BMW i3 price and release date revealed

The BMW i3 has a starting price of £25,680 (after the £5,000 Government electric car grant), or to lease for three years from £369 a month with a £2,995 deposit. The release date is 16 November 2013, but customers can order the car now.

The first decision customers will need to make is whether to go for the pure electric model or the range extender. The former uses a 168bhp motor with 250Nm of torque to go from 0-62mph in 7.2 seconds – the same time as a BMW 120d M Sport. Top speed is 93mph and an 80-100-mile range is promised from a single charge.

If range anxiety is a problem, the range extender i3 could be a better choice. It mounts a 34bhp 650cc two-cylinder motorbike engine next to the 168bhp motor to keep the batteries topped up on the move. With a full tank of petrol, it extends the car’s range to 160-186 miles. But the added weight cuts the 0-62mph sprint time to 7.9 seconds, and this model costs from £28,830.

Charging takes eight to 10 hours from a standard 240V socket, or you can have a BMW i Wallbox fitted at your home. This will take the i3 from zero to 80 per cent in three hours. Find a public DC rapid charger, and the batteries can be topped up in just 30 minutes to an hour.

BMW i3 prototype review

UPDATE: BMW i3 drivers will now be able to charge the electric car at their homes and, thanks to a government subsidy, it'll cost them just £315 to install.

A new partnership deal between BMW and Schneider Electric means motorists will be able to install electric car charging points at their homes and a government grant will cover 75 per cent of the cost. Known as a BMW i Wallbox, these charging points will take three hours to boost the BMW i3 from zero to 80 per cent power.

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Should you lease or buy a BMW i3?

The chance to own a new carbon fibre BMW i3 for just £369 a month sounds a very tempting proposition, but over three years does this leasing packing really make more financial sense than buying the i3 outright?

The leasing deal will set you back £16,279 over three years, once your taking into account the £2,995 deposit and the 36 monthly payments. If you deduct this figure from the residual value of 31 per cent (which is calculated on the true price of £30,680, before the £5,000 Government electric car grant has been deducted).

So as long as the i3's residuals (yet to be calculated by price expert CAP) are above 31 per cent, it will make more sense to buy the car outright, and sell it on after three years, than to lease it. Considering the Nissan Leaf retains around 34 per cent of its value new, and the BMW is likely to be seen as a more premium product, that seems a certainty.

How the i3 is made

We’re already familiar with the i3’s groundbreaking construction methods (which will also be used for the i8 sports car, due later this year). It uses a mix of carbon fibre and aluminium for the chassis and panels to offset the 230kg lithium-ion battery pack. But the weight-saving measures go much deeper.

Aluminium suspension components, hollow driveshafts and standard 19-inch forged aluminium wheels all help here. Even the windscreen wiper has an unconventional honeycomb structure to reduce mass. As a result, the pure-electric i3 weighs in at just 1,195kg – around the same as a Ford Fiesta ST.

But just because it’s light doesn’t mean it’s short on space. BMW claims there’s acres of room for four adults, with loads of headroom and easy access through a pillarless opening. Plus, premium materials like wood, natural fibres and leather ensure the interior finish is just as good as in BMWs further up the range.

On the outside, the i3 stays faithful to the original concept, with its odd-shaped glass area, two-tone colour scheme and flashes of blue on the grille and side sills. The major change is to the window line, which is higher – as on the i3 Coupe concept – although a dip where the hidden rear doors are should improve visibility for rear passengers.

The i3 has been designed with urban drivers in mind. A tight 9.86-metre turning circle and quick steering ratio should make the new car great at darting in and out of city traffic, while MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension will help it deal with rutted inner-city roads.

And if you drive carefully around town, there shouldn’t be much need to use the brakes. When you lift off the throttle, an intelligent regeneration system decouples the engine and allows the car to coast efficiently at high speeds. Do the same at low speeds, and the motor reverses to become a generator and slows the i3 down for you.

But it’s not just the driving experience that’s novel; the twin digital displays give driver and passenger access to a range of brand new functions. For example, if the sat-nav detects that a destination is beyond your available range, it will suggest switching to ECO PRO mode, or calculate a more efficient route (it even takes into account gradients on hills), to help you get there.

Both versions of the i3 will qualify for a range of tax benefits beyond the Government grant. They’re exempt from road tax and the London Congestion Charge, and businesses with employees running one can claim 100 per cent of its value against their tax bill. BMW offers the cars with a three-year unlimited mileage warranty and covers the battery for eight years and 100,000 miles.

If you can live with the limited range – and BMW’s research suggests the average commute is 25 miles – the i3 should tick a lot of boxes. It officially launches here on 16 November, but order books are already open.

The i3 will be at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, where it will be showcased alongside the production version of the i8 hybrid supercar.