The BMW i3 is turning 6 this year and that’s getting close to the usual 7-year production cycle of BMWs and other cars in the industry these days. The thing is, BMW never officially confirmed what the future holds for its first and, so far, only pure electric vehicle. Various officials have, however, hinted at a prolonged production cycle for the i3 and we think it may actually work on the EV, as it was rather unconventional from the get go.
Even though it was launched so long ago (six years are an eternity in the automotive realm) the i3 is still offering amazing tech. It is the cheapest car you can buy today with a carbon fiber chassis and it is almost completely recyclable, not to mention made with renewable energy sources. Therefore, we could easily see it in production for a couple more years, especially since it got some serious upgrades so far.
Speaking about it to the people over at Autocar, BMW product management boss Peter Henrich said the i3’s spirit will live on on a variety of cars in the future, even if it is pulled out of production. “Do we need one specific successor to bring the i3’s spirit and technology into multiple other vehicles?” Henrich said. “That is what we will be thinking about.” And that’s definitely easier to do than create a successor for the i3.
After all, the technology from the i3 is already helping develop new cars. The electric motor and the batteries have been improved thanks to research done on i3 models already on public roads. Furthermore, the materials used inside the car and the whole philosophy behind it can easily be infused in cars like the i4 and iNext and I think they will feel familiar to some extent to those driving them, all due to the i3.
