You may not know that if you talk about the sales of "BBA" new energy models, BMW is the brand that is most in line with the current era. The sales of its new energy models can be described as "far ahead". As of November 2023, BMW has sold nearly 90,000 NEV models. Among them, the highest-selling model is the BMW i3, which sold 4760,000 units, the sales of one car are already about to catch up with the sum of Mercedes-Benz and Audi's new energy vehicles throughout the year. So in the case that everyone's brands are similar and the discounts are also very powerful, why can BMW i3 achieve such proud sales, let's try it!
In 2019, the new domestic 3 series codenamed G28 was launched, in order to meet the needs of domestic users for comfort, this generation of 3 series canceled the rear anti-roll bar, and adjusted the suspension to be very soft, driving quite a "big ship" feeling, not at all the original 3 series of sharpness. Although such a change has been recognized by the majority of consumers, it is inevitable that it will be a pity for ** and car fans. However, the overall tuning of the i3, which is on the same platform as the BMW 3 Series, is not so extreme, and the sporty taste of daily driving is obviously stronger than that of the gasoline 3 Series. 
Although the two models are on the same platform, the i3 does not use coil springs as a buffer medium like the 3 Series, but instead uses air springs on the rear axle that are not sensitive to body weight, so as to balance the impact of the extra weight of the underbody battery on the handling. The addition of air suspension, as well as an additional weight of more than 400 kilograms, naturally also makes the i3 and 3 series present a completely different suspension feeling. For example, in the front overhang, the i3 is noticeably stiffer than the 3 Series, and the vibration handling is sharper and crisper when it comes through bumps. The rear axle with air suspension is a little different from the front axle, sitting in the driver's seat will feel that the rear suspension of the i3 is softer than the front suspension, but it still maintains a crisp and neat shock absorption ability to avoid too much difference in suspension between the front and rear axles, bringing a sense of **. So in the end, I even think the i3's suspension tuning is sportier than the petrol version of the 3 Series. 
In order to meet stringent fuel consumption regulations, the petrol version of the 3 Series significantly reduces the speed of the reverse injection point, allowing the engine to stop injecting fuel during deceleration and coast for a longer period of time, thereby reducing fuel consumption. However, such calibration will also make the vehicle have an obvious sense of drag when coasting at low speed, which will affect the smoothness. As a pure electric vehicle, i3, due to the absence of an engine and gearbox, has a natural ride advantage compared with fuel vehicles, which not only greatly reduces the difficulty of manufacturers to build cars, but also reduces a lot of space when writing car reviews. But that doesn't mean that there really isn't any room for tuning in terms of power delivery for BEVs. 
One of the most notable is the matching between the accelerator pedal and the power release. In Eco Pro and Comfort mode, the BMW i3's accelerator pedal is very lazy, and it doesn't feel like it's an electric car with the same power level as the BMW 340i. In this case, the kinetic energy of the vehicle is not very strong. Even in the higher speed range, the kinetic energy ** force in D-gear mode is at most the feeling of braking with a gearbox in today's low-viscosity oil gasoline vehicles, and you can feel that the slowdown is faster than pure coasting, but at most it plays a role in controlling the speed of the car. 
In addition to the traditional D-gear mode, the BMW i3 also offers a B-gear with forced high kinetic energy**, which is usually a one-pedal mode. When the car is engaged in B gear, the Auto Hold function is automatically turned on and the vehicle can be completely braked with strong kinetic energy**. Of course, if you want to keep idle creep in B mode, you can do so by turning off Auto Hold. 
But these are not the key, after all, most new energy vehicles now have strong kinetic energy ** function. What really surprised me was the level of tuning in the B gear. In order to improve the smoothness of user driving, the kinetic energy of many car companies has a certain delay. However, in order to retain the "heel nature" of the vehicle, BMW did not design any kinetic energy ** delay strategy, but improved the delicacy of kinetic energy ** through its own heavier accelerator pedal. In this way, most people can quickly adapt to its B-gear setting, as long as a little attention is paid and gradually becomes a habit, there will be no "online car-hailing" kind of forward and backward situation. It's just that the maximum deceleration of BMW i3 B gear is not as strong as Tesla's, but the sensitive response speed and accurate ** force control can cope with 90% of road conditions, which greatly liberates the fatigue caused by moving back and forth on the right foot. 
