‪BMW i3 Concept‬‏ - YouTube

The BMW i3 - all-electric city slicker

First up is the town car getabout - the i3. As a fully electric car, it's mainly aimed at urban commuting, but its battery range is specified to a level a little beyond that. On the FTP72 cycle, it's rated for 225 km (140 miles), but BMW says the car's everyday range, being driven by regular lead-foot clowns like you and I, is more like 160 km (100 miles.) That's heaps for your general commuting duties.

Acceleration is in the range of 8 seconds to 100 kph (62 mph), but it should be fairly zippy off the line, as it develops 100 percent of its torque from a standstill. Top speed should be around 150 kph (93 mph) - but that's electronically limited, because autobahn speeds can be brutally draining on most electric vehicles.

The i3's large battery pack sits under the floor of the vehicle in a slab that's protected from crash damage by a number of buffer zones in the structure. As batteries are typically the most expensive part of an electric vehicle, you'd certainly want to protect them.

The 170 hp electric motor, single-gear drive system and differential are located over the driven rear axle, and there's room there for an optional range extender - a high efficiency petrol engine that putts away and generates electricity to charge the batteries. With the range extender on board, you can roughly double the i3's range, and fill up at any petrol station.