The essence of BMW is the 3 Series, but for some reason, BMW put the domestic X5 and the "electrified" i3, that is, the pure electric version of the 3 Series together to release. As BMW's former flagship SUV, the domestic X5 is indeed full of appeal. But it is precisely because of this that it seems that the new i3 has received a lot less attention, and the sense of existence is completely suppressed by the domestic X5 that debuted at the same scene.
However, the BMW i3 still has a lot to say, as for the praise or bad reviews, and listen to the following.
01
The first point is about the price, when seeing the price announcement chart of the new i3, it is estimated that many people are naïve to think that BMW has found this conscience?
400 Nm 210 kW, zero 6.2 seconds, and the fuel version of the 330Li the same power level, or even larger size, but the price of 349,900 yuan is much cheaper, and the new i3 as a pure electric model, do not need to consider the purchase tax, in order to offset the placement of batteries caused by the increase in weight caused by the decline in handling and comfort, the new i3 also has an adaptive air suspension on the rear axle, which is an unprecedented configuration in the BMW B-class car, compared to the pricing of the fuel series can be said to be very valuable.
However, when you open the BMW website, you will find that it actually hides a rather outrageous list of options:
Although the pricing of the new i3 is much cheaper than the fuel version of the 330Li, and even 9,000 yuan cheaper than the 325Li M Sports Night Suit Edition of the 3 Series, if we pull the table roughly, if the new i3 wants to reach the standard level of the 325Li Night Edition, the optional installation will cost at least 40,000 yuan. Including large items such as driver assistance systems and HARMAN Kardon audio, there are also basic comfort and convenience functions such as wireless charging of mobile phones, electric waist supports for front seats, anti-glare rearview mirrors, keyless entry, and adaptive far and near light. So in fact, when you buy a configuration that is the same as the Fuel 3 Series, you will find that the BMW i3 is still pricing it in a conventional way.
In addition, if you follow the current trend of the retention rate of pure electric used cars, counting the cost of the new i3 compared to the fuel vehicle (fuel cost + purchase tax), its residual value rate and the 325Li Obsidian Night Edition are almost equal, and there will be no cost-effective advantage because of the lower naked car price on the surface.
Of course, according to the traditional BMW pricing strategy, the guidance price of the new i3 is also reasonable, after all, the fuel version of the 3 series still has to be sold? After all, in the era of car electrification, there are still many people who like traditional luxury brands aren't they? BMW's loyal fans are still quite a few.
But for a 350,000-level high-end new energy vehicle, this price in today's smart pure electric market, it seems that some can not play. On high technology, even if the automatic assisted driving PLUS is selected, it can do ACC cruise, which is not as good as the Tesla Model 3P and Model Y at the same price; the cost performance is not as good as the same car, and the top version is less than 300,000 BYD Han and Xiaopeng P7; and the Cadillac LYRIQ of the pure electric platform is a nuclear weapon. Under such a comparison, even if BMW has a brand advantage, the new i3 is not worth it, and I am afraid that different answers have appeared in the hearts of different people.
02
The second is "oil to electricity", you heard it right. The reason why I think Cadillac's LYRIQ has the advantages of a pure electric platform is that the new i3 is a pure oil-to-electric model, just like the iX, iX3, and i4.
In fact, BMW's electrification route is no later than other manufacturers in the same era, and as early as 10 years ago, it launched the previous generation's forward-looking i3 and i8. After the rise of the new energy market, many people believe that BMW's smart electric vehicle products are the most desirable traditional luxury brands in the BBA.
But after all these years, BMW has not only not taken a step forward in its electrification strategy, but has played reverse research and development. While mainstream car companies, as well as BMW's main rivals Audi and Mercedes-Benz, have transformed their pure electric architectures, BMW has announced that the current new energy strategy for 2020-2025 is to adopt flexible, cost-saving and flexible production lines that are compatible with new energy and fuel vehicles to meet market changes and increase production capacity.
