[Deman77]

What is “new tech”? Same inefficient lithium batteries but more of them, which with decent range turn a car into a whale. They are recognising pushing range higher will not solve range anxiety problem nor will it make it a distance car for any sensible person. So they are making a mini that will still be a good car to drive.
Until much higher density batteries are around and the charge tech is sub 5min for 150+ miles or one can swap batteries the electric cars are a niche product that are a pain for long distance applications and are only enjoyable in straight line. Yes people are buying them because of the incentives just like they were buying diesels for the wrong reasons, but that doesn’t make them any better. I have a feeling that current crop of slow charging heavy electric will devalue heavily in 5-6 years and will need expensive upgrades of the charging system
Or even batteries.
And interestingly the “old tech” i3 allows me to go pay bmw 8k and upgrade my battery to the latest generation and double the range. It’s a waste of money for my application (I don’t even have to charge mine every day for what I need and it is always full overnight even on plug charger) but I am not sure how many other BEVs are designed with that in mind.
Bmw are right to make just enough electric not to be irrelevant but to focus on combustion and making good to drive cars now.
Petrol bmw estate is the top of my want list if I were to replace my xc90 now. If I needed a BEV (those are only good for commute or run around) there is still nothing better than i3.