The German brand could put an end to the BMW i3 to make way for new models

The days of the quirky electric vehicles from the German brand may be numbered, as the carmaker’s marketing director, Pieter Nota, has said about the future of his company. The German manufacturer will not develop a successor to its hatchback, the fully electric BMW i3.

According to Pieter Nota, the BMW i3 will be gradually phased out as BMW seeks to focus on the plug-in hybrid and electric versions of its other models, while also investing heavily in new fully electric models, as various sources confirm.

“There is no concrete plan for a successor to the BMW i3. We are now bringing electrification more into the mainstream,” the brand itself told the Financial Times in an interview. According to reports, the aim of BMW is to focus on the plug-in hybrid versions of its best-selling models so they can run on electric power only in the city, while still covering longer distances. The Bavarian carmaker plans to have a total of 13 fully electric models in its range by 2023.

The BMW i3 has been in production since 2013 and was developed as a so-called subcompact luxury vehicle. It was also BMW’s first series-production zero-emission vehicle, and its main goal was to gauge customer response to electrification without interfering with sales of its saloons or crossovers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXsdzGXG1Ro

BMW aims to expand its range of electrified vehicles

At present, American buyers can purchase a fully electric BMW i3 from $44,450. That price rises to $48,300, however, if you opt for the 2-cylinder petrol range extender. Meanwhile, the flagship BMW i3s will cost at least $47,650, or $51,500 with its own Range Extender.

Finally, the Bavarian brand will not renew its BMW i3, its main electric car, which means the end of one of the most distinctive vehicles on the road. The German carmaker will focus on installing batteries and connectivity technology in its other models, while also planning new fully electric models.

Launched in 2013, the car was BMW’s first serious foray into battery-powered vehicles, intended to test the public’s appetite for electric cars without tarnishing its core saloon line-up. Carmakers usually renew their models after seven years of sales to revitalise demand and incorporate the latest technology, so under normal circumstances the BMW i3 would have just one year left.

However, the company said it would continue selling it for several more years. “It is not a normal car in that sense,” said Nota. Carmakers are adopting electric technology on a large scale to reduce CO2 emissions and meet sales targets in Europe and China. BMW is installing plug-in hybrid technology in its best-selling models, allowing them to drive on electric power in cities and, conventionally, on longer journeys. The carmaker also plans 13 battery-only models by 2023, a timeline that was recently brought forward due to imminent emissions targets.

At the Frankfurt Motor Show last week, the company unveiled the design of an electric car that will go on sale in 2021, and also showed the Mini electric that will go on sale next year. Now in its fifth generation, the BMW has sold more than 150,000 BMW i3 units to date, with demand growing every year as the nascent electric vehicle market flourished. Sales in the first half of this year rose 21 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.

“The BMW i3 is actually performing extremely well in its sixth year of production,” said Mr Nota. Sales in August were 30 per cent higher than the previous year, which he added is “remarkable” growth for a vehicle that is comparatively so old. When it was launched, it was designed to serve as a pioneer for future technologies, from its battery drive systems and sustainable materials to its stripped-down interior, attracting both praise and criticism. But the i3 was always an outlier for BMW, bearing little resemblance to its saloon or SUV line-up and appealing to a different demographic. BMW’s new chief executive, Oliver Zipse, is under pressure to accelerate the carmaker’s push towards electric vehicles. His predecessor, Harald Krüger, was perceived to have slowed the rollout of electric technology to meet the growing threat from Tesla in BMW’s core models, such as the 3 Series.