At the recent BMW i3 launch in Amsterdam I had dinner with a number of BMW executives and foreign journalists, all of whom spoke in German, but would occasionally pop up with a question in English to get me someway involved. One of those questions was what I thought of the i3 - having driven it all day?
In between mouthfuls of sea salad (fancy sea weed really) I responded that it did not feel special. Save for the noise of cutlery dropping the room went very silent, but there was a reason I had chosen that response.
Normally when we drive an electric car it is one that is based on an existing model, one that has been converted from a combustion engine-powered car. Now, the engineers will tell you that these cars were always designed with electric power in mind but the truth is that electric vehicles are still a small player in the market and that petrol and diesel come first. This means that the cars are set up for an engine first with the electric drivetrain being something of an afterthought (probably coming from a suggestion by the marketing department that they need a 'green' vehicle).
This means that the resultant electric car is compromised; the batteries have to be housed in existing architecture rather than a space developed for them that does not adversely affect handling. The Audi R8 e-tron is a perfect example - yes about 90 per cent of the parts are new when compared to the existing model, but the carbon fibre and aluminium structure will underpin the next generation R8 and Lamborghini Gallardo (or Cabrera) - it has been designed for a V10 engine out back, not a bank of batteries and an electric motor, which is why the batteries are housed in the transmission tunnel.
The BMW i3, on the other hand, will never have a combustion engine (save for the 650cc range extender) and it does not need space up front for one and the extra crash structure that would surround it. The i3 has a tunnel but it is a space for an armrest, the iDrive controller and a few other bits. It could have been left out, as the batteries are mounted below the floor; in fact the tunnel is split both front and rear so you can slide between seats. You do not even have to worry about getting the 'gearstick' stuck in your bum while doing so as that has been moved to the steering column.
The reason the i3 does not feel special is because you are not picking out the compromises as you drive; you just get on with the driving. It is wholly unremarkable, but in a good way. Roll your thumb over the driver selector, tickle the throttle and enjoy the silence.
Until you happen upon the hordes of cyclists that is.
On the face of it Amsterdam was a strange choice as a location for the i3's launch as the residents seem to hate cars. The hierarchy there is trams (big immovable object), cyclists (that outnumber cars at least a hundred to one), mopeds (which can ride in cycle lanes and riders are seemingly not bound by law to wear crash helmets), pedestrians, ducks, insects... Cars really are at the bottom of the pile. The population of Amsterdam is only a few hundred thousand more than that of Dublin so not exactly the 'mega city' that the i3 has been designed for.
But get under the skin and it makes perfect sense; the packed city streets (admittedly made up of bikes rather than cars) perfectly replicate those of future mega cities; the small surface area of the city means you do not need 10 million people to make it seem busier and the fully integrated public transport system with trams, buses, taxis (both car and bike taxis) can all be accounted for in the i3's advanced satellite navigation that (bizarrely) tells you when NOT to drive. If it would be more effective and energy efficient to park your car up and jump on a tram the system will tell you rather than just mindlessly pointing you towards your end location. It will even communicate with your smartphone to give you directions to the tram/train station and the necessary timetables to ensure you get to your location on time.
The i3 is not special, it is normal. Just so happens to have arrived a few years before we have accepted this normality.