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BMW i3 EV revealed. It’s clever, but it’s not exactly pretty

The BMW i3 electric city car (pictured) has been officially revealed The BMW i3 – the first of BMW’s production ‘i’ electric cars – has finally been revealed at events in London, New York and Beijing as BMW plots its course to bring a premium electric city car to the world. Looking much like the original Mega City Concept, the i3 debuts a number of innovations from BMW – which are very clever – but it also debuts perhaps the worst looking BMW we’ve ever seen, with its incongruous lines, bulging bonnet, odd shapes on the flanks and slab-backed rear view. But what underpins the i3 is clever indeed, with a lightweight inner body made from carbon fibre and carbon fibre reinforced body panels providing the skin, all conspiring to make the i3 light – 1195kg, despite 25 per cent or so of that being batteries – and very rigid.

Nissan LEAF £2500 UK price drop

Nissan has revealed that the LEAF EV will be reduced in price by £2500 with immediate effect and ahead of the launch of the uprated 2013 LEAF. The world hasn’t exactly fallen in love with electric cars, which has as much to do with the fact that an electric car, with its limited range, is never going to be a replacement for a normal ICE car. But compounding the impracticality of the EV as a replacement for the ICE car is the very high prices car makers are charging for electric cars, the sort of prices that mean buyers will probably find the ‘Cheap to Fuel’ EV a more costly option than fuelling a much cheaper comparable iICE car with petrol or diesel.

Missing oil changes is false economy

TRYING TO SAVE money on motoring costs by not changing a car’s oil is risking a false economy as it could lead to more wear and fuel consumption, according to Two-thirds (65%) of British drivers admitted they have not changed the oil in their car in the last 12 months, with the same number admitting they buy oil for their car based solely on price. The same study by Mobil 1 also showed only 45% of drivers knew when their car’s scheduled service intervals were, while 15% said they would cut back on servicing to save money. Dan McGoldrick, of Mobil 1, said: ‘Choosing the right oil for your car is vital as it means both the lubricant and the engine will last longer, so you’re saving in the long term.’ Tim Shallcross, Head of Technical Policy at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, added: ‘Apart from lubricating the engine, oil has the important job of absorbing harmful by-products given off by the burning fuel.