BMW i3 Plug in EV’s ‘Parking Assist’ video revealed – 3000 units sold in UK, Nissan Leaf in trouble

BMW has already started delivering the pre booked units of the i3 plug in Electric Vehicle in the United States market. Demand for the model is huge and the manufacturer is happy with the success of the model. It may not be so surprising to hear about the ‘self parking’ system in recent times as several higher end models are offering the same but it is a surprise for majority of the buyers across the world.

I3 is turning out to be one of the most significant models for the manufacturer as it has been dragging the attention of new buyers since its launch. BMW is likely to provide publicity for the model which will in turn earn more number of new customers. It may not be much difficult for BMW to keep those customers who are already having a BMW model. As per the information, i3 has been listed among most successful models in the European Market this year and the overall sales of the model in UK has crossed 3000 units recently. BMW has unveiled the i3 plug in EV in European market in the month of November last year.

As per ‘Automotive News’, Mr. Robertson, the Head for Sales and Marketing for BMW Group Retail Operations has stated in connection with the success of the i3 “The i3 sets out to appeal to new groups of customers who lead cosmopolitan, socially responsible and sustainable life styles. These buys place great importance on design quality, innovation and durability. Clearly we have a lot of new technology early adopters. Some are coming from the premium brands, but a significant portion are coming from volume segments. Interestingly, some of them never owned a car before but decided to buy a zero emission vehicle with the i3. So it’s clearly providing them with something they have never found in a car before”.

BMW has powered the new i3 plug in Electric Vehicle with a 170 hp electric motor that is accompanied with a 22 kWh lithium ion battery pack. Most of the body parts of the i3 EV have been made from carbon fibers and thus it is lighter than most of the other electric vehicles of the same segment. I3 is around 200 kilograms lighter than Nissan’s Leaf and it is much quicker than rival models due to its better aerodynamics. BMW is offering parking assist system as an on demand addition package that would cost $1000 extra. A potential buyer of the model has posted a video that show how i3 parks its self using the Parking Assist on Youtube and the video can be viewed here

BMW i3 promises around 80 – 100 miles of journey on a single charge and the battery pack comes with warranty of 8 years or 1 lakh kilometers, whichever is earlier.

[Source: Transport Evolved, Rush Lane]