Family Photo: BMW i3 Facelift, i3s and i8 hybrid

Last month, the BMW i family gained one more member, while another went through a meaningful refresh. The BMW i3s is the latest and greatest addition to the i lineup, a model that aims to improve the driving dynamics and looks of the electric vehicle. The new performance EV upgrades the standard i3’s 170 horsepower / 184 pound-feet of torque electric motor to a high-output version capable of 184 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque. A sports suspension drops the i3s 10mm lower, widens its track by 40mm, and connects to new 20-inch rims.

The driving experience gains a special Sport Mode with “more direct accelerator response and tighter steering characteristics.” All of that makes the i3s capable on 0 – 6 MPH in 6.8 seconds, with a 100 MPH top speed. It also has a special Sport driving mode with “more direct accelerator response and tighter steering characteristics.”

Next in line of upgrades was the “standard” i3 which comes to market next year with only cosmetic upgrades, and mostly related to the exterior. The 2018 i3 gains new full LED headlights, making it look more high-tech. LED lighting just gives the face a sleeker, more modern look. BMW also updated the foglights, which always looked like an after thought on the first-gen car. The new foglights are now horizontal and look more in keeping with the rest of the design. A new front bumper is featured, with a piece of trim that starts out atop the new foglights.

Out back, a new, more rounded rear bumper makes the rear end match the front. So it’s more cohesive still and looks less dumpy than the original. Though, the back is the most unchanged part of the exterior. There is a new silver horizontal bar that spans the entire rear end.

Inside the cabin of the i3, not much is changed at all. There are a couple of new interior color options. Giga Brown Natural Leather & Carum Spice Grey Wool Cloth are your two color choice with the new Giga World line and there is a new wood trim option. The big news on the inside, though, is the switch to BMW’s latest iDrive.

The i8 has yet to go through any changes, but a facelifted version is expected next year, along with a sportier version.

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BMW USA sales decreased 7.7 percent in August

Sales of BMW brand vehicles decreased 7.7 percent in August for a total of 23,553 compared to 25,531 vehicles sold in August 2016. Year-to-date, the BMW brand is down 5 percent in the U.S. on sales of 194,604 vehicles compared to 204,744 sold in the first eight months of 2016.

Notable vehicle sales in August include the BMW 4 Series and BMW 5 Series, which both showed strong gains for the second straight month, and the BMW X1. The BMW 4 Series increased 49.3 percent to 3,412 vehicles, while the BMW 5 Series which increased 37.6 percent to 3,587 vehicles. The BMW X1 increased 39 percent to 2,002 vehicles.

“Even as we are reporting the August sales, our thoughts are with those in the devastated areas of Texas and Louisiana, especially our many employees and colleagues. We are making significant contributions to the American Red Cross to relieve as much of the suffering as possible,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “August numbers were a bit unusual in that sedans outpaced our SAV’s as model year change over for the X5 and new model production of the X3 significantly restricted availability of our especially popular SAV models. This of course will improve as production ramps up.”

MINI Brand Sales
For August, MINI USA reported 4,448 vehicles sold, a decrease of 10.5 percent from the 4,969 sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, MINI USA reported a total of 31,051 vehicles sold, a decrease of 11.0 percent from 34,887 vehicles sold in the first eight months of 2016.

BMW Group Sales
In total, the BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported August sales of 28,001 vehicles, a decrease of 8.2 percent from the 30,500 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, BMW Group sales are down 5.8 percent on sales of 225,655 vehicles in the first eight months of 2017 compared to 239,631 in the same period in 2016.

BMW Group Electrified Vehicle Sales
Sales of BMW Group electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles increased 9.2 percent to 11,672 through August 2017, accounting for 5.2 percent of total BMW brand sales in the U.S. Currently, BMW offers six electrified vehicle models in the U.S., including the BMW i3 and BMW i8, as well as the BMW i Performance models: BMW 330e, BMW 530e, BMW 740e and the BMW X5 xDrive 40e. MINI offers the MINI Countryman plug-inhybrid electric vehicle, which launched in June 2017.

