BMW i3 electric sedan catches fire during test drive in China

Electric vehicle fire accidents don't seem to be exclusive to Tesla or China's startups, and German luxury brand BMW is no exception.

A BMW i3 electric sedan caught fire in its chassis during normal driving in the city of Zhengzhou in Central China's Henan province, auto media outlet Auto Home said in a report today, adding that conditions at the scene indicated the accident did not result in a burst of flames or injuries.

It was a test drive vehicle at a BMW dealership store that was on its way with a employee of the store as well as a consumer, according to the report.

The fire started while the vehicle was in motion, when they noticed something unusual and all the people in the car got out immediately, then found the rear of the vehicle chassis was burning, but there was no burst of flame, according to the report.

The BMW i3, an all-electric version of the BMW 3 Series, was officially launched in China on March 31, offering only one version, the BMW i3 eDrive35L, and only for the Chinese market.

The model starts at RMB 349,900 ($52,870) to target the market where the Tesla Model 3 is located.

The BMW i3 maintains a unified design with the fuel-fired BMW 3 Series model, with only a few details to highlight its electric vehicle status.

The car adopts the fifth generation BMW eDrive electric drive technology and excitation synchronous motor, with a maximum power of 210kW, maximum torque of 400Nm and 0-100km/h acceleration time of 6.2 seconds.

The BMW i3 is equipped with a 70kWh ternary lithium battery pack and has a CLTC range of 526 km.

See also

Mercedes-Benz EQE starts pre-sales in China: Is it overpriced?

China state paper explains why Audi's NEVs can't outsell Nio

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