BMW plans to offer 25 electric vehicle models by 2023, two years earlier than previously announced.
Harald Krüger, CEO of the group, spoke about such ambitious plans. Earlier, during the IAA 2017 conference, he called slightly different numbers. But it seems that the market dictates other conditions. At the same time, Krueger called for at least 30% sales of electrified car models to increase per year.
Since the premiere of the BMW i3 electric car in 2013, the manufacturer has not yet introduced a single fully electric car, preferring hybrids. Between 2016 and 2018, BMW sold 92,123 i3 models worldwide, of which 12,064 were sold in Germany. And as a result, this model became the second most sold electric car in Germany, behind only the Renault Zoe.
Meanwhile, the upcoming EV lineup has taken on a more pronounced form with the Mini, i4, iX3 and the production version of the iNEXT. But it is not yet clear whether this will be enough to achieve the ambitious plans that Krueger announced. However, not everything is clear with this statement yet, since the company itself refused to provide any comments on this matter.
During IAA 2017 it also became known that all of the company's electric vehicles will be produced under a subsidiary BMW brand i. Earlier in June 2018, it became known about the intention of BMW, Ikea and Volkswagen to invest $ 1 billion in the construction of a plant for the production of lithium-ion batteries. This will allow Europeans to stop depending on the supply of batteries by Chinese manufacturers. It is expected that the first products of the plant will leave the assembly line as early as 2021.