The 2017 BMW i3 is getting ready for a grand launch and the company has been working to upgrade it with newer features besides a powerful battery.

Newest reports confirmed that the car will reach 114 miles on a full charge.

All other automobile manufacturers are slowly finding their way to reach the benchmark Tesla has set with their new Model 3 electric car. The model is set to hit dealership stores in 2018 but pre-orders are already open and a large group of people has already purchased it. It is primarily because of the fact that the car is quite affordable at $35,000 and has an impressive mile range of 200 miles. BMW, just like everyone else should prove its mettle and they are doing so with one step at a time.

Instead of trying to go for higher range which might probably take months to develop and bring the vehicle out, they opted for 114 miles, an easy target for 2016. Powered by a 33 kWh battery which can produce 27.2 kilowatt hours, the car gets fifty percent increase in performance and cover over a hundred miles on a single charge. It is more than enough for people who commute within the city and travelers who don’t have plans to go long distances can rely on the battery pack to help them reach their destination.

The previous version of the i3 was much lower in terms of efficiency as it could cover 81 miles and was still in its early stages. The bigger battery used in the 2017 BMW edition has increased the overall weight of the product to 2,961 pounds. The car requires four hours and thirty minutes to go from zero to full charge. It takes an hour more than the previous model so as to compensate the increased battery capacity.

A hybrid version of the i3 is available which automatically switches to the two-cylinder gasoline powered enginewhen the battery drops below six percent charge. The option is available in the Range Extender model which delivers 38 horsepower and is not the usual powertrain that is made to provide the best performance. It is rather a range extender as the model name suggests to cover more distance without running out of power.

The 2017 BMW i3 can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 8 seconds. Color variants available for the car includes protonic blue metallic paint, silver, white, black and gray. New features found in the latest edition includes comfort access keyless entry, real time traffic updates and an universal garage door opener.