It looks as if solely yesterday that BMW despatched the eccentric little i3 to the chopping block. In all actuality, the producer struck the previous-gen EV from its lineup after the 2021 mannequin 12 months. In some bizarre accident, a minimum of one seller has been hanging onto a model new i3 on its lot—drastically sabotaging its time-to-turn stats whereas additionally preserving one of many closing New Outdated Inventory (NOS) examples of BMW’s quirky electrical automotive.
And now, years after being discontinued, gross sales figures have revealed that somebody has bought a model new BMW i3 throughout the first quarter of 2024.
BMW First Foray Into Mass-Market EVs
The BMW i3 was the primary automotive formally launched as a part of BMW’s i-brand. Its tiny battery had simply 19 kWh of usable energy which might propel the automotive simply 80 miles with out the non-obligatory vary extender. Regardless of the constraints, it was such an essential automotive for the marque.
It has been a minimum of a 12 months since BMW managed to promote any NOS examples of the i3. As BMW Weblog factors out, the automaker offered zero examples in 2023 and solely 9 models in 2022. This comes after it stopped manufacturing of the U.S. spec i3 in mid-2021.
Sadly, we do not know the way a lot this particular person paid for the automotive. The i3 ranged in worth from $45,445 for the bottom mannequin to $52,495 for the top-trimmed i3s with the vary extender. Whereas we do not know which trim this particular person bought, it is arduous to not image the seller reducing somebody a very good deal to get this older EV off its lot. That is very true as contemporary new EVs hit BMW tons, all of which function newer structure than BMW’s decade-old platform.
The BMW i3 is exclusive amongst BMW EVs. In any case, the i3 was a wildly designed automotive constructed on a bespoke platform, with over 250,000 worldwide gross sales throughout its nine-year manufacturing run. The newer i4 is extra of a mass-market EV constructed on a shared modular platform that may additionally help inside combustion automobiles. Even a few of those that ultimately upgraded to a more moderen BMW EV just like the i4 say that these newer Bimmers simply do not have the identical “magical feeling” that their i3s did.
These new EVs additionally do not have a variety extender just like the i3 did. Granted, we do not know what trim or choices have been included within the lone i3 offered throughout the first quarter of 2024, however a variety extender might have been sufficient to persuade somebody who could have been on the fence about whether or not or to not go electrical. Hopefully, its batteries have faired properly in spite of everything of those years sitting round.
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