The all-electric BMW i3 REx (range extender) bags another "Green Car of The Year" award from British automotive publication, Auto Express. The German automaker also took time to explain the absence of a basic option in the high-tech zero-emission vehicle.
"It's a testament to the advanced design of the i3 that it picks up our Green Award for the second year running," Auto Express said.
Earlier this year, the i3 won the Los Angeles Auto Show's Green Car of the Year.
The website said the EV is "at the cutting-edge of electric car technology" and praised its user-friendliness and "clever packaging."
Auto Express also commended the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and the Peugeot 208 BlueHDI.
The BMW i3 REx has the same 168 BHP electric motor but adds a two-cylinder petrol-fed engine that acts as a generator that charges the batteries. By contrast, the i3 BEV (battery electric vehicle) only has the electric motor. Otherwise, both zero emission vehicles are nearly identical.
The i3 BEV is rated at 124 MPGe and can go up to 80 miles on a single charge while the i3 REx has a 117 MPGe rating and up to 150 miles on a full charge and full tank of petrol, according to BMW Blog.
With a carbon-fiber reinforced plastic body shell, a lithium-ion battery embedded in its aluminum platform and other high-tech doodads, the BMW i3 is truly the car of the future. But it doesn't have AM radio.
Green Car Reports noticed the omission and took it up to the German automaker who then replied with an explanation.
"AM is not offered due to negative performance influences of the electromagnetic interference of the electric drivetrain," Rebecca K. Kiehne, BMW product and technical communications spokesperson said.
Reportedly, the AM interference is the reason the radio was removed and although the German automaker could offer it as an option, it wouldn't meet their high standards.
"We surmised it could have something to do with the CFRP body shell, but [Kiehne] wasn't terribly forthcoming," GCR said.
But with a navigation system that can connect to the web, the absence of AM radio doesn't exactly make it a BMW i3 REx deal breaker.
