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They have a cool logo and I'm all for further progress in this field and hope the best, but I have a feeling this is yet another ooh-shiny company lacking the a

They have a cool logo and I'm all for further progress in this field and hope the best, but I have a feeling this is yet another ooh-shiny company lacking the ability to really build something on the scale of what Tesla has done. The fact that the lead designer built the i3 doesn't bode well either.

chaostheory 11y ago
> The fact that the lead designer built the i3 doesn't bode well either. The i3 on your resume is better than nothing. At least some of their team members shipped something real.
schwabacher 11y ago
why doesn't that bode well?
- dmschulman 11y ago
  It's quite an ugly vehicle. http://www.bmw.com.au/_common/shared/newvehicles/i/i3/2013/showroom/at_a_glance/design.jpg http://www.bmw.com.au/_common/shared/newvehicles/i/i3/2013/s...
  - sjwright 11y ago
    On a recent trip to Norway I saw a lot of them on the road and I have concluded that the i3 looks a lot better in person (and in context) than in photographs. Photos, particularly staged press photos, seem to emphasize its odd shape and unusual lines. Conversely, I think the Model S looks a lot better in photographs than in person. I don't know why, brains are weird.
- lvs 11y ago
  Because the i3 was an abortive product in every way. It's hideous, the range is terrible (80 mi), the charge time is impractical (3h on a 220V and 10h on a 110V), and they wanted $45k for it.
  - ScottBurson 11y ago
    I have seen a few of them around Silicon Valley, FWIW. It doesn't really appeal to me either, but a few people are buying them.
  - rconti 11y ago
    It's a premium Leaf. It's hard for people to understand premium electric car, when electric = economy in many people's minds. The first time I drove an i3, I immediately got it -- "oh, it's a BMW. It's actually a nice place to be". The driving dynamics were great, and the design astoundingly useful and space-efficient. You really have to play with it in person to appreciate how much space there is and yet how compact the body is. People will pay extra for luxury cars that don't DO anything functionally different from a run-of-the-mill sedan. Why not pay more for electrics that don't do anything different from run-of-the-mill electrics?
  - arethuza 11y ago
    "It's hideous" I think they look quite nice, much nicer than they do in pics - not as nice as the drop-dead gorgeous i8 though!

chaostheory 11y ago

> The fact that the lead designer built the i3 doesn't bode well either. The i3 on your resume is better than nothing. At least some of their team members shipped something real.

schwabacher 11y ago

why doesn't that bode well?

dmschulman 11y ago
It's quite an ugly vehicle. http://www.bmw.com.au/_common/shared/newvehicles/i/i3/2013/showroom/at_a_glance/design.jpg http://www.bmw.com.au/_common/shared/newvehicles/i/i3/2013/s...
- sjwright 11y ago
  On a recent trip to Norway I saw a lot of them on the road and I have concluded that the i3 looks a lot better in person (and in context) than in photographs. Photos, particularly staged press photos, seem to emphasize its odd shape and unusual lines. Conversely, I think the Model S looks a lot better in photographs than in person. I don't know why, brains are weird.
lvs 11y ago
Because the i3 was an abortive product in every way. It's hideous, the range is terrible (80 mi), the charge time is impractical (3h on a 220V and 10h on a 110V), and they wanted $45k for it.
- ScottBurson 11y ago
  I have seen a few of them around Silicon Valley, FWIW. It doesn't really appeal to me either, but a few people are buying them.
- rconti 11y ago
  It's a premium Leaf. It's hard for people to understand premium electric car, when electric = economy in many people's minds. The first time I drove an i3, I immediately got it -- "oh, it's a BMW. It's actually a nice place to be". The driving dynamics were great, and the design astoundingly useful and space-efficient. You really have to play with it in person to appreciate how much space there is and yet how compact the body is. People will pay extra for luxury cars that don't DO anything functionally different from a run-of-the-mill sedan. Why not pay more for electrics that don't do anything different from run-of-the-mill electrics?
- arethuza 11y ago
  "It's hideous" I think they look quite nice, much nicer than they do in pics - not as nice as the drop-dead gorgeous i8 though!