With an on-sale date already pushed back six months due to unexpected overseas demand, BMW Australia will finally land its i3 electric city-car ($63,900, or $69,900 for the range-extender version) in November. Of the 50 to 60 cars expected to dock in the first shipment, 20 already have customers names against them.BMW Australia managing director Phil Horton made the i3 price and arrival announcement today at BMW Sydney. There the i3 was displayed alongside BMW’s i8 plug-in hybrid supercar in the first local viewing of the latter ahead of its early 2015 Australian launch.Horton said&nbsp;he expected to sell between 100 to 150 i3s next year, adding, “This is not a volume-selling car for us in Australia… If the demand is so strong, it doesn’t mean we can’t get more; it’s just that [100 to 150 cars a year] is what we’re currently estimating.”BMW expects&nbsp;sales&nbsp;to be evenly split between the all-electric model and the REx range-extender version.Four dealers have been selected to sell the i3 when it goes on sale later this year. The locations are: -- BMW Melbourne in Southbank, Melbourne; BMW Sydney in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney; Brisbane BMW in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane and Auto Classic in Victoria Park, Perth.In 2015 a further two dealers -- one in Canberra and one in Adelaide -- will join the BMW i network.Additional BMW dealers will act as servicing dealers for i3, and two BMW repair shops (one in Brisbane and one in Melbourne) are equipped to make repairs to the plastic, carbon-fibre and aluminium bodied i3.During 2015, BMW expects to add repair shops qualified for the specialist repair techniques required for the i3. BMW breakdown service will cover the i3 through existing partner, Allianz Roadside Assistance.Horton said that while it is expensive to produce the i3, BMW makes money out of the car already.“It is [costing] considerably more than producing a 7 Series. [But] If you’re asking ‘are we going to make money with it?’ Yes we are.“I’m told we make money from day one with this car,” he stated.Australian buyers have not taken to alternative fuel cars, judging by recent sales of existing vehicles.Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV, the first EV to go on sale to the public Down Under, has not been available since 2012, when the last of 95 units sold that year left Mitsubishi showrooms. Nissan registered just 42 examples of its LEAF EV to the end of March. In 2013, the LEAF attracted 188 registrations.The closest car to the BMW i3 in specification, that is as plug-in hybrid, albeit a larger one, is the $59,990 Holden Volt. Holden has shifted just 20 Volts in the first quarter of this year.Of BMW’s closest luxury brand competitors, only Porsche with its high-end Panamera&nbsp;S Hybrid ($296,900) and Audi with its A3 e-tron hybrid (due to go on sale here next year) offer or will offer buyers a premium plug-in electric car.Meanwhile, the i3 will arrive in two powertrain specifications.The purely battery-electric vehicle (BEV) achieves the 0 to 60km/h sprint in 3.7 seconds, zero to 100km/h in 7.2 and&nbsp;80-120km/h in 4.9. Its governed top speed is 150km/h.BMW claims the i3 BEV’s operating range on a full charge is 130-160km.The i3 REx range-extender (which costs an extra $6000 over the pure electric i3) employs a 650cc two-cylinder petrol engine to provide an onboard charge to the battery pack.The i3 REx accelerates 0-60km/h in 3.9 seconds, 0-100km/h in 7.9 and&nbsp;80-120km/h in 5.5. The i3 REx also reaches a governed 150km/h top speed and has a range (on one full charge and one full tank of fuel) of 240-300km.The i3 takes three hours to charge its Li-ion battery pack on a fast-charger, up to seven hours with the BMW i Wallbox Pure (a BMW accessory that is fitted at the owner’s home) or up to 11 hours using a standard 10amp 240v wall socket.Despite impeccable eco-credentials (the BEV emits zero tailpipe emissions and the REx pumps out a meagre 13g/km of CO2), the i3 hasn’t been marked so highly for safety. Last November, Euro NCAP gave the i3 just four stars when five stars has become the norm for the premium, technology focussed brand.Aside from the additional range-extender hardware both i3s share identical specification. Both are available with three different interior options, either the standard cloth Lodge or the no-cost part-leather Loft.The full-leather Suite interior carries an additional cost, although that has not yet been set by BMW Australia.The i3 will come in six colours and have available the option of three different alloy wheel designs up to 20-inch.While the full equipment list has yet to be confirmed, BMW has stated standard equipment on both the i3 BEV and i3 REx will include sat-nav, trip computer, rear-view camera and an extensive infotainment system, incorporating a standard SIM card that gives internet access and limited phone use (for emergency calls).