A few months back, BMW had said the i3’s battery upgrade for the 2017 model year will give the electric vehicle a 40% jump in single-charge range and it’s now official.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has certified that the EV can go 114 miles on a full charge, up from 81 miles for the 2016 model-year version, Auto Blog reported.
The new variant comes with a 94-amp-hour battery. The EPA has not rated the new Bimmer that comes with the option of the on-board range-extender. BMW announced both the longer range and improved battery in June when it said the car’s base price would rise from $1,200 to $44,595.
The longer range should further help BMW boost sales of its electric vehicles.
Last month, i3 sales in the US jumped 58% from a year earlier to almost 1,500 units after being down 35% through June.
BMW’s electric-vehicle sales are doing better than expected worldwide, especially in Europe. More than 40% of the 3-series sales last month in both the Netherlands and Scandinavia were for the 330e plug-in hybrid. More than half of Scandinavia’s 2-series sales were for the PHEV variant, says Green Car Congress. And July’s global sales of the i3 jumped 34%.
