Energy issues have spread widely around the world. Energy shortage is a big problem now facing humanity. The traditional automobile industry has a very high demand for energy. In order to solve this problem, new energy vehicles have begun to be launched. Every vehicle company is scrambling to develop new energy vehicles. How can BMW, a well-known luxury car company fall behind?
When you heard only the name of these two cars, it feels like they are in the same series and are very similar, but actually, NO. What is the difference between them? The two cars are just similar in name, but there are huge gaps in terms of appearance, price, positioning, and performance.
BMW has been on the leading edge of environmental protection techniques for many years, implementing new designs to make their facilities more efficient in their resource consumption. i3 and i8 are the two new energy products of BMW launched in 2014, which are illustrating BMW’s ambition in the electric car market. The design of these two products is very close to the concept car, which has gained wide attention and is regarded as a model of German electrified models.
BMW i8 is BMW's first new energy sports car, priced starting from 147,500 US dollars. From the perspective of the appearance, people can be fascinated with its futuristic appearance. In contrast, the BMW i3, although it is also a new energy vehicle, is priced starting from 44,450 US dollars, which is quite different from the BMW i8. Compared with the i8, it looks a little smaller and looks a bit bloated. It feels that the design is not smooth enough.
As an electric sports car, in the interior, BMW i8 adopts a simple design style, but all of the components are made of high-tech material. The seats are made of high-strength carbon fiber, as a result, the strength and texture of the seats are great. The other components inside the car are also made of high-tech materials related to carbon fiber. While for i3, its interior design are on the average. As a BMW car that is not expensive, its interior design has nothing worth mentioning, but undoubtedly, the design is very practical. Because i3 is a small-sized electric car, the interior space is very cramped, making the interior a bit depressed.
In fact, the biggest difference between the two cars lies in the power problem. What is the comparable performance between a sports car and a small car? Although it is the same as an electric car, the BMW i8 is actually carrying a 1.5T L3 engine with a maximum horsepower of 231, a maximum torque of 320N.m, an acceleration time of 4.4S per 100km, and a maximum speed of 250km/h. If it is purely powered, it is only 37km. The BMW i3 has two versions of pure electric and hybrid electric, but the maximum horsepower is only 38 horsepower, the maximum torque is 56N.m, the acceleration time is 8.1S per 100km, the maximum speed is 150km/h, and the endurance is 271 kilometers, this is far better than the BMW i8.
In summary, i8 is very good from all aspects, but why its sales still not high, even lower than i3? The first is the price, the price of i8 is three times that of i3, which makes many consumers discourage it. The second is the relationship between supply and demand. Although i8 is not limited to production, it is in short supply due to serious imbalances in market supply and demand. So there are some people who are willing to pay a higher price to buy i8, so that the price of i8 reach more than 200,000 US dollars, while the price is almost equal to the high-end car Porsche. Third, it is the experience that BMW focused a lot on. After experiencing driving and riding the i8, many consumers choose to give up their purchase. Because the back seats of the i8 are too narrow, it is difficult for adults to sit in. Finally, the audience of the sports car is originally small, and BMW has no advantage over the super-sports-car brands such as Porsche, Lamborghini and Maserati.
BMW has made a number of efforts to achieve environmentally friendly vehicles, all of which aim to make the world less polluting and lead to a greener design. In addition, the company benefits from being considered an environmental company by its customers, which is a positive complement to its marketing activities.
Whether or not the company intends to use these technologies for monetary gain, as they are a large company committed to financial stability, it is expected that BMW is promoting the application of efficient and environmentally friendly design. Such steps should be replicated by other canners, ultimately resulting in better design and less environmental impact.
Source:
https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/bmwi/i3/sedan/overview.html
Leaf, M. (1996). Building the road for the BMW: Culture, vision, and the extended metropolitan region of Jakarta. Environment and Planning A, 28(9), 1617-1635.
McElhaney, K., Toffel, M., & Hill, N. (2005). Designing a Sustainability Management System at BMW Group. Greener Management International, 46, 103-16.
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