The recent energy consumption test can be described as controversial, but the "Carrot Report" still adheres to the fair and objective way to present it to everyone. The models we tested were the i3 eDrive 40 L model with 340 hp single-motor rear-wheel drive, and the CATL 7905kWh ternary lithium battery, official CLTC range of 592km. On the day of the test, Beijing ushered in the first snow of the year, the outdoor temperature dropped to -3, I set the air conditioner to 24 automatic mode, and drove a total of 39 from the cold car start4km, 49 minutes, average speed 48kmh, the final energy consumption of the BMW i3 is 193kwh/100km。Taking into account the temperature, air conditioning and the efficiency of the excitation motor of the BMW i3, this energy consumption is already relatively good, even lower than the NIO ET5, which is in the same road condition but warmer. If calculated according to the battery, in Beijing with low temperature and snow, the actual pure electric range of the i3 should be about 350km. 
Since we are talking about sport, we have to talk about the sportiness of the BMW i3. However, it is a pity that during the week of driving the i3, it has been snowing in Beijing, and the plan to go to the mountain road to split the bend has been completely ruined, so the real extreme driving part can only be directly omitted in this test drive. However, for a rear-wheel drive car, it is natural to have some fun on a snowy day, and the first thing is to turn off its ESP. 
In terms of configuration, the BMW i3 has the same two-speed ESP switch as the 3 Series, one of which is similar to the traction mode that only turns off the TC (traction control), and the other is the DSC OFF mode that turns off the ESP and TC together. For BMW's rear-wheel drive cars, it is necessary to complete the drift in this mode. After everything was ready, I began to prepare for drifting with great anticipation, after all, how can "sliding into a BMW" not drift?
But as soon as I stepped on the accelerator, I realized that something was wrong: the 340 hp rear-wheel motor was as gentle as a herbivore, and not at all as powerful as the numbers. So, although the BMW i3 is able to spin, it doesn't feel very furious, as if driving a 100-horsepower rear-wheel drive car for drifting, which seems reluctant. Eventually, I looked at the power interface on the gauge and found that due to the poor grip on the road, the rear wheels were too easy to break through the grip, and the speed at this time was much lower than the normal drift speed, which may have triggered one of the i3's underlying power protection mechanisms, and even if I stepped on the floor oil, only about 25% of the power was available. And if I had driven the car faster and then drifted, it wouldn't have been like that, and 340 horsepower would have been at full power.
Also because of the snow, this time there was no chance to test the 0-100km h acceleration of the vehicle, but according to BMW's usual style, the official 5The 6-second 100-second result is very credible. I didn't get a chance to test acceleration, but when I put the car in Sport mode, I was blown away by its "acceleration character". Admittedly, acceleration of more than 5 seconds is not an exaggeration for today's electric vehicles, but the i3 shows a rare sense of irritability in Sport mode. At the moment of acceleration, the i3 didn't burst out with much power, but it was almost 0After 1 second, it is suddenly released at full power, and even the driver will be caught off guard by this power, and the back of the head will instantly hit the headrest. Even though I've driven an ET5 or ZEEKR X train that accelerates for more than 3 seconds before, I've never had such a hard acceleration.
In fact, if you've ever driven a BMW M Power model, you'll be familiar with this feeling. Because this sudden release of power feels very similar to the sudden combination of the clutch after the floor oil downshift on the M Power model. And at this moment, I suddenly realized that the electric car made by BMW still smells like a gasoline car!
As for the steering, it is still the familiar taste of BMW, the thick steering wheel grip ring, even if you close your eyes and touch it, you will know that this is a BMW, and the heavy steering power can deepen this impression even more. This setting is very good for driving enthusiasts, even if it is a daily turn, it can let your body fully know that this is a sports electric sedan that does not "go with the flow".
After talking about the dynamic driving part, let's take a look at how the static part of the BMW i3 differs from the petrol version of the BMW 3 Series. Although in terms of general design, the BMW i3 is still the appearance of the 3 Series, but in order to show its identity as a "green car", it still seals two nostrils that are no longer big.
