BMW may not have much to show off at the 2016 Paris Motor Show on the ‘futuristic’ front, especially compared to fellow German marques such as Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen announcing important EV models.
The X2 Concept crossover coupe was notable, and really quite lovely, but not quite an apples to apples comparison in this regard and there was an upgraded i3. However, in a report from Bloomberg, BMW CEO Harald Krüger revealed that they do indeed plan to reveal more zero emissions offerings.
Up until now, the attention has been on the i3 city car and sporty i8, but BMW may pivot to offering their electrified technology in other more mainstream models. Krüger disclosed that the arrival of a fully electric X3 will be in 2020 and that it will be in close proximity to other purely electric rollouts from the BMW Group such as the MINI Cooper and the BMW X4.
This change in strategy is in contrast to the way things worked previously. BMW’s i sub-brand would have ostensibly be sole ambassador for BMW’s electric portfolio, but its reliance on expensive materials such as carbon fibre has meant that it had not been able to capture the mass market in the intervening lapse.
Going forward - and anticipating the near-term growth and democratisation in the EV space - if BMW would continue on this trajectory, the ‘i’ brand would either have to compromise on its premium tier or the automaker could have to strip it of its brand-specific electric monopoly. It seems that the latter option has been chosen.
Cars such as the 3 Series and X5 have already begun to embrace the electric revolution somewhat with the plug-in hybrid iPerformance versions (330e and X5 xDrive40e), and it wouldn’t surprise us these versions evolve in the near future to rely less on its internal combustion engine and effectively become range-extended EVs.
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