BMW i3

BMW had what they called a “Special Sneak Peak Event” today at Center 548 gallery today in New York City. It was the first time BMW showed the i3 and i8 in North America. While the cars will make their first official public appearance later this month at the Los Angeles Auto Show, this event gave the press an early look.

This week, I participated in the BMW ActiveE press event at BMW headquarters in Munich. It was the first time anyone outside BMW drove the second electric car produced out of project i—and the final test vehicle before BMW offers its first electric car, the 2013 BMW i3. The ActiveE has a new feature, which as far as I know no other EV has. It’s called “glide mode.” I really didn’t have much time to test it out because most of the time I was on the autobahn, I wasn’t thinking about coasting.

The BMW i subbrand represents a paradigm shift of everything from how cars are built, to what materials they use, to what kinds of impacts their construction has on the environment, to what kinds of tools they offer drivers. After the attending the unveiling of the first two i cars--the i3 and i8--in Germany last week, 11 discoveries rose to the surface.