Additional models planned to join existing BMW Electric Cars!
The German economic newspaper – ‘Handelsblatt’ have reported that the public will soon see additions to the existing range of BMW electric cars! Adding to their i3 ‘city runabout’ and i8 – with additional fully-electric cars.
They also plan on extending the driving distance capabilities of all BMW electric cars using enhanced technology – increasing the i3‘s range to around 160km.
BMW’s i8 – coming packed with both an electric engine and petrol engine – has a sibling planned. The idea is for the i9 to come packed with even more power, combing the electric motor drive train and petrol engine used in the i8 luxury sports car.
They also plan on releasing a fully electric SUV as soon as 2018.
“There is plenty of scope between the i3 and the i8 in badge terms,”
– BMW chief Harald Krueger told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.
“I can’t be any more specific than that.”
Reports show that 12,652 ‘i-badged’ BMW electric cars have been sold in the first half of 2015, although this only makes up a small percentage of BMW’s global sales. Amounting to just over 1% of the global total. Although in the electric vehicle market, this is fairly significant – California based Tesla Motors sold only 22,657 fully electric cars in the same period.
It seems that BMW are trying to get into the market while it’s still developing, in order to become market leaders in the future. Electric-only vehicles will more than likely become the norm in the next 100 years, although at the moment – even BMW’s i3 is an uncommon sight in Germany.
The German government have set a goal of trying to get 1 million electric and hybrid cars on the roads by 2020. Many say this target is unrealistic without significant tax breaks as incentives to consumers. Electric vehicles are still significantly more expensive than their petrol/diesel equivalents. Although you do save on petrol costs!
Electric vs petrol price comparison
I’m sure this will only speed up BMW’s existing electric vehicle roll-out and infrastructure plans for South Africa. I wonder how long it will be until electric vehicles become the norm and petrol cars make up the niche!
Source: IOL