i3s

STORY

The BMW i3 was one of the most genuinely radical cars of its era. Launched in 2013 as BMW's first purpose-built electric car, it was designed from scratch around an electric drivetrain rather than adapted from a petrol model, with a tall, upright cabin, rear-hinged coach doors and sustainable interior materials.

Its headline innovation was structure: the i3's passenger cell was made of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic, making it one of the first mass-produced cars to use carbon fibre so extensively. That offset the weight of its batteries and showed the industry that CFRP could move from supercars to everyday vehicles. Offered as a pure EV or with a small "range-extender" petrol generator, the i3 sold steadily for a decade and served as BMW's real-world laboratory for the electric era.