BMW i3 vs BMW i3s

The BMW i3s costs £2,490 more than the BMW i3. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the BMW i3 comes out ahead overall.

The BMW i3 is £2,490 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £168 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the BMW i3 comes out roughly £2,570 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 129 miles for the BMW i3 and 118 miles for the BMW i3s - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 42-42 minutes.

The two are within 16 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 625 mm of total clearance for the BMW i3 and about 609 mm of total clearance for the BMW i3s.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 88% battery health for the BMW i3 and 84% for the BMW i3s. That gives the BMW i3 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.