Our own Chuck Vossler just took ownership of the 2021 BMW i3S BEV. But this is not your “regular” i3. According to Vossler, it’s also the first fully-electric i3 in the country painted in Galvanic Gold. The name might sound familiar to some of you, and you’d be right: it made its debut years back on the BMW X2. Inspired by the new iX3 full-electric SAV, the compact-sized, zero-emission hatchbacks are now available with a selection of three eye-catching color combos as follows:
- Cashmere Silver with accents in BMW i Blue
- Galvanic Gold with accents in Frozen Grey metallic
- Fluid Black with accents in Frozen Grey metallic
The new i3S replaces a 2018 BMW i3S in Imperial Blue Metallic. And while the new colors are fancy and all, it’s the tech that separates the two. The 2018 i3 has a 94Ah battery pack, while the new 2021 i3 brings a battery size of 120Ah. The Ah isn’t a proper measure of the energy, so for the electronauts out there, the battery pack is actually measured at 42.2kWh (kiloWatt hours). Coming from the 94Ah battery pack, the 2021 i3S gets a range increase of nearly 65 km (40 miles), for a total of 260 km (161 miles).
Other updates include a slightly different leather, a louder pedestrian warning sound, a weight difference and PSI ratings. Chuck goes over all these details in the video, so please watch the entire footage.
The U.S. market still gets a choice of four different i3 variants: i3 and i3S BEV, and i3 and i3S REx. BMW has dropped the range extender option in Europe back in 2019. The 2021 BMW i3 BEV starts at $44,450, followed by the sportier i3S BEV at $47,650. The i3 REx sells for $48,300 and the i3S REx for $51,500. There is a $7,500 EV credit still available for BMW electric cars.
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