BMW i8 sells out, i3 already has 10k orders

Still think electric cars have no mass market appeal? Well you might want to re-examine that in light of revelations that BMW’s i8 plug-in hybrid sports coupe is already sold out for the first year of production and there have been over 10 000 orders for its all electric city runabout the i3.

According to Reuters, the marque delivered the first of its i3s in Germany last week.

While it’s unclear exactly how many i8s have actually been produced, it seems likely that BMW will ramp up production in the face of strong demand. Likewise, the German car giant hasn’t given much of an indication of how many i3s it intends to sell.

That it’s doing well compared with other small electric cars does however make sense. It looks a bit more substantial than some of the other offerings out there and the ability to charge to 80% in three hours can’t hurt either.

An interesting test of the i3’s mettle will be when it hits the US in the second quarter of next year, especially given Business Insider‘s weighty claim that it’s the best electric car since the Tesla Roadster.