What is built like a Tesla Model S and looks like an updated Honda Element?

BMW's new i3 looks like an updated, more aerodynamic version of the boxy Honda Element, especially in the arrangement of the four doors. The front doors must be opened to reach the hidden handles of the back doors, which are hinged at the rear and sometimes referred to as "suicide doors."

The hidden handle of a rear door in the BMW i3.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

BMW says its new iBrand is "fueled by innovation," but one of the two models seems to have borrowed a number of ideas from Tesla, Chevrolet and Honda.

The BMW i3 is a four-door hatchback built on a battery platform that looks a lot like the one used by Tesla's all-electric Model S.

The i3 is available as an all-electric car with a range of about 80 miles, but buyers can choose the extra-cost option of a 2-cylinder gasoline engine that charges the battery and doubles the range.

With the plug-in Volt, Chevrolet uses a gas-powered generator that performs the same function to extend the EPA-estimated range of 38 miles on the battery alone.

And the hidden handles of the rear "suicide doors" in the i8 mimic the arrangement in the boxy Element sport-utility vehicle, which Honda stopped making in 2011.

Where the i3 and companion i8 have innovated is in the extensive use of carbon fiber. 

In the i3, the passenger compartment is made primarily from molded carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic, the German automaker says. 
  

The platform of the Tesla Model S.

BMW's plug-in sports car

The other model in the iBrand is the low-slung i8, a plug-in hybrid that sounds and drives like a sports car.

If a BMW is "The Ultimate Driving Machine," the i8's high sills, scissor doors and lack of passenger-assist handles make it "The Ultimate Pain in the Ass" to get into and out of.

The i3 has the same controls you'll find in a conventional BMW, above and below. The base model of the i3 doesn't have touchscreen navigation.

The 17-inch iPad-like touchscreen in the Tesla Model S eliminates many of the buttons and other controls found in a conventional car.

The Model S is a heavy four-door luxury hatchback. Some writers have described the BMW i3 as a luxury car, but the base "Mega World" model I drove for two days was somewhat spartan, with cloth-covered seats and recycled material used on the dashboard and other surfaces.

Everyone now: What would an 'affordable' all-electric car look like and cost?

Despite the strides made by hybrids and all-electric cars or EVs in the past 14 years, the American road is still dominated by SUVs, which waste gasoline and pollute the air. How many times have you seen only a driver in one of these monstrosities?

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Call it the "game changer" or the "sweet spot."

An affordable all-electric car could finally pose a challenge to the dominance of the infernal combustion engine, one of the chief causes of climate change.

But two things would have to happen:

The car would have to start at $40,000 and offer a minimum range of 200 miles.

I'm flexible, though, after looking at the BMW i3, which the German automaker says has a real-world range of 80-100 miles or 160-180 miles with a "Range Extender," a 2-cylinder gasoline engine that recharges the battery.

The base model of the BMW i3, called Mega World, has an MSRP of $42,500.

Even without the Range Extender, the BMWi3 equals or exceeds the range of two cheaper all-electric cars, the Nissan Leaf (84 miles) and Ford Focus Electric (76 miles).

The B Class Electric Drive from Mercedes-Benz has a range of up to 85 miles and an MSRP of $33,950, according to the company's Web site.

The B Class was developed in partnership with California-based Tesla Motors, which makes the car's electric drive system.

Tesla also helped develop Toyota's RAV4 EV, which has a range of 100 miles, but that vehicle is available only in California.

Park Avenue BMW in Maywood has offered me an extended test drive of the i3.

A smaller Tesla

A friend who visited the Tesla showroom in Paramus says she was told a smaller model of the revolutionary all-electric car will be coming out in a year or two.

Would a smaller car have a smaller battery and less range than the Model S with a 60 kWh battery, an advertised range of 208 miles and an MSRP of $69,900?

Tesla is building its own battery factory in Nevada, and that is expected to lower retail costs.

Could Tesla actually produce a smaller all-electric vehicle starting at $40,000?

The Tesla badge on a Model S.