TOUTED by BMW senior management as a significant step in the German car-maker’s transition from an automotive brand to a technology company, the i3 EV has broken barriers since its introduction in 2014.

Fast forward nearly four years and the i3 remains a low-volume player, with just 118 examples sold in Australia last year.

Nevertheless, sales were up 28.3 per cent year-on-year, meaning EV demand is slowly growing.

To make matters more interesting, BMW has decided to the double the number of offerings, following the introduction of the sportier i3s alongside the facelifted i3. We drive the i3s in pure electric from to see if its performance-focused upgrades are worth the extra outlay.