BMW's electric i3 priced

BMW's electric i3 priced

BMW's all-electric offering to the city car market, the i3, is due to be put on sale in the next week, with prices starting at £369 per month for finance buyers.

If buyers choose this contract hire deal, an initial payment of £2995 is taken as a deposit, with the monthly payments following on afterwards, for three years. All figures already include VAT. The contract also includes a contract mileage of 8000 miles per year. First shipments of the vehicle are due to arrive in the UK in October.

For customers wishing to buy their i3 outright, they will be seeing costs of £30,680 on the road. However, with the government's grant of £5,000 for buyers of new electric vehicles, this drops down to £25,680. At this price, the i3 is on the same level a it's rival Nissan Leaf, with top specifications. However, it is still around £10,000 more than the Renault Zoe.

The i3 will have a range of 80 to 100 miles on a full charge, with an 80% recharge being possible within 3 hours. An optional Wallbox means this can be done at home though AC power.

An extender version of the BMW i3 will also be offered in the future. This upgrades the entry-level i3 with a 2 cylinder 650cc petrol engine to augment battery charging, which also increases the range of the vehicle to nearly 180 miles. Prices have not yet been announced, but an extra £2,500 is what dealers are predicting.

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