BMW is all-set to dethrone Tesla, the uncrowned king in the electric car segment, as it has planned to bring over seven million all-electric BMW Group vehicles on the roads in ten years.
Tesla has been the uncrowned king in the electric car segment for a while now, with its unmatched EV tech/ self-driving expertise and devotion towards this single direction, resulting in the production of one of the best electric cars available. BUT the German automaker giant — BMW plans to take on Tesla in the fight for supremacy in the electric vehicle segment.
The official announcement by BMW for their next 10-year strategy stated that “In ten years, the goal is to have a total of more than 7 million all-electric BMW Group vehicles on the roads- around two-third of them with the fully-electric drivetrain.”
This sounds rather a very confident BMW, despite the not-so-optimistic investors’ response.
The recent announcement that confirmed that the next-in-line 5-Series and X1 compact SUV, will have an all-electric variant apart from PHEV and ICE variants. A previous disclosure of the next all-electric 7-Series variant has already gained positive feedbacks, and it now looks like BMW plans on going all out.
The flagship 7-Series, along with its two new comrades, the X1 and 5-Series, are all set towards expanding the automaker’s current EV-segment portfolio. It’s pushing boundaries and opening a completely new look to the BMW luxury precision automobile.
However, there has been no confirmed date regarding the availability of these models. But we can hope for the inclusion of the models by 2023 as they have stated that more than 12 electrified models will be on the road by then. This includes hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and all-electric drivetrains.
Sources have also revealed that by the end of 2021, BMW plans on bringing forth five all-electric cars — the BMW i3, Mini Cooper SE, BMW iX3, BMW iNEXT, BMW i4. The Mini Cooper will have the i3 motor offering a 110 miles EPA range, thanks to its 32.6kWh battery.
“Having recently had final design review…- as with most BMW’s- you’ll know it’s one of our cars without seeing the badge. Proportionally it has certain design icons- the grille… and so on. With i-products, we’ve established a few new icons, so we’re bringing these forward…” – Ian Robertson, when talking about their new iNEXT.
The iX3, the successor of the X3 will be produced and available in China by the first half of 2021, and thus will not be available in the U.S. Coming up with an EPA range of 270 miles and producing a total of 530 hp, the BMW i4 is also considered to enter production phase by 2021. Furthermore, the EV segment’s flagship vehicle, the iNEXT is also estimated to begin production by next year.
The BMW 5-series has been the competitor for the Tesla Model S sedan, but the vast price difference puts up challenges. However, BMW, with its current 11% shareholding towards the U.S. luxury market, is almost double when compared with its competitor. Additionally, the ongoing downfall of Tesla’s sales seems to be paving the way for BMW to take the lead. Looking at which, BMW appears to be on full throttle towards overthrowing its competitor as the company aims to substantially boost its R&D expenditure towards electrifying its whole lineup.
