Global Crisis

Can the interior of a car be bigger then the exterior is? That seems to be the case when I talk to people that have seen and driven in the 2013 BMW i3. I'm not talking about the concept i3 that has been floating around for about 8 months now, I've had the opportunity to speak to people that have driven in a real one during testing.

Just a couple weeks ago I spoke to BMW board member Ian Robertson at the New York Auto Show. Ian was there to make a speech and introduce the new BMW lineup showcased at the show. Right before he was to go on stage for the speech, I just about bumped into him so I introduced myself and we spoke for a good ten minutes. After we spoke for a while he recognized me as the MINI-E pioneer that drove the most miles and he asked how I liked my ActiveE so far. He then told me he recently drove an i3 and promised I would not be disappointed. He sighted the life-drive architecture and floor mounted battery as being responsible for the great performance and the optimization of space in the passenger compartment, allowing the car to feel much larger than what it actually is. Ian isn't the only person I've heard that from either. Also, since the battery is mounted so low and is completely flat, the interior has no transmission tunnel at all and allows the floor to be flat straight across unlike any passenger car that I've ever seen. This, along with the 'bench style' front seats will allow the front passengers to enter or exit the car from either side with ease.

The i3 is also taller and wider than any other car in its class and will have a lot of glass(although not as much as the concept i3 that has glass doors and roof!) providing great outward vision in all directions. This also adds to the feeling of openness. So it seems smaller is bigger with the i3, I hope to get the opportunity to see first hand sometime soon!

Even though the i3 is only 8 inches longer than a MINI Cooper, the interior is much more spacious

High Gear Media just posted a video of the i3 in cold weather testing in the Arctic Circle. Looks pretty much the same as the last few spy photos we've seen so I'm guessing BMW has probably finished testing the 'mules' that weren't the final version and we'll probably see this same look from now on. It's pretty close to the concept so I'm sure it's going to look good once the fake lights and camouflage is removed. Here's the link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aApTbHi3Ss

Original i3 spy photo- Boxy look

Recent photo - Much more sleek

New spy photo's of the i3 clad in the usual blue swirly camouflage have surfaced on the internet. They clearly show a body that is more like the i3 concept BMW revealed in comparison to the early spy photos from last year. 

The production i3 will obviously lose the glass roof and doors that the concept i3 had however the overall shape seems mostly intact. The new photos also show the side wind diffusers similar(though not as pronounced) to the concept i3 on the lower side skirts between the wheels whereas the original i3 spy photos showed a straight line between the wheel wells.

One noticeable difference from the i3 concept is the smaller rear door. It's clear that the production i3's rear door ends short of the rear wheel well, while the concept's rear door extended to nearly halfway through the wheel well. The wheel wells are also smaller on the production i3 which is no surprise because most concept vehicles are shown with over sized wheels for a dramatic visual effect.





The rear looks very similar to the concept other than the fake rear lights meant to disguise the cars true look. It's also clear to see the "Stream Flow" signature trait that will be found on all the i cars. The sides of the cars will have two horizontal lines that sweep down the side of the car from the front to the rear where they converge into the C pillar. This streaming signature style is meant to represent streaks of air flowing down the side of the car while it is in a wind tunnel.

I'm happy to see the i3's progress is keeping with the concept as much as possible. Most people I talked to that saw the i3 in person liked what they saw but wondered if BMW would stray too far from the concept in in order to make the car affordable and practical. With the outside mostly in tack, the next questions are: Will they be able to pass the NHSTA crash testing without a B-pillar? and will BMW dare to use a bench seat for the front seats as the concept had? Hmmm.