- BMW somehow sold a brand-new first-generation i3 EV in the U.S. this year.
- The car was discontinued stateside in 2021.
- Most likely, a dealer had the car stashed away somewhere and finally sold it in the third quarter of 2025.
The first-generation BMW i3 will always be remembered as a quirky and innovative electric car, but what’s even more interesting is that someone, somewhere in the United States, bought a brand-new one recently.
That’s despite the fact that BMW stopped making the U.S.-spec i3 in mid-2021. So, how does a car that was discontinued nearly half a decade ago end up on the North American third-quarter sales report with a single unit?
Most likely, a dealer somewhere in the U.S. or Canada still had a new-old-stock (NOS) i3 lying around for whatever reason, and the distinctive EV was finally registered sometime between July and September, as spotted by BMW Blog. The same thing happened last year, when another lone i3 made its way on BMW’s sales report, and again in 2022, when nine units were sold. In 2023, the i3 had zero sales in North America.
In other words, BMW sold 11 new i3s this side of the Atlantic in the years after it stopped production. Not exactly a record, but a peculiar number nonetheless.
Launched in 2013, the original BMW i3 was the German automaker’s first mass-produced EV. Despite its age, it has held up surprisingly well and is now one of the go-to options for anyone who’s looking for an affordable used EV. Thanks to its carbon fiber body and aluminum chassis, it will never rust. Meanwhile, the extended-range (REx) model, where a gas-powered engine is used to replenish the battery, brought peace of mind to owners who suffered from range anxiety.
We don’t know how much the person who bought a new i3 this year paid for it, but when it was still officially available in showrooms, the four-door EV was priced between $45,445 for the base model and $52,495 for the top i3s with the range extender.
19
Despite its quirks, the original i3 was a hit worldwide, with 250,000 units sold. That may not be impressive these days, but let’s not forget that the bespoke EV is more than a decade old, and EVs weren’t quite the hot commodity back then as they are now.
Next year, a new i3 will go on sale, but it will have nothing in common with its predecessor, except for the name. Based on the Neue Klasse platform, the next-gen i3 will be a 3 Series-sized electric sedan that will most likely be available with either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. It will also have a lot more range, more power and will be able to recharge much faster than the original.
