BMW i3's predecessor in 1991: E1

[Lecram]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKjBr-QXWaI&feature=youtu.be&t=43s

Would the designers be inspired by this car?

 

[ultraturtle]

The E1 was actually BMW's 3rd generation EV. By my count, I believe the i3 to be BMW's 7th generation EV, the result of 40 years of EV development. No surprise to me that it bests the competitions' 1st and 2nd generation offerings in pretty much every metric.