Table 1: New Vehicle Sales BMW of North America, LLC, August 2017

	Aug. 2017	Aug. 2016	%	YTD Aug. 2017	YTD Aug. 2016	%
BMW brand	23,553	25,531	-7.7	194,604	204,744	-5.0
BMW passenger cars	16,708	15,730	6.2	127,510	140,605	-9.3
BMW light trucks	6,845	9,801	-30.2	67,094	64,139	4.6
MINI brand	4,448	4,969	-10.5	31,051	34,887	-11
TOTAL Group	28,001	30,500	-8.2	225,655	239,631	-5.8

BMW Pre-Owned Vehicles

• In August, BMW Certified Pre-Owned sold 11,600 vehicles, a decrease of 3 percent from August 2016.
• Total BMW Pre-Owned sold 20,392 vehicles, a decrease of 16.5 percent from August 2016.
• Total BMW Pre-Owned cars sold year-to-date were 160,999, a 10.3 percent increase from the first eight months of 2016.

MINI Pre-Owned Vehicles

• In August, MINI Certified Pre-Owned sold 984 vehicles, a decrease of 22.3 percent from August 2016.
• Total MINI Pre-Owned sold 2,694 vehicles in August 2017, a decrease of 2.8 percent from August 2016.
• Total MINI Pre-Owned sales year-to-date were 21,002, a 10.1 percent increase from the first eight months of 2016.

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CoffeeShop 16x20 "Birthday Cake Storyboard"!

Today I needed to take some time thinking of anything besides the hurricane and its aftermath, so I decided to create a new freebie for my blog. I really miss work and need to get back to it. Working on designs and actions really soothes me.

This storyboard is 16x20 and features a birthday cake theme, perfect for cake smashes or any birthday party images. This is a layered psd file so you can add your images using clipping masks (tutorial and free action). You can also add color fill adjustment layers or digital papers to the clipping masks.

You can print and display this storyboard or post in on the web. And feel free to use it personally or commercially, no attribution necessary.

This is the cake illustration I used to create this storyboard.

A special thanks to Lisa Rubel Photography (website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for allowing me to use her stunning images in my example storyboard.

Download the CoffeeShop "Birthday Cake Storyboard".

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop PSE/Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.

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Photo Gallery: BMW Isetta Rendered as Future Electric City Car

One of the most famous BMWs ever made was the Isetta and it wasn’t even a BMW to start with. The Isetta was a microcar designed by an Italian company in the typical style of the 1950s. If you don’t know what that means, all you have to do is think back to the original Fiat 500 and you’ll soon start seeing resemblances between the two. And yet, as small and peculiar as the Isetta might’ve been, it proved to be a huge success.

The reason behind its laurels hid in the price tag and compact size. After the World War II Europe was lacking the materials needed for putting together expensive cars and people simply couldn’t afford them. Steel and all sorts of metals were scarce and people had to make due. Therefore, the Isetta was perfect for getting around town without sipping too much fuel of costing an arm and a leg. BMW actually bought the patent from Iso SpA and after modifying its underpinning and engine for a bit, built it on its own assembly lines to great success, selling in excess of 160,000 units over the years.

Now a forward-looking designer by the name of Justin Hyunjung Cho decided to give the Isetta a new look and send it straight to the future. As that future seems to become more and more crowded by the day, with people struggling more and more to find a use for their cars inside big cities, his take on the Isetta might actually be useful. In his sketches you can see that the base principles of the original were kept along.

The front end of the car opens to allow passengers to get in but since this is an electric car, the steering wheel doesn’t get in the way any more. On top of that, just like the original, the new Isetta is to be considered an eco-friendly approach, which wouldn’t consume a lot of energy. Of course, since this is the future we’re talking about, driving controls aren’t actually needed as this is a Level 5 autonomous car, right? It all sounds extremely intriguing and could actually become reality with BMW focusing more and more on EVs and autonomous technology.

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