BMW i3 review

Welcome to the best bit about the i3: its interior. Proper seating for four and easy access via the rear suicide doors (the fronts have to be opened first), interesting shapes, textures, materials and tech. It really does play to your early-adopter fantasies, and yet remains useable and logical. It’s airy, and being able to see the grain on ‘recycled’ carbon structures is a real talking point.

It’s fun without being wacky or gimmicky, and is more practical than many in this segment. Rear space is acceptable without being generous and the 260 litre boot expands to 1,100 litres with the seats folded. At a whisker over four metres long and less than 1.8 metres wide, it’s dimensionally similar to a conventional supermini, but better packaged.

The driving position is wonderful, your feet higher than you expect due to the raised floor, the seats are far more comfy than their narrow, thin structure would suggest. It’s a huge success from start to finish.

You also get a decent chunk of standard equipment to go with the high list price including LED headlights, BMW Professional Multimedia, heated front seats and BMW ConnectedDrive (BMW Emergency Call, BMW Navigation, BMW Online Services, BMW Teleservices and Real Time Traffic Information).

As ever with BMW, if you want to pay for extras, you can. We’d recommend the £360 reversing camera and the £780 glass roof if you really want to maximise the interior light. Oh, and possibly the £950 Pro Pack if you’re into your tunes – the Harman/Kardon surround hifi is a goodie.