BMW i3 (2013-2022) range, battery & charging

Thanks to improvements in battery technology, BMW was able to improve the i3's range without having to modify the body or reduce interior space when it upgraded the battery in 2019. Now, the car sits perfectly between the 159-mile range offered by the Volkswagen e-up! and the 220-odd miles of the Vauxhall Corsa-e. It offers far more miles between charges than the Mazda MX-30, Honda e and MINI Electric, which all top out at under 150 miles.

BMW i3 range

Now with a 42.2kWh lithium-ion battery stashed under the floor, the latest version of the standard 168bhp i3 can return up to 189 miles of range in official testing, while the corresponding figure for the 181bhp i3s is 175 miles. In the real world, you can expect to get around 160 miles in warmer temperatures, although that'll dip to some 140 miles or less in bad weather or with a lot of motorway miles.

Charge time

Using a standard three-pin plug and regular domestic wall socket, it’ll take up to 20 hours to fully charge the BMW i3. However, if you fit a domestic wallbox you can reduce that to six hours. Plug into a rapid charger of the kind found in many motorway service stations and you'll get an additional 100 miles of range in around half an hour.