Photo: BMW
BMW finally started deliveries of the new i3 in the US last month and we already have a report on how many it sold in its first 4 weeks. The 336 units delivered so far haven’t been split on Range Extended models and pure electric ones, unfortunately.
Such a split, done by the US branch of the German company would’ve come in useful in looking over what attracts and scares buyers away. However, the dedicated team over at InsideEvs.com managed to get its hands on a statistic that shows us exactly how many REx and how many BEVs have been sold so far.
As it turns out, the ratio is 9 to 5 in favor of the Range Extended model, a much bigger discrepancy from what we expected. Initially, the ration was somewhere at 4:3, still in favor of the REx but only by a slight margin.
Since the pure electric choice (or BEV for short) seems to be losing ground at rapid pace, the analysis shows that Americans suffer from range anxiety and that’s the biggest drawback that keeps them from purchasing a new i3.
Other factors might chip in as well. According to Sales and Marketing Boss, Ian Robertson, about 80 percent of the i3 customers are new to the BMW brand and are attracted by the prospect of an emission free car in Europe.
That might not be the case in the US, where buyers have been known to care less about the impact on the environment and how it affects them. Even so, most of the customers are attracted by the design quality, innovation and durability this car proposes. Therefore, the battle should still be on between the all-electric model and the range-extended one, once people start realizing that the extra engine in the boot might not be used too often.
As it turns out, the ratio is 9 to 5 in favor of the Range Extended model, a much bigger discrepancy from what we expected. Initially, the ration was somewhere at 4:3, still in favor of the REx but only by a slight margin.
Since the pure electric choice (or BEV for short) seems to be losing ground at rapid pace, the analysis shows that Americans suffer from range anxiety and that’s the biggest drawback that keeps them from purchasing a new i3.
Other factors might chip in as well. According to Sales and Marketing Boss, Ian Robertson, about 80 percent of the i3 customers are new to the BMW brand and are attracted by the prospect of an emission free car in Europe.
That might not be the case in the US, where buyers have been known to care less about the impact on the environment and how it affects them. Even so, most of the customers are attracted by the design quality, innovation and durability this car proposes. Therefore, the battle should still be on between the all-electric model and the range-extended one, once people start realizing that the extra engine in the boot might not be used too often.
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