5 ms·

BMW's New Electric Car Is Just Like a Tesla, Only Much, Much Worse

16 points by nealabq 13y ago

scrrr 13y ago
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.
Uchikoma 13y ago
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.
- bradleyland 13y ago
  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.
mtgx 13y ago
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.
- sschueller 13y ago
  What about Mercedes? The 2014 Electric SLS (http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2014-mercedes-benz-sls-amg-electric-drive-photos-and-info-news http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2014-mercedes-benz-sls-amg-...) looks identical to the Petrol version.
clicks 13y ago
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.
- w0utert 13y ago
  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.
  - bebna 13y ago
    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.
philhippus 13y ago
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.
- chiph 13y ago
  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.
  - philhippus 13y ago
    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.
acd 13y ago
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.
- tocomment 13y ago
  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)
- robmcm 13y ago
  Hopefully by the time you need to replace it, they will be much more cost effective. Bit of a gamble though...
prawks 13y ago
Was really hoping for an electric successor to the 3 series, so disappointed in the form factor.

16 points by nealabq 13y ago

scrrr 13y ago

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.

Uchikoma 13y ago

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.

bradleyland 13y ago
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.

mtgx 13y ago

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.

sschueller 13y ago
What about Mercedes? The 2014 Electric SLS (http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2014-mercedes-benz-sls-amg-electric-drive-photos-and-info-news http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2014-mercedes-benz-sls-amg-...) looks identical to the Petrol version.

clicks 13y ago

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.

w0utert 13y ago
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.
- bebna 13y ago
  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.

philhippus 13y ago

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.

chiph 13y ago
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.
- philhippus 13y ago
  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.

acd 13y ago

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.

tocomment 13y ago
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)
robmcm 13y ago
Hopefully by the time you need to replace it, they will be much more cost effective. Bit of a gamble though...

prawks 13y ago

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