Quote:
Originally Posted by sdshah
And who the hell drives a bolt? Awards don't mean anything.
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I drive a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV and I also have a 900hp F10 M5. I also lease a 428i Gran Coupe at the moment. I was also a BMW salesman for a while, and I have driven every single BMW currently offered with the exception of the brand new just released X3.
When I sit here and tell you that the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV is hands down one of the best cars I have ever driven, I know what I am talking about. Just last week I was able to squeeze out over 300 miles of range on a single charge in the Bolt EV due to driving it very efficiently. This thread isn't about the Bolt EV though, it's about a new 3-Series that will be full electric. I personally think that this is fantastic news. After my Chevy Bolt EV experience, I can say that a future BMW 3-Series that has around 250 miles of all electric range will be a game changer for BMW because it will have the luxury of a BMW combined with the practicality and utility of the 3-Series, and excellent range for a current day electric car.
Many Americans tout range as the number one issue of why they wouldn't buy a Full Electric Vehicle, and I agree that for most Americans who can only afford 1 vehicle, having one vehicle with a limited range of about 250 miles won't work. But for people who own multiple vehicles, it becomes a viable option. Also, as much as we Americans love to drive, many Americans rarely ever drive more than 150 miles in a single day. Most Americans just use a car to commute to work or run errands around town or for recreational activities in their immediate city, for these purposes, an all electric car with 250 miles of range will work. I have already proved that, I have gone weeks without driving either of my other BMW's, and only driving my electric Bolt EV.
As far as charging stations go, I find it silly for people who don't yet own an electric car to be commenting on how few stations there are. In reality there is already a huge public charging station network. Already between Chargepoint, Blink, EVGo and Tesla, there are a ton of public stations in America, and it will be growing substantially even within the next 3 years. Volkswagen has plans on investing billions into building their own public charging networks. Chargepoint is constantly expanding as well. Soon we will also see a far greater number of Level III charging stations out there that can charge a car with 90 miles in only 30 minutes and the technology is only getting better. Tesla already has their Supercharger network, which is essentially a Level IV charger, that can charge a car up with over 200 miles in 30 minutes. Everyone is getting into this game, Volvo, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi, etc... Public charging stations aside, most, if not all electric car owners also install a charging station at home. I did, and its even 50% cheaper to charge my car at home than it is at a public charging station. There are even different kinds of Level II charging stations you can install at home. The one I have gives me 32 miles of range per hour of charging, where the average for a Level II charger is 25 miles per hour.
Now I am not saying that electric cars will be for everyone, even for when we start getting electric cars with over 400 miles of range. South Dakota is a perfect example of where electric cars don't make much sense, since everything is spread out so much there. In South Dakota, a Chevy Cruze Diesel with a Manual Transmission and its 52mpg and almost 800 miles of range on a single tank makes much more sense in a place like that.
What I am saying is that full electric cars are already viable today and it all started with the Chevy Bolt EV, being that it's pretty affordable, especially with all of the tax incentives we get. I was able to get mine with $10,000 off in tax rebates. Cars, like the BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, and Fiat 500e, are not viable electric cars for the masses, but they were the first baby step that needed to be taken. A BMW 3-Series with a 250 mile range is going to be awesome. I would even consider to get one myself, but I like all of the space and utility that the Chevy Bolt EV offers over a sedan body style. Tesla is in a different class, but they are changing that with their new upcoming Model 3. I personally don't like the minimalism of Tesla cars, so I don't think I would ever get one, but the tech on those things is almost out of this world.
As for this new Electric 3-Series, I can see BMW slotting it in between the future 330i and the new M340i in terms of power and torque. I'll guess that the 335e (or whatever they might call it) will produce around 280hp and have like 350lbs/ft of torque or more. I will tell you that even the Bolt EV is absolutely a blast to drive around town with its 200hp and 266lbs/ft of torque. I am constantly overtaking other cars with it and launching from red lights. Even with all of the aggressive driving I do with it (since I am an ///M driver first and foremost), I still manage to maximize efficiency on a daily basis, due to the Bolt EV's manual control of its Energy Recovery System, which is something the BMW i3 doesn't even have. I can definitely imagine what an Electric 3-Series will drive like with so much instant torque. It's going to be GOOD I'm telling you.
Electric cars are wonderful, I just don't want to see the true performance cars go full electric one day, as a true sports car needs an exhaust note, I feel. For every day driving Bolt EV provides a lot of fun and economy and so will a future electric 3-Series. And of course for those days I don't feel like saving the environment, I can always take my 900hp M5 out for a spin.
Also below is a picture of my Chevy Bolt EV's range when I got in it to go to work the other morning. It calculates range based off of the previous day of driving efficiency. Like I said, last week I got over 300 miles of driving in on one battery charge, and I still had like over 50 miles of range on it before I finally plugged it in again.