News
Gallery 1
THE BMW i3 will soon be as upgradeable as a laptop computer, with the German carmaker announcing overnight that it will allow existing owners to swap out their old battery for a new one that increases the car’s range.
Due in Australia late this year, BMW says it will allow existing owner of both the fully electric i3 and the range-extended i3 REx – whose cars can only travel up to 190km on battery power alone – to come into the workshop and swap their battery pack over for the same-sized new one that packs more energy into the same space.
The all-electric winner of the 2014 Wheels Car of the Year has achieved a near 50 per cent range upgrade by way of a new 94Ah battery. The 94Ah-battery powered i3 will see a more comfortable 300km per charge; a big jump from its previous 190km range.
As well as retrofitting older i3s with the new battery, BMW is also offering a more-powerful 11kW wall-mounted charging station that can recharge the i3 in three hours, compared with more than eight hours if recharged via a household plug.
The new car retains its rear-mounted electric motor capable of 125kW of power and 250Nm of torque but due to the battery upgrade, weighs 50kg more. The 94Ah i3 sprints from 0-100km/h in 7.3 seconds; that’s 0.1 seconds slower than the 60Ah variant. When pushed, both models will hit 150km/h.
The i3 utilises its air-conditioning system to cool the batteries. An optional heating system ensure the batteries are at operating temperatures before starting off.
The new big-batteried i3 will also offer the same metallic blue paint as used on the BMW i8 hybrid sports car.
BMW will add an extra Dark Oak trim to the three existing interior designs. It will also offer a “Driving Assistant Plus” package that adds camera-based cruise control that also acts as a traffic jam assistant, speed limit recognition, pedestrian and collision warning with city brake function, and a proactive driving assistant.
Tesla has also pioneered the idea of tweaking its cars remotely, rolling out software changes that add more functionality to its Model S hatchback or Model X people-mover, or switching on hardware added to the vehicles that was not ready to roll out when the vehicle was bought.
Nissan Australia revealed last week that its Dandenong-based alloy casting arm was prototyping parts for the next-generation Leaf ahead of full-scale production later this year.
BMW’s switch to a split battery offering is a sales model pioneered by Tesla, which offers its Model S in a number of battery and motor configurations that become cheaper if you’re prepared to live with less range.
