BMW i3 parked at Nissan HQ in Franklin TN. Click to Enlarge

Nissan have either purchased or borrowed a BMW i3 for their employees to evaluate the competition. The corporate employee I spoke to who was driving the vehicle described it as “Very Different” and was glad another manufacturer was selling battery electrics nationwide. The driver referred to it as a ‘company vehicle’ which leads me to believe it has been purchased by Nissan so they can check out the competition. This is not just any BMW i3, but it is an “Electronaut” edition which were made for drivers of the BMW EV test vehicle, the BMW Active E. Some BMW Electronauts did not finalize purchase of the i3 after they were required to surrender their Active E’s. This appears to be one of them. One of 700 in the world!!

The Tennessee Manufacturer plates means that Nissan have either purchased this i3 or are test driving one from a local dealer. Click to Enlarge

Good to see Nissan checking out the competition, hopefully this will embolden their desire to improve the LEAF to ensure it remains competitive and the market leading vehicle.

Interesting that the driver didn’t plug the vehicle in, which isn’t great EV parking etiquette. It was the last open charging spot 😦