), but I do see a
resemblance to the Scion iQ. But .. what's up with that beltline? It's got
curves like the Enron stock price.

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philhippus
Agreed about the Scion iQ, but that design isn't _terrible_. Having watched
the BMW's promo video (which shows it in its best light), the car doesn't look
out of place on today's roads and appears quite practical for a "typical"
suburban lifestyle.

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prawks
Was really hoping for an electric successor to the 3 series, so disappointed
in the form factor.

