Driving Experience - BMW i3 - Road Test Brussels
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Driving Sustainable Development
Last week, I was among the privileged few in Brussels who got to drive the latest jewel from German carmaker BMW, The BMW i3.
With a bold and light design you would never have said that this car has pure aerodynamics, but it does.
The engineers have designed a highly efficient and trendy city car. A smart combination of recyclable and light materials enables the car to outperform all EV competitors on the market.
Solid proof of why, according to Fortune Magazine, BMW is ranked number one World's Most Admired Companies in the Motor Vehicles Industry.
The i3 perfectly sums up BMW's ideals and values: "Efficient Dynamics".
Once inside the car, the cube seats are comfy and easy to adjust to your needs. Also, all the controls are strategically set-up around the steering wheel for easy access. The gear stick is on your upper right with flashy letters D (drive) N (neutral) R (reverse) with the Start/Stop and Park buttons at the top of the "gear level".
when you press the start button the engine is totally noiseless, then the accelerator and here we go! The car is on the move, "easy peasy"; all the information is displayed on the main screen in the middle of the front board; with a user friendly configuration through the buttons on the left/right of the steering wheel.
After all, isn't this the future of 21st. century cars? Once you have tried one, you will LOVE IT! The immediate response and performance makes it behave like a petrol car without all the inconveniences. Smooth acceleration without fuel consumption, emissions-free and noiseless: Pure Pleasure!
The test drive lasted for about 30 minutes, just enough time to enjoy a ride around the city! So, I headed towards one of the major highways, called the E40. I easily reached 120km/hr (0-100km in 7.2sec) without needing to floor the pedal. Then, I was enjoyed the nice views as the interior design is very luminous. This version has an integrated individual sunroof, that you can open/close for each front passenger. Absolutely Gorgeous!
Definitely, in the coming years we will witness an Electric Revolution as it seems this is the future for zero emissions city cars and certainly it will change consumer's behaviour towards conventional vehicles. Among the multiple advantages, is the low energy consumption, for as little as 3€ for 160/km you can pay for a full recharge. Also, you can plug in anywhere that has a conventional socket. Even, you can controlled the charging time and energy through a smart phone. Definitely, they had designed everything to facilitate your mobility with it.
The production of this "engineering jewel" is done in Leipzig, the only plant around the world powered by 4 wind turbines that produce green energy with a larger capacity than what is required for electric vehicles production.
However, there is a waiting time of approximately 6 months for having one of this German marvels. Nonetheless, from a supply chain perspective (logistics) this is brilliant as they are not wasting money in warehouse or stock maintenance; it also creates the feeling of exclusivity, that reminds me the long queues we had seen when the first iPhone's were available. Nice marketing strategy for giving extra added-value to the product itself.
For all these reasons, I truly believe Electric Vehicles are the future for mobility in a sustainably world: Take a deep breath and Enjoy your Ride!