The sad truth is that the i3 is such a niche model, it could be axed entirely and BMW would barely notice the drop in profits. Having said that, I do wonder if it's been slightly premature in dropping the range extender. BMW says it's been made defunct by the updated, longer range i3 and that the increasing availability of rapid charging facilities means there's more demand for the pure electric model. I'm sure the accountants have done the maths, but my experience of using the UK's public charging infrastructure is that it's a long way off being ready for a huge uptake in EVs. Incidentally, the split between the range extender and standard i3 was said to be roughly 60:40, although the vast majority of second-hand i3s advertised in our classifieds are range extender versions.