Was Giving the i3 Only 4 Seats an "Unforced Error"?

This i3 spy shot clearly shows a plastic tray separating the two rear seats.
The i3 is departing to single own 4 seats. That was something to facilitate has pretty much been an traditional piece of information since BMW chief announced the "Megacity" vehicle would make for into production. However promptly to facilitate we are on the verge of the endorsed inauguration soon after this month a quantity of fill with are initial to ask why not nominate it seat five?

The i3 concept coupe rear seats














I've seen both the original i3 concept and the i3 concept coupe in person and they both appear wide enough to accommodate three people back there. Add the fact that there is no transmission tunnel to get in the way of the middle passengers feet and one does start to wonder about it. Over in the Facebook i3 group, Anton Wahlman, a contributor to The Street likened BMW's decision to make the i3 only seat four an "unforced error" since it would appear the car could accommodate three in the rear seat if only BMW had wanted it to. Anton said:
"If you can't fit 3 people in the rear seat, it will significantly reduce the propensity of a Volt owner to switch. If this is true, it would be an unforced error in terms of understanding the (American) consumer." He also said:
"The #1 reason I hear people aren't buying the Volt is the lack of seating for 5. Not the ONLY reason, but the single most frequent one. GM knows this, so the Volt 2.0 (2015 model, launched in 2014) will fit 3 people in the back seat."
Anton is speaking from experience, he drives a Volt. He makes a very good point about a Volt owner switching to an i3.

Both the Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF launched in December of 2010. So anyone that was an early adopter and rushed out to get one of the first Volts or LEAFs took delivery in the end of 2010 to the beginning of 2011. Many of these people took the attractive 3 year lease options offered and guess when all those leases are expiring? Yep, pretty much exactly when the i3 will be launching. The i3 is the perfect next step for existing Volt and LEAF owners because it offers more electric range plus a range extender, a combination no other EV does. I have personally received dozens of messages and emails from people in this position wanting to know if I had inside information about the exact launch date because they want to transition directly from their LEAF or Volt into an i3 but don't know if the i3 will be available when their lease expires.

The original concept had rear bucket seats

To the same extent Anton mentioned, it's believed to facilitate Chevy is departing to nominate a 5 seat Volt representing the 2015 standard. If so, they will sell like hot cakes both a 4 seat Volt and a 5 Seat Volt what time the redesigned Volt 2.0 is released soon after then day. So apparently the Volts lack of a 5th seat was a major matter, an adequate amount representing GM to do over the battery tunnel to allow representing a focus rear seat. Since the i3 doesn't own a battery tunnel in the chief place, and appears to be around as spacious as a Volt at hand be required to be other reasons BMW selected to nominate the back seat single representing two passengers. Weight considerations can be the foremost culprit I suspect but regulatory issues and crash test ratings can be potential reasons furthermore. We know how troublesome BMW worked to keep the i3 heaviness as low as potential, shedding all beat to facilitate wasn't extremely essential. A lot in life more goes into tallying the third seat than simply tallying an second seatbelt. The suspension would furthermore need to be modified which would add heaviness and nominate representing a stiffer ride. I wonder if BMW will look after come again? They did with the MINI Countryman and offer a third seat option next to a soon after time if this becomes a larger matter than they expect.


Taking all to facilitate into consideration, BMW still hasn't revealed the exact width of the production i3. They did uncover the extent in the contemporary press emancipation which surprisingly will be 6 inches longer than the real thing i3 idea was. The real thing idea was 151.4" and the production i3 will be 157.4". It will be appealing to distinguish come again? The width in reality is. If it's wider than 67" (which is around come again? A 5 passenger Honda Fit is next to 66.7") followed by I may well match with Anton around it being an unforced slip if BMW gives a proper explanation why tallying the fifth seat would not own been a respectable goal. I'm convinced offering the i3 as a 5 passenger vehicle compared to a 4 passenger vehicle would candid it up to a much broader audience of perspective buyers. After all, practically all of the top advertising passenger cars in the US are 5 passenger vehicles representing a think logically.

This is probably the best interior picture of an i3 available. You can see it appears there is plenty of rear legroom