BMW i3 will be leased here, but not sold

The Australian introduction of the i3 in 2014 is expected to mirror Europe, where BMW is pushing shoppers towards a lease deal that pegs the price at $415 per month in Britain including a home fast-charger that delivers a 7.4 kiloWatt kick and zero to 80 per cent of battery capacity within three hours.

There is an outright purchase plan in Britain but, with very limited numbers and a low-key start-up in 2014, BMW Australia is playing a conservative game. "Our preference would be to do it through leasing, including the wall chargers, and then return the cars to us," the marketing chief of BMW Australia, Tom Noble, tells Carsguide. "There are a couple of things to manage. There is the resale value, but also the recyling. If it's a sustainable concept, let's make it truly sustainable."

The first i3 deliveries in Australia will be in the third quarter of next year, with the baby city car landing at almost the same time as the high-performance i8 coupe. "We will have an i3 demonstrator coming this year, so we'll use that as a pace car for the Melbourne Marathon. We'll be showing it to governments and fleet companies. "Next year is when they start to arrive. They will be in Q3 next year."

BMW will begin with just two i-line dealers, in Sydney and Melbourne, and both are factory-owned shops. "We thought it made sense to do it with two. If the interest levels are bigger, and we can get more products, we'll roll it out to more dealers," Noble says.

"We can control it nicely. There will be a lot of investment in training to sell the concept. So it's really a well-thought-out car, or future mobility." He says BMW Australia is only expecting a small number of cars in 2014 - without giving a final figure - but that supplies should grow rapidly in 2015.

"Numbers? To be honest, I don't know yet. We've asked for more than we can get. "We don't have a ton of cars next year to flop into the market, so we want to use the cars we get to build the demand leading into 2015. There is a minimum number of cars we'll get."

Noble says the pricing, and even such things as an online purchase plan, are still a fair way from being settled. "It isn't just about a car. It's about a new way to build cars, but also to buy mobility. We haven't worked through it 100 per cent on the financing package."

This reporter is on Twitter:  @PaulWardGover