The new BMW i3 electric car has been confirmed for the Singapore market, and will go on sale in the republic by mid 2014. This was announced along with the appointment of Performance Motors Ltd (PML) as the sole authorised dealership in Singapore for BMW i, BMW’s new sub-brand for its electric cars.
With this appointment, PML, which is part of the Sime Darby Group, will be equipped with specialist technical abilities that will enable them to carry out repairs to the BMW i vehicles’ high voltage batteries. A wider service network is also planned to offer extended coverage for the general service, maintenance and repair of the vehicles.
“As the most sustainable car brand in the world, BMW has always been clear on its strategy to build cars that are powerful yet fuel efficient and low on CO2 emissions. With the arrival of BMW i, we have most definitely taken this effort to a new level by setting new benchmarks across the industry,” said Mr Neil Fiorentinos, MD of BMW Group Asia.
“Through the appointment of Performance Motors Ltd as our official BMW i dealer in Singapore, we are confident that they will be able to grow the sub-brand to greater heights when the BMW i3 starts retailing locally in Singapore next year,” he added.
BMW i vehicles are purpose-built EVs drawn from scratch. Designed with a unique LifeDrive architecture, the main body (Life Module) of the cars is made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP, also used in F1) that is not only very light but tougher than steel.
The aluminium chassis (Drive Module), meanwhile, has been devised specially to house the bulky battery to ensure better driving dynamics and overall balance. We’ve already detailed the production BMW i3 along with a hi-res gallery – click here to view.
Apart from retailing electric cars, BMW i will encompass a range of premium services for mobility poised at optimising the use of parking spaces, recharging infrastructure, ‘smart’ navigation systems, intermodal route planning and access to other BMW vehicles on an ‘on-demand’ basis.
Will Malaysia get the BMW i3 as well? If yes, when? Another BMW i model that has been confirmed for production is the BMW i8 hybrid supercar.
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after that maybe a year later, will it be in Malaysia??
It will be in Malaysia IF you guys, fellow Malaysians SUPPORT Electric Vehicles instead of criticizing on battery, charging period and expensive price tag. the Total Cost of Ownership for EV is lower than normal combustion cars. susah mau educate orang malaysia ni.
Who said? Are you from utus m? Tell me why this tiny i3 is better than a B-class?
Target customers of luxury brands do not talk about expensive price tag and petrol price. Do you think changing a battery at RM30k is expensive? Come on la.
There are model where the EV users just pay monthly rate for the battery. Which means you will purchase the car without the battery price OTR and pay the monthly rate for the battery. You will get the benefits of upgrades and replacements just like software licensing or antivirus licensing. Thus you can see annual TCO is cheaper than ICE. MAI slow tu kena buat kerja sikit. NAP bullshit
enough of the teasing already, can we see the real thing now??
Will likely be another playtoy for the rich. How to charge the car in a multi storey carpark?
For Singaporeans it could be a big issue, since most don’t have their own car park in front of the door. But in Malaysia? Only those living in a condo will be screwed.
I wonder what the government will do about the taxes on electric vehicles, have they said anything? If taxes are waived then this BMW would be in a reasonable(ish) price range.
Playtoy for the rich? Wait till you see the adorability of this tiny vehicle. It seems like you think it is cantiq.
Toys have to be cantiq/handsome/musculine/sporty, or combinations of these features, or speed/handing.
Some other vehicles are for status (no need test drive).
i3 is neither.
BMW Malaysia can introduce the i3 Range Extender version for Malaysia first. Then later can introduce the pure electric version. Mitsubishi have also introduce i-MIEV pure electric car even though our charging infra is still at its infancy. So BMW Malaysia, surely you can do better?… While hopefully our tax/duty for EEV cars remain favourable…
makes sense for singapore being a city state plus new tax pricing scheme based on CO2 emissions akin to those in europe have taken effect.
So they will most likely be enjoying loads of powerful frugal diesels
ok lets enjoy vy high car price in temasik and high diesel price haha
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u pay me part of your commission the I agree with you here. haha