2021 BMW i3

small car / 4-door hatchback

Fully electric
2021 BMW i3 4-door hatchback
2017 BMW i3 shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Standard system
Advanced

Seat belts & child restraints

LATCH ease of use

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2017-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2017 BMW i3 4-door

The BMW i3 was introduced in the 2014 model year. The car is a plug-in battery-electric vehicle with an optional 2-cylinder gasoline engine "range extender" to assist in charging the battery. The EPA city and highway values listed below are based on a comparison of the energy content of a kWh of electricity vs. a gallon of gasoline. The battery capacity and weight of the car were increased beginning with the 2017 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the small overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained very well.

The seat belt and airbags worked well together to keep the head from coming close to any stiff structure or outside objects that could cause injury. Deceleration was so gradual in this test that the dummy's head never quite reached the frontal airbag.

The driver's space was maintained well, and risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1627
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 7
Footrest (cm) 2
Left toepan (cm) 2
Brake pedal (cm) 3
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 2
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 0
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 3
Upper dash (cm) 4
Lower instrument panel (cm) 3

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1627
Head
HIC-15 47
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.6
Extension bending moment (Nm) 9
Maximum Nij 0.15
Chest maximum compression (mm) 27
Femur (kN)
Left 1.0
Right 0.4
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 2
Right 1
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.77
Right 0.24
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 3.6
Right 1.2
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 49
Right 100

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2017-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2017 BMW i3 4-door

The BMW i3 was introduced in the 2014 model year. The car is a plug-in battery-electric vehicle with an optional 2-cylinder gasoline engine "range extender" to assist in charging the battery. The EPA city and highway values listed below are based on a comparison of the energy content of a kWh of electricity vs. a gallon of gasoline. The battery capacity and weight of the car were increased beginning with the 2017 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the moderate overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained very well.

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head contacted the side curtain airbag during rebound.

The driver's space was maintained well, and risk of injuries to the dummy's legs and feet was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF1610
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 1
Left (cm) 1
Center (cm) 2
Right (cm) 1
Brake pedal (cm) 3
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -2
Rearward (cm) -7
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF1610
Head
HIC-15 209
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Extension bending moment (Nm) 13
Maximum Nij 0.23
Chest maximum compression (mm) 34
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.4
Femur force - right (kN) 0.9
Knee displacement - left (mm) 2
Knee displacement - right (mm) 3
Maximum tibia index - left 0.27
Maximum tibia index - right 0.42
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.1
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.2
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 72
Right 64

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2017-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2017 BMW i3 4-door

The BMW i3 was introduced in the 2014 model year. The car is a plug-in battery-electric vehicle with an optional 2-cylinder gasoline engine "range extender" to assist in charging the battery. The EPA city and highway values listed below are based on a comparison of the energy content of a kWh of electricity vs. a gallon of gasoline. The battery capacity and weight of the car were increased beginning with the 2017 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection

View of the vehicle just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with the front door removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side airbags.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES1614
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -16.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES1614
Head HIC-15 264
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.7
Compression (kN) 0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 24
Lateral force (kN) 1.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 36
Average deflection (mm) 32
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 4.31
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.53
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.4
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.6
Combined force (kN) 4.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 1.3
L-M moment (Nm) 105
A-P moment (Nm) 22

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES1614
Head HIC-15 319
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.4
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 45
Lateral force (kN) 1.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 39
Average deflection (mm) 24
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.74
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.78
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.8
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.7
Combined force (kN) 4.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.9
L-M moment (Nm) 102
A-P moment (Nm) 54

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2017-21 models

Tested vehicle: 2017 BMW i3 4-door

Overall evaluation
Curb weight2,920 lbs
Peak force13,772 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio4.72

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Manual cloth seat

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Manual cloth seat
Geometry
Backset (mm) 15
Distance below top of head (mm) -4
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 13.3
Head contact time (ms) 76
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 5
Max neck tension (N) 561

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

System details

  • Standard Active Driving Assistant

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2020-21 models

Advanced
Advanced
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 9 mph.
  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 7 mph.

About the original front crash prevention test

Child seat anchors

Rating applies to 2017-21 models

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimbase
Seat type cloth

This vehicle has 2 rear seating positions with complete child seat attachment (LATCH) hardware.

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimbase
Seat type cloth
1 3
GGood
AAcceptable
MMarginal
PPoor
Seating positions that rely on borrowed lower anchors or have only a tether anchor available are not rated.
thether anchor symbol
Tether anchor
lower anchor symbol
Lower anchors
shared lower achors symbol
Lower anchor(s) can be borrowed from adjacent positions(s)
No hardware available

Details by seating position

1
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
not too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
3
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
not too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
difficult to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

Seat position 21

3

Lower anchor A
Open access rated Yes
Depth Visible
Force (lbs) 0
Clearance angle (degrees) 46
Lower anchor B
Open access rated Yes
Depth Visible
Force (lbs) 0
Clearance angle (degrees) 46
Tether anchor
Location Middle seatback
Confusing hardware present Yes
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

Seat position 23

1

Lower anchor A
Open access rated Yes
Depth Visible
Force (lbs) 0
Clearance angle (degrees) 44
Lower anchor B
Open access rated Yes
Depth Visible
Force (lbs) 0
Clearance angle (degrees) 46
Tether anchor
Location Middle seatback
Confusing hardware present Yes
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor		 No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH		 Not measured

About the child seat anchor evaluation