babypuppi: [6] I 3 Bmw At This Week Highlight

The BMW i3 electric car going on sale in Europe and coming to the U.S.(Photo: UWE FISCHER, BMW)

Story HighlightsGoing on sale in U.S.Motorcycle engine can be added to run a generatorCONNECTTWEETLINKEDINEMAILMOREFacebookTwitterGoogle+LinkedInThe new BMW i3 electric car FullscreenPosted!

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The i3 goes on sale next April on the E. coast, May on the W. coast. Base price is $42,275 including $925 destination and excluding any tax credits. For another $3,850 you can get a range extender – two-cylinder BMW motorcycle engine, to run a generator. James R. Healey, USA TODAYFullscreenBMW i3s lined up Tuesday for a test drive from the beach to downtown Los Angeles. James R. Healey, USA TODAYFullscreenBMW expects an EPA range rating of 80 to 100 miles. Range extender boosts that to about 160 to 180 miles. A 2.4 (cq) gallon fuel tank is mounted up front just ahead of the firewall to supply the gasoline engine in back. James R. Healey, USA TODAYFullscreenJose Guerrero, manager in charge of BMW i-series products, pushing on the front fascia to show the car’s skin of thermoplastic gives but doesn’t crack or dent. James R. Healey, USA TODAYFullscreenJose Guerrero, manager in charge of BMW i-series products, operating the i3's new-design electronic gear lever. Rotate the fat end of the lever forward to go forward, back to go in reverse. A button on the lever gives you park and another button on the lever is the ignition switch. James R. Healey, USA TODAYFullscreenAn i3 being charged. BMW expects an EPA range rating of 80 to 100 miles. The range extender boosts that to about 160 to 180 miles and it has a 2.4-gallon fuel tank mounted up front to supply the gasoline engine in back. James R. Healey, USA TODAYFullscreenThe i3 is a hatchback with substantial cargo room for its size. James R. Healey, USA TODAYFullscreenThe top-level Tera models interior has leather on seats and ‘active’ wool and kenaf on door panels. Kenaf is ‘cotton-based, hemp-like’ material. ‘Active’ wool is blend of virgin wool and recycled plastic drink bottles. Eucalyptus wood is used for dash horizontal surfaces. James R. Healey, USA TODAYFullscreenThe small rear-hinged rear doors can’t be opened unless the front doors are open, so people in back have to depend on those in front to let them out. James R. Healey, USA TODAYFullscreenThe i3 weighs only a little more than 2,700 lbs. due to a carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic unibody skeleton. BMW says it hasn’t sold a car that light in the U.S. since the 1991 3-series. James R. Healey, USA TODAYFullscreenInterested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:Replay1 of 102 of 103 of 104 of 105 of 106 of 107 of 108 of 109 of 1010 of 10AutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext Slide

LOS ANGELES -- BMW finally is set to put its futuristic i3 battery car into U.S. showrooms, offering a truly peculiar option for an electric car -- a gas engine.

The company showed off the car today at the Los Angeles Auto Show; on Tuesday it hosted a drive for journalists, who took the i3s from Marina Del Rey on the shore to the downtown L.A. site of the show.

Base price is $42,275 including $925 destination and excluding any tax credits. For $3,850 more you can have a 650 cc, two-cylinder BMW motorcycle engine installed as a so-called range extender.

It fires up and runs a generator when the battery pack gets low. Not new. That's how the Chevrolet Volt works.

But offering it as a stand-alone option is unique. Volt and other extended-range electrics have the auxiliary gasoline power built in, period. It's part of the basic design.

BMW says the gas engine never drives the wheels, it only runs a generator to keep the battery pack from completely discharging.

BMW thinks most people will buy the i3 as a pure electric when it goes on sale next April on the east side of the U.S. and May in the West. That setup, BMW says, should have a range of 80 to 100 miles.

But for those with serious range anxiety the range-extender option roughly doubles how far you can go before the car needs fuel of some kind. A 2.4-gallon gasoline tank feeds the motorcycle engine, and a fresh charge -- three hours using a 240-volt circuit to fill a completely drained battery pack -- tops off the batteries.

The i3 comes in three trim levels -- or "worlds" in i-lingo: Base is Mega. Mid-level is Giga. High-end models, like all those in the test fleet here, are called Tera.

Tera interior uses leather on seats, "active" wool and kenaf on door panels. BMWs describes kenaf as a "cotton-based, hemp-like" material. In the test cars, it had the look of old, worn felt or packing material.

"Active" wool is blend of virgin wool and recycled plastic drink bottles. Eucalyptus wood is used for some dashboard surfaces.

BMW says the i3 weighs a little more than 2,700 pounds, making it the lightest car the company has sold in the U.S. since the 1991 3-series.

The trim weight gives the car strong acceleration -- standstill to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds -- from the electric motor's modest 170 horsepower, 184 pounds-feet of torque.

The exterior is thermoplastic, similar to General Motors discontinued Saturn cars. The panels will deform if they hit something, then spring back into shape -- at low speed, anyway.

Underneath is a carbon-fiber reinforced plastic skeleton. That's mainly why the car weighs as little as it does. Carbon fiber -- used in everything from race cars to fishing rods -- is strong without being heavy.

Rear doors on the four-door, four-passenger car are hinged at the rear, so open toward the back in a so-called suicide-door pattern.

When the front and rear doors both are open, there's no middle pillar so it's easier to maneuver into and out of the car. But rear riders need front passengers to open their doors before the back doors can be unlatched.

Keeps the kids in place until you're ready to help them out. But could be annoying to older passengers impatient to get out and get on with things.

Three driving modes are supplied. Comfort is the normal setting. EcoPro changes the throttle and other settings and should boost range 12%, says Jose Guerrero, in charge of BMW i-series products.

EcoPro-plus cuts back throttle response even more, tries to keep accessories turned off to save the battery and should boost range another 12%, he says.

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