2020 BMW i3s 120Ah review
The BMW i3s is a groundbreaker and a rulebreaker but not a sales maker.
The BMW i3 will forever hold an important place in the modern rejuvenation of battery electric vehicles.
Okay, it has proved too bold, too radical, too compromised and too expensive for mass acceptance.
Ultimately it has proved too much for BMW as well, which will not directly replace the i3 and instead has opted to go down amore orthodox BEV route in the future.
Introduced in 2018, the i3s is an attempt to inject more sportiness into a fascinating bit of kit.
Value
No, the i3s – or the standard i3 for that matter – doesn’t qualify as good value, not even if you’re comparing it against other BEVs let alone the wider competition offered by compact cars from the fossil fuel world.
The i3s will set you back $69,900 plus on-road costs while the standard version is $68,700.
When you consider a base model Tesla Model3 is $66,000 and offers far more … well … everything except kookiness, then you can see the challenge.
The attraction of the i3s is in stuff like its aluminium chassis, carbon-fibre-reinforced-plastic passenger cell, plastic body panels, rear-mounted motor, suicide rear doors, recycled trims and unique style.
It’s radical, it’s as if BMW went to the ideas cupboard and emptied it all out into the i3 project.
Standard comfort equipment includes single-zone air-con, sat-nav, Apple CarPlay, one USB connection and a three-year subscription to BMW’s ConnectDrive services. Yep, not exactly drowning in stuff.
The i3s comes with a three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty, on-demand servicing and a selection of prepaid service plans
Inside
The i3s only seats four people but it at least hands them plenty of room. And access is exquisitely easy thanks to the flat floor, absence of a B-pillar and those poorly-named doors (BMW refers to them as coach doors). However, even in this positive there is a twist, as the front doors have to be opened before you can release the rears and get in or out.
The driver’s seating position is excellent, sitting high and handsome looking out over the furry recycled dash to the outside world. A massive glass area makes the cabin feel incredibly open.
Figure out how the steering column-mounted drive selector works and you’re on your way … about five minutes later.
There are two information screens mounted on the dash, one acting as instrument panel in front of the driver and the other 10.25-inch unit slap bang in the centre.
Storage is nothing special in the cabin or the small 260 litre boot.
Performance and efficiency
The i3s is powered by a 135kW/270Nm hybrid synchronous motor fuelled by a 42kWh Li-ion battery (38kWh usable). The motor performance is10kW and 20Nm up on the standard i3. Battery size is the same.
BMW actually incorporates a different form of battery measurement in the i3’s name by adding on ‘120Ah’. Ah means Amp hours, which is a measure of charge. The i3’s battery used to be 90Ah, so the new version delivers more charge to the motor in an hour than the old one could.
BMW claims a 260km real-world range, although the green vehicle guide is more optimistic at 329km.
In reality the i3 is a 200km-plus performer, so well shy of the leading lights in the BEV world these days.
It’s acceleration is typical of BEVs, being zippy off the line with a 6.9 sec 0-100km/h claim. It’s also got decent torque – up to double the i3 in different parts of the rev range – so it really is quite flexible and responsive.
Charging
The i3s comes with the Type 2 CCS socket and charging capabilities of up to 7.4kW on single phase AC power or 11kW on three-phase AC using a wallbox and 50kW using DC fast charging.
Plug into standard wall socket and max charging rate is a mere 1.8kW. That takes 15 hours to reach 80 per cent battery charge from zero, the most efficient wallbox three hours 10 minutes and a 50kW fast charger 45 minutes.
Brake energy regeneration helps adds electricity to the battery on the move and also allows you to play the ‘look no feet on the brake pedal’ game as you roll up to red lights.
Ride and handling
BMW has tricked up the i3s with sports suspension, a 10mm ride height drop, 40mm wider track and wider 20-inch rubber, so it rides firmer and sits flatter than the standard i3. These updates are accompanied by some subtle styling tricks such as wheel arch extension and dual-colour paint that add character compared to the standard i3.
A Sport mode sharpens the steering and throttle and frees up traction and stability control a little, but don’t expect to see too many i3s’ drifting about the place.
With its low centre of gravity courtesy of the battery placement along the floor’s spine, the i3s handles well. It is dartier than the standard i3, making it even better for the cut and thrust of the city rather than an obvious choice for a winding mountain road or racetrack session.
On the downside, the turning circle grows to 10.31m in the i3s, from 9.86m in the standard car.
X-factor
BMW claims more than 80 per cent of the visible interior surfaces are made from recycled materials or renewable resources.
Energy required in the manufacturing process is generated 100 per cent from renewable sources.
Range extender versions of the i3 used to be sold in Australia fitted with a small twin-cylinder petrol engine. But they have now been dropped and only BEVs are offered.
Safety
In terms of safety gear the i3s includes six airbags and driver assistants such as low speed autonomous emergency braking and active cruise control. LED headlights and a parking assistant are also standard.
The i3 gets a five-star ANCAP crash rating, but that dates all the way back to 2014. It’s almost irrelevant now.
Verdict
The BMW i3s is a 10-year old vision of what BEVs were going to be like in 2020. Buh-bow.
That doesn’t make several aspects of it very appealing, but its high price, average performance and upcoming orphan status make it difficult to recommend.
BMW i3S 120AH SPECIFICATIONS
Price: $69,900 (plus on-road costs)
EV type: BEV
Motor: 135kW/270Nm hybrid synchronous electric
Transmission: Single speed Reduction gear
Electricity use: 13.7kWh/100km
Charger types: CCS Type 2
Battery capacity: 38kWh (usable )
Maximum charging power AC/DC: 11kW/50kW
0-100km/h: 6.9 seconds
Top speed: 160km/h
