We’ve known this moment was coming for a while, but this still makes us a little sad: production of the groundbreaking and brilliantly unconventional BMW i3 electric hatch has ended at the firm’s Leipzig factory.
First unveiled in 2011, the production version of the i3 launched in 2013 and was the German firm’s first mass production electric vehicle. The rear-wheel-drive hatchback was initially offered with a single motor 125kW electric powertrain and as a range-extender that added a 647cc two-cylinder motorcycle engine.
Initially, both models drew power from a 22.2kWh lithium ion battery, until a 2017 facelift introduced a 33.3kWh unit. As part of that facelift BMW also launched the i3 S performance model, which features a wider track and a 135kW motor.
While BMW is now seemingly launching a new EV every few weeks, while the i3 first launched it was one of just a handful of mass market electric cars on sale, along with the likes of the Renault Zoe and Nissan Leaf.
It was also unapologetically bold and unconventional, thanks to its unusual styling, costly carbonfibre construction and rear-hinged rear doors. BMW has described it as “an exotic specimen”, which is a fair apt description.
The i3 has also been a big success. More than 250,000 examples of the machine has been manufactured in the BMW Group’s Leipzig plant in Germany. BMW sold the i3 in 74 countries around the world, and it was key in winning the brand new customers: at one stage, more than 80 per cent of i3 buyers were new to the BMW brand.
It has also helped with the development of other electric cars: the 135kW powertrain from the i3S is now used in the current Mini Electric.
That production run finally came to an end at the end of June 2022, with an ultra-limited edition 10-unit special version branded the ‘HomeRun Edition’. It features two special paint colours, 20in alloy wheels and adaptive LED headlights, along a host of other extras. The 10 buyers of the machines were able to watch them roll off the assembly line.
The i3 will be indirectly replaced as the entry-level model in BMW’s electric car line-up by the far more conventional BMW iX1 crossover.
Meanwhile, the Leipzig plant will now be reworked to produce future electric BMW Group models including the EV versions of the next-generation Mini Countryman. That will make it the first plant were BMW and Mini models will be manufactured alongside each other.
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