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Comment by martinko | Hacker News Reader

Its a pity they cant just make a normal, fully electric 3 series or 5 series. These are beautiful cars, yet the decide to go for the i3 and i8.

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They needed to capture attention first, and also make sure they don't damage their brand if they mess up their first generation e-vehicle. I think this strategy makes sense.

I know what you mean though :-)

Fair enough, but most people I know that would be interested in a fully electric car are just turned off by how the 'i' series look. I your point, they could have just made them look somewhat nicer.

There seems to be no middle point with the i-series and it's its biggest problem. You either have to go for the affordable but incredibly ugly and bare i3(seriously, look at this car from the side - front, middle and back all look like they've been designed by different teams and then stitched together), or for the gorgeous i8, which is incredibly expensive and very impractical.

It is also worth pointing out the i8 is a hybrid, with 15-23 miles of range on electric only.

Interior is actually a bit worse - it has those tiny screens with huge bezels just bolted on somewhere randomly.

I actually like the looks of the i3.

Because the typical 3-Series buyer is unlikely to buy a i3, but the get new customer segments with the i3. So overall more sales without cannibalizing existing ones.

there might be engineering constraints: does the frame need to be redesigned to store all the batteries? How is the 50/50 weight distribution affected? How is handling affected?

I think the differences in the drivetrain might be so much that they would need to create a fundamentally new car. It would have to be a new model.

That is the innovator's dilemma, and the i-brand is BMW's attempt to avoid it.

That's a story worth writing.

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