BMW Details Its Electrification Plans

While the all-electric MINI 3 door is confirmed to enter production in 2019, the BMW i8 Roadster will expand the company’s i family in 2018

With emission scandals popping up every now and then from across the globe, the absolute need of the hour is to become less reliant on burning fossil fuels to get from A to B. But since it isn’t possible to pull that off instantly, automakers are working tirelessly to design, develop and engineer their future products to work with either a hybrid or an all-electric powertrain. BMW is one brand that is really pulling all the strings to be future ready.

The Munich-based automaker has shared some details on how it plans to electrify all the models under its and MINI’s portfolio. While the i8 Roadster is destined to expand the company’s i family tree in 2018, the all-electric MINI 3 door is also confirmed to enter production in 2019. The electric MINI’s drivetrain will be built at BMW Group’s e-mobility centre at Dingolfing and Landshut plants in Bavaria before being integrated into the car at Oxford plant, which is the main production location for the MINI 3 door model.

The all-new BMW X3, which was unveiled a while back, is also slated to receive an all-electric powerplant by 2020, post which the company will divert its focus to project iNEXT, due in 2021.

BMW has also designed a flexible system across its global production network that, in the future, will enable its manufacturing facilities to build models with a combustion engine, plug-in hybrid or fully electric drivetrain at the same time. By 2025, BMW believes that anything between 20-25 per cent of vehicle sales will come from electrified vehicles but the charging infrastructure in all its markets will play a vital role.

As of now, BMW Group offers nine semi or fully electric vehicles globally. All these models are being built at ten different plants worldwide. The company’s sales target for electrified vehicles in 2017 is set at 1 lakh units. If achieved, the BMW Group will successfully surpass the 2 lakh sales figure for such vehicles till date.

Also Read: GST Effect: BMW India Releases Updated Price List