Since its official launch a couple of days ago at a series of simultaneous events in New York, London and Beijing, the diminutive and all-electric BMW i3 has quickly become the talk of the town in the automotive world.
Introduced by the Bavarian manufacturer as “a revolutionary step towards sustainable mobility, that sets a new benchmark in all stages of development and production, as well as aftersales”, you know right away that this ambitious project comes with quite some content.
Besides, the i3 is BMW’s first pure electric series-produced model, so they surely put a lot of effort into it.
The German carmaker has released today the brand new videos (see the other one after the jump) starring its much-anticipated new model, which is powered by an electric drive-train that generates an output of 170 horsepower and as well as a torque of 250 Nm and is fed by a 22 kWh lithium-ion battery.
Sheer performance is obviously not the point here, but the rear-wheel drive BMW i3 can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 7.
2 seconds and hit a top speed of 150 km/h (93 mph).
More interestingly, on a single charge it can travel up to 130–160 km (81–99 miles), a figure that could go up to 300 km (180 miles) with the optional range extender, which is basically a two-cylinder petrol engine mounted next to the electric motor above the rear axle.
Almost 93,000 electric vehicles were registered worldwide last year, and forecasts say there will be another 150,000 sales in the current year.
Given that more than 90,000 people have already asked for a test drive with the i3, expect to see one of these little and silent BMWs crossing your path any time starting November 2013.