Random thoughts of the morning: Why didn't we get a MINI version of the i3?

"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel) 06/18/2019 at 08:05 • Filed to: None

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I would have been perfect. Take the i3, throw some MINI styling cues and quirks on it and then you have an electric MINI city car. It seems odd to me with all the talks of MINI going heavily electric that BMW hasn't done this. Only reason I can see is that the composite construction of the i3 might make it more difficult to make a variant of it.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 08:51

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Then it would have been a legacy brand/badge ...not a whole new brand/badge .

Now that most car makers realise that punters actually want their new electric cars to look more generically blob like rather than some industrial designers wet dream or 'just plain bloody weird'... electric Mini's make sense again.

random001 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 09:02

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Because you can’t have a RWD MINI.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media 06/18/2019 at 09:03

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I'm not saying don't have a BMW i3, just that they should have made a MINI version in addition to the BMW i3.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > random001 06/18/2019 at 09:05

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They make FWD BMWs, your argument is invalid.

Also, one of the concepts Rover had when they were developing what became the R50/R53 Mini was rear engine and RWD.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 09:09

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Because they made an electric mini

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 06/18/2019 at 09:12

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As a development platform for the i3, further proving there should be a MINI variant of the i3.

random001 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 09:23

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There is no FWD i3, is the point.  It’s not a matter of adapting over a platform, like they did with the MINI -> FWM BMW, because the design of the frame, body, and mount points are all way too integral.  They could probably have mini-ized the i3, but you’d have a RWD mini, and they’re not going to do that.

phenotyp > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 09:26

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I think you just suggested this week’s Oppo sketch project.

But, realistically, I’d bet that the CF passenger cell is the reason; Mini wouldn’t have had the resources to develop one that could drop onto the skateboard, and trying to shoehorn Mini-looking panels over the i3’s just wouldn’t work.

Mini needs the roof to be Mini. It wouldn’t work on the i3’s cell. Do whatever you want with the lights and grille, but you’re left with that Toyota-on-Mazda 2 abomination in the end. 

Spanfeller is a twat > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 09:27

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it would wind up being a lot of work. I wonder more often why BMW didn’t extend the wheelbase and a 1er/2er electric duo... it could’ve competed with a tesla 

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > random001 06/18/2019 at 09:48

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I'm failing to see how a RWD Mini is a complete impossibility. If BMW didn't buy Rover we would have gotten a rear engine, RWD Mini. The existence of FWD BMWs proves that they don't care about sticking to the drivetrain they have historically used. I don't think the idea of a RWD Mini would have stopped them making a Mini version of the i3.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Spanfeller is a twat 06/18/2019 at 09:52

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I don’t see it being much more work than the Countryman/X2 siblings unless the composite construction makes things difficult in strange ways.

I think BMW didn't make a long wheelbase version because IIRC the original plan was to make a full range of i vehicles which would have included the likes of an electric sedan. It sounds like now they are just going to ditch the i brand in favor of electrifying the existing cars.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 09:58

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I’m honestly surprised that the whole mini line up doesn’t have an Electric variant at this point. They are kind of perfect for it. Small, stylish, city cars with an emphasis on fun. Why not be electric with snappy acceleration? 

random001 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 10:37

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I don’t agree.

Also, a $50,000 mini?

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > random001 06/18/2019 at 10:46

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You say $50k Mini like it's not already a thing.

Spanfeller is a twat > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 10:59

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I think the front crash structure is part of the skateboard, so it was probably that, molding a mini with the characteristic design cues while keeping the crash bar unmodified, and also making the practical and affordable would’ve been a challenge. I can see them placing the range extender in the front area to justify a long bonnet and get a deeper boot floor, but really I can’t see a very compatible scheme.

random001 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 11:00

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Well, that’s ridiculous.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > random001 06/18/2019 at 11:08

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Its the same pricing structure as the X2 it is based on, and even the same starting MSRP between the xDrive28i and the Countryman JCW All4.

random001 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 12:17

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I don’t know what’s real anymore.

My bird IS the word > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 12:17

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I feel like the i3 already competes for the same target market as most minis. Didnt the i3 also sell horribly?

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > random001 06/18/2019 at 12:19

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Just wait until the GP3 comes along and you can spend $60k on a 2 door Cooper.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 06/18/2019 at 18:27

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The thing is that the 1 Series is a Mini under the skin. I’m not suggesting that an electric Mini is a bad thing but using the i3 as a base for it when there’s already a generic Mini platform would have been silly.

If the i range had been successful then there is every reason to expect that the next iteration of the i3 platform could well have appeared under a Mini cloak. Unfortunately for BMW, we like our electric cars to look like our c ICE cars.