BMW board member Ian Robertson says that he is excited by the market reception to the i3 electric vehicle – the first product in BMW’s ‘sustainable mobility’ electrified i-brand line-up.
Robertson told journalists at an annual media event that BMW has already accumulated 10,000 orders for the i3 car which has now launched in Europe. “Not only that,” he added. “But 100,000 people have signed up for a test drive and that waiting list is going to present quite a logistical challenge for us.”
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He also said that market prospects for electric cars globally remain overwhelmingly positive. “We are seeing very rapid growth off a low base,” he said. “It’s a market that has grown from just 7,000 units to 150,000 units this year. As new products like the i3 hit the global market, sales of electric cars are inevitably set for further growth in urban areas across the world and we at BMW are well positioned to take advantage of that.”
The i3 – available with an optional range extender engine – went on sale across Europe from November 2013. Launches in the US, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea and certain other markets will follow during 2014. The US is expected to be the largest market. BMW has the capacity to build 40,000 units per annum at its Leipzig plant.
BMW’s i8 sports hybrid will be added to the i-brand line-up in 2014 and Robertson sees another important market niche for that vehicle. “This is a car with high-end performance and feel that also comes with obvious BMW attributes,” he says. “And it will deliver over 80 miles to the gallon. So you can have that luxury and sports performance in a car with the CO2 footprint and frugality of a small city car. That is truly exciting.”
BMW is expected to price the i8 at between EUR125,000 and EUR175,000 in Germany. The i8 will share electric motors, power electronics, and high-voltage lithium-ion batteries with the BMW i3. The car has an unladen weight of “less than 1,490kg”. BMW Group’s Hams Hall plant in England will supply the car’s 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine.
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By GlobalDataThe US importer stated in July 2013 that the i8 will go on sale there “a few weeks after” the local launch of the i3 – that means the second quarter of 2014.
