Quote:
Originally Posted by red-sauerkraut
Yes, they are a one gear wonder !
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Please tell me where in the USA you can get anywhere near the max speed of the i3 legally? And, where, in a city and its suburbs will you need that speed? And why do people here complain about speed limiters when, unless they pick the car up in Germany (and, drive it enough to get past the breakin period) would ever have a chance of approaching that limit? It only limits it in top gear, so you have the full range.
The thing is designed as a city car, with maybe a short side-trip either from or to the country. It is not designed as a general purpose car, a track car for the weekends, or to beat people in drag races, but it will do quite well in the city canyons - far better than the Leaf, Ford, and Volt smaller options, and makes the smart electric look pretty poor, too.
When, and if, BMW makes an i-car for general purpose in a family size, it will probably be a hybrid until the battery technology improves considerably and the recharging infrastructure is much better. It's one thing for Tesla to say you can go shore to shore, but your route may not go anywhere near where you'd like to go. That will change, assuming they don't fold in the future before reaching that tipping point. With China and other countries' wealth increasing, and the demand for gasoline keeps rising, another, renewable source of energy and a vehicle that can use it will become more and more important. There will always be uses for oil, but we make lots more out of it than just fuel for our transportation.
Certainly, BMW could have given the i3 another gear or so, and increased max speed, but at what cost and benefit? More weight, means less range, and more complexity means more money and reliability. Just how much simpler is a single speed transmission verses any other choice? Lots. It will always be heavier, which means either more batteries, or less range. Why would you need it if you can reach 93mph in the first place? The i8 has it, but it can reach 155mph, and that would put the single speed motor at unreliable rotation rates. That limit is there for a reason. Again, if you don't like it, don't buy it, but for its intended use, it isn't a limiting factor, and is indeed a benefit to keep costs down and range up.