Therefore, under the guidance of this strategy, several pure trams based on BMW's CLAR platform are all "oil to electricity"!
BMW certainly knows that changing oil to electricity is a naturally lame product idea, but there are reasons why it has to do so.
First, for the sake of efficiency, BMW is a car company that announced the transformation of new energy in the old car companies late, and can quickly achieve product launch based on the existing CLAR platform. From the launch of iX, i4 and new iX4 last year to the debut of i3 this year, 4 pure electric products have been launched in just half a year, and this efficiency is unimaginable for the positive development of pure electric platforms.
The second is probably to save money. Many people will think that Audi can have a pure electric platform, why can't BMW? That's because Audi can share a platform with the people-friendly Volkswagen brand to dilute the cost of research and development. The brand composition of the BMW Group does not have its own "Volkswagen", it also needs to take into account the "province", then sharing the platform with the fuel version of the model is obviously an effective and fast solution, which can save a lot of research and development, production line transformation costs.
However, if direct oil to electricity conversion is a direct and effective way to save money, why do other car companies spend a lot of time and energy to develop pure electric platforms? Why have consumers been criticizing oil for a long time?
The reason is very simple, the non-pure electric platform type will inevitably be subject to the disadvantages of the existing fuel vehicle architecture, that is, when the battery, motor, wiring harness and other three electric systems are arranged, it is impossible to completely bypass the structure of the fuel vehicle, and there are insurmountable restrictions. The most direct impact is that the amount of devices in the battery is not as good as the pure electric platform, and the low capacity means that the battery life is insufficient for the pure electric platform models of the same size.
Specific to the new BMW i3 car, the whole series has only one configuration, the battery capacity is 70 degrees, and the CLTC has an endurance of 526km, which is quite a general level in the pure electricity market at a price of 350,000. The battery capacity of models such as Extreme Kr 001, Xiaopeng P7, Tesla Model3P and other models in the same range is generally 80-100 degrees, and the endurance can generally reach 600+ or even 700km.
At the same time, not only the space utilization rate of the lower part of the chassis is average, the new i3 cancels the engine and gearbox, but the cabin is still arranged with a lot of equipment and pipelines, and it does not make room like some pure electric platform models to arrange the front trunk.
Including the rear seat ride experience, the new i3 directly inherits the propeller shaft bulge of the fuel version of the 3 Series. After all, as we mentioned earlier, the wheelbase of the new i3 is 5mm longer than the 3 Series long shaft version, but the raised platform still does not reflect the space utilization advantage of electric vehicles.
You may say that BMW's oil to electricity is not the other oil to electricity, it can inherit the fuel platform's previous long board, such as and BMW's fuel version of the similar driving experience, such as control level, seat comfort, ergonomics.
These basic skills are important, but in the field of electric vehicles, these aspects are no longer the key to highlighting the core value of a tram. Instead, consumers pay more attention to whether the smart car is easy to use, how smooth and recognized, whether the intelligent driving system is avant-garde and advanced, and what value and experience can be brought to users by the service level from car purchase to after-sales service.
And even if we ignore the "oil to electricity", just the charging system of BMW's layout in the field of new energy, and the huge gap between the new forces, it is enough to see that the sincerity of the pure electric products it sells at this stage is really lacking. If the honorable "BMW owner" still has to grab the public charging pile with others, this is obviously inconsistent with the brand positioning.
Maybe BMW just wants to play in the BBA circle, after all, with the price and configuration of the i3, it is not a big problem to play with the other two. Or maybe it's a transitional product that paves the way for iX to experiment with market reactions. First, through the policy of new energy, give those who want to buy BMW products, but also hindered by the blue card of users a chance, by the way to give themselves a position in the market.
Therefore, from the current BMW's phased new energy strategy, including the new i3, these 4 oil-to-electricity models, mainly solve the problem of starting from scratch, first make pure electric products to fill the market vacancy. After 2025, BMW's next generation of pure electric architecture products will be available, and then we will see the true strength of BMW's electrification era.
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