The wheels of the i3 are also the standard low-drag styling of electric vehicles, and the overall effect is naturally not as sporty as the gasoline version of the 3 Series. In terms of tires, the traditional front and rear tires of BMW are still maintained, with 225 45 R19 in the front and 245 40 R19 in the rear.
Although the i3 and 3 Series are on the same platform, the height of the i3 has been increased by nearly 3 cm compared to the 3 Series in order to place the battery pack underneath. To this end, BMW has added a circle of black decorative side skirts to the side of the i3, which not only compensates for the visual difference caused by the vehicle's heightening, but also obscures the battery pack under the chassis from the side. In addition, the wheelbase of the i3 has been increased by 5mm to 2,966 mm compared to the long-axis 3 series, and the front and rear tracks are also wider.
In terms of rear design, the i3 looks thicker and heavier than the 3 Series, with a different shape of the lower surrounding, and the original position of the bilateral exhaust has also been changed to a more designed decorative part.
The interior of the i3 is exactly the same as the new 3 Series after the facelift, consisting of 149-inch multi** screen +12The 3-inch LCD instrument cluster is composed of a cluster. Below is the ** air conditioning outlet, volume control knob and some national standards in the front and rear windshield defogging buttons arranged in a conspicuous position.
Although 14The 9-inch screen is huge, but in practice, this set of iDrive 8The 5 system is not particularly easy to use. The main reason is that many functions are too scattered, and at the same time, a lot of pad operation logic is integrated. Therefore, when you use the iDrive knob to control, it will feel special**, and the touch is not as intuitive as the pad logic of the new domestic power brand, and there is still a lot of room for improvement. If you are an iPhone user, you can use wireless CarPlay to navigate and listen to songs. It's just that the various settings of the vehicle still have to be slowly explored in the car machine.
To say that the i3 vehicle has the most fuel car style design, in fact, is its start button. Unlike many new electric vehicles that start directly on the car, the i3 is also the same as the 3 series of fuel, after getting into the car, you need to step on the brake and press the start button, and then you can hang into the D gear and drive away. Such logic is normal on a fuel car, after all, the engine is on fire. When it comes to electric vehicles, there is no "ignition" operation in the motor, and it is a bit redundant to set the starting operation separately.
Finally, let's talk about one of the big advantages of the i3 compared to other pure electric sedans - space. First of all, I am 170cm tall and weigh 80kg, and after adjusting the driving position and lowering the seat to the minimum, the front row of the i3 has 1 fist and 4 fingers of headroom, which is very spacious. What's more, the i3's sitting position is as low as the gasoline 3 Series, and it doesn't feel cramped at all like other electric sedans.
Since the i3 is based on the long-axis 3 series, the 2966mm wheelbase also brings spacious rear space. With the front seat held still, I had a margin of 2 punches in my legs. At the same time, in terms of rear headroom, which most new energy sedans are not very good at, the i3 still has a margin of 1 punch. In addition, the rear seat cushion is longer and supports directly to the knees. And careful friends should also have noticed that the i3 not only has a panoramic sunroof that can be opened, but also retains a physical sunshade.
However, the structure that shares the chassis with the 3 Series also has a drawback, that is, it cannot achieve a fully flat rear floor. After all, the fuel-powered 3 Series is a rear-wheel drive car, and it needs to leave a place for the propeller shaft in the middle, and the pure electric i3 can only do this.
The BMW i3 may not be the kind of car that people fall in love with at first sight, but after a week of experience, I can't fault any hard faults. Although 5The acceleration ability of breaking 100 in 6 seconds may not be as good as that of a domestic electric car at a price of 300,000, but BMW's power and mature tuning make it much more balanced than other domestic "high-horsepower sofas". Although the top model 41The guide price of 390,000 yuan is not cheap, but the discount of more than 100,000 yuan in the terminal makes it quite cost-effective. Coupled with a more spacious and comfortable rear space than other electric vehicles, as well as the blue sky and white cloud logo that everyone loves, perhaps this is the reason why the i3 can continue to sell well.