Through September, BMW has sold 34,664 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in 2016, accounting for 2.3 percent of the total 1.5 million of cars sold by BMW globally.
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The new BMW iPerformance lineup has now outsold the dedicated i brand by nearly 1,000 units. The sales of plug-in hybrids totaled 17,809 and 16,855 electric vehicles. All-time BMW i brand sales (i3 + i8) recently passed 65,000 all-time.
After the launch of the refreshed BMW i3, sales of this model jumped 73.2 percent in its first partial month on the global market – with 2,848 sold in August along.
Sales of BMW’s electrified models remain strong, especially in Europe. Combined global sales of BMW i and BMW iPerformance vehicles are already higher than the 2015 total with 34,664 electrified vehicles delivered to customers so far this year.
[Source: InsideEVs]
That’s not good enough.
Meanwhile, Nissan sold 45 000 Leaf and Tesla 50 000 vehicles !
Tesla is making only ONE model and the Leaf is much cheaper, how can u compare that by total volume? Saying VW is selling more Golfs than BMW 3ers or Porsche is selling more sports cars than BMW would be the same (stupid) thing.
well, that being said, it is even worse for BMW … basically an unknown brand 10 years ago is selling more 100k$ cars than BMW, 100 years old, a 35k$ car …
EV market is small, it still makes sense to compare very different brands and vehicle types.
That is bs…it makes absolutely no sense to compare a smaller city vehicle like the i3 with a tank like Tesla. Even LAPD has chosen the i3, why would they prefer a german brand over an american in this patriotic country? Each car has its segment, even if the market is small.
And “early adopters” often dont care about the price, and apparently in this case also less about the technology than the hype…
I’m sorry for not being a fanboy here. i brand is currently considered a failure by BMW management, like it or not. The i5 has been postponed.
i3 is too big and expensive for a city commuter (well, in Europe and Asia), and too small for a family car. Plus, the Science-Fiction design does not work, people do not want a SF iconic object but a car that looks like a car, on top of that, that looks like a BMW.
The i8 ? for the same price you get a nicer 911.
LAPD choosing an i3 over a Tesla … maybe it has to do something with the price, don’t know …
[quote]i brand is currently considered a failure by BMW management, like it or not. The i5 has been postponed.[/quote]
i5 is actually expedite, and will be available in 2020.
Wrt LAPD: an i3 is much better suited to city traffic and more efficient than a Tesla.
it was planned for 2018, so 2020 means postponed don’t you think ?
Tesla has Model S and Model X, that’s two models. BMW needs to hurry up. Hybrids is a dead end so they need to shift focus on fully electric vehicles only.
they don’t even have decent hybrids …
I love BMW, but I am really afraid they will be late compared to VAG on this market.
Considering the two models that will garner the most sales were just released and are supply constrained (2017 i3 and 330e), this is not bad. Not sure how the 740e will fair being at flagship car, but they also just went into production. You’re comparing to vehicles that have been on sale for much longer (in their current iterations) and have had time to adjust production (as well as get the word out). Not example apples-to-apples.
Oops.. not exactly apples-to-apples.. damn typos.
The offsetting equation today in automobiles are electric vehicles. The i3 is lovely, and BMW always do a good job, but they can do a i3 Saloon. Electric vehicles today make less sense to conventional ICE or hybrid vehicles, because the cost of producing is high, but BMW can compromise abit especially in U.S market, where EV takes off. Its more like national pride for Americans to buy Tesla. I believe Hydrogen is a way to go to the future, because the infrastructure is much more suitable, but until its fully launched, its not there. BMW has to play a bit more of electric whether they like it or not, and that will make up of loss sales on ICE in U.S segment.
Hydrogen is a dead-end:
– efficiency from production to final use is far worse than Battery-based EV.
– distribution is costly
– Hydrogen might be very expensive to buy, not sure it will be cheaper than gas.
– you still need a decent battery in the car as a buffer
You end up with a heavy, expensive and complex car with a range that is not much greater than a model S, the only advantage of “fast charging” being hidden by a huge lack of distribution points.
Understand your viewpoint, if hydrogen is dead, Bimmer, Toyota, Mercedes, and Audi wouldn’t even bother. Mercedes has a AMG EV fully built, I think its a SL or a SLS in full electric package, looks way more nicer than a Model S, yet they still don’t think the tech is ready. That was a few years back, basically all manufactures knew how to do a Tesla, but the problem is the size of the battery, and no matter which way you look at Tesla, if you forgot to charge it, or didn’t have enough juice, you need to find a charger and plug it in at least half hour. In addition, the Tesla Supercharger may be quick, but I doubt the life of the battery due to fast charging, and how much does it cost to replace if you are out of warranty. Hydrogen at least have one thing, that is petrol stations can be converted to adapt hydrogen. Its much easier, if you are electric, if the parking lot is full, and you have to wait, its not 3 minutes, it may be an hour. So, I expect when hydrogen infrastructure will be put together in a much quicker pace, once the mainstream starts to adapt, price will come down eventually, and I think the tech will catch up pretty quickly, because its not only BMW and Toyota, but a lot of car companies are involved. I believe hydrogen is the way to go in the future, but for now, hybrid makes the most sense, and electric is perfect for urban city daily use.
Come on, besides Toyota, none of the other car makers is serious about Hydrogen. Even Peugeot did a prototype in the 90s… doesn’t mean it’s a main stream technology.
Hydrogen requires a LOT of energy to be produced, and breaking this issue will be much costlier than improving batteries.
I do not know if you are aware of it, but there are studies about electrolytes in a liquid that you could tank your car with. Basically, instead of charging a battery, you refuel it. You would benefit from “fast charging” AND good efficiency of battery storage.
I believe this makes much more sense.
I do not know more than you or anyone else. Audi has presented his H-Tron already, so this is not just BMW. If hydrogen is crap, then noone will bother, because R&D requires money. I am not a scientiest, but if you look at these automakers, those who are high ranking enough carries at least a Master or a PHD, I am sure they know far better than you and me. I wouldn’t judge until a finished product. Electric is not the way to go, because refueling is a pain, you forgot to put it in, and you will have a bad day. Its never going to be in and out, even if you take a big one in the loo, still after you come out, its not even a quarter tank.
I am not a scientist. Basically there is no such thing as perfect. The Battery Car must have a battery which is gigantic to be like Tesla in order to have both power and range, and that will take time to charge, no matter how they advance, it will never be in and out in a few minutes. Range-wise, is not exactly super either, its due to the large gigantic battery, and thats why Model S costs so much. Hydrogen-wise, is meant to solve while giving the car more range. Honda, Toyota, BMW and Audi are pouring R&D to do it. Latest BMW prototype has the thing close to 300 horses already, and these are not production yet. Hydrogen infrastructure will take time, but once its ready, it will be much convenient than electric, and price will come down, so keep your mind open.