BMW set out ambitious goals a couple of years back, when their ACES strategy was unveiled. Back then, the plan was to offer 25 electrified models by 2025, not just to cut CO2 emissions but also to keep up with the competition. Last month, outgoing CEO Mr. Harald Kruger moved the goal two years ahead of schedule, in 2023.
Continue Reading Below
The company also announced that out of the 25 electrified models that will be available for purchase in 2023, more than half will be fully electric.
One model which will help achieve the EV number is the next generation 5 Series which will arrive in 2023. The refreshed 5 Series will not only sport a brand-new design language, but will also be integral to the electrification strategy. According to sources in Munich, the 5 Series will bring to market at least two fully-electric drivetrains.
Herr Krueger said last year that the i4 and iNext future models will be coming with the company’s fifth generation of eDrive technology which means it will be delivering the performance we’re all waiting for:
“With the fifth generation of eDrive, our vehicles will be able to drive 550 to 700 kilometers on electric power, depending on the model. We will achieve this in the BMW i4 and the iNEXT.”
That strategy will apply to the electric 5 Series which is also likely to get a new naming convention outside of the BMW i spectrum. While the final battery capacity has yet to be finalized, we expect the 5 Series electric to offer at least 60-80 kWh battery packs for a total electric range starting at 300 miles.
What’s even more interesting than the battery packs and electric miles is the option between a rear-wheel drive electric 5 Series or one equipped with the xDrive system, which will ensure that the 5 Series caters to customers around the world.
BMW has already teased a future 5 Series electric vehicle through the unveil of the “Power BEV” prototype which provides a total power output of around 720 hp (530kW) and acceleration from 0-62 mph in under three seconds.
For all the flamboyant naysayers trying to downplay the impact that Tesla vehicles have had on the US/EU.
And especially the denial trolls that whine about Model S, Model 3 benchmarking BMW/Daimler vehicles – guess who is setting the benchmarks now? Not only on BEV range but automobile acceleration performance.
Without brands like Tesla, BYD, Geely, NIO, Byton, asshats like Froelich would still be feeding us the virtues of higher efficiency Diesel while dangling the Hydrogen carrot.
It’s a new era, nobody is convinced by claims and marketing about the future. The true verdict will be decided by consumers in a free market discerning for themselves what is worth spending their money on and what isn’t.
Numbers never lie.
bmwblog. Nothing to do with you or Tesla, there are fantasy green pages for that. How many markets are Tesla in? As Froelich accurately pointed out, most of the planet has no infrastructure for BEV (let alone volume), 1 reason BMW went with compact urban commuter. Geely bought Daimler stock to access BEV tech. years after the latter dumped their Tesla shares, BMW have BEV contracts with Tatra, Brilliance, CATL worth billion$. So speaking of non-lying #s, why is the # of co.’s who took up gratis “benchmark” Tesla patents ZERO? As far as performance benchmarks go, the 2 you grasp @ are pretty much irrelevant to anyone driving in urban gridlock. As for actual performance, how many DTM or Formula E wins have Tesla taken? Endurance records, how many laps? Consumers made their choice, why BMW Group are #1 global premium & BEV are having to be legislated into existence.
EVs can plug into household electric outlets, so pretty much anywhere that there’s electricity and roads, there’s infrastructure for BEVs. BMW went with a compact urban commuter…and what’s their BEV share? BMW has BEV contracts with Tatra, Brilliance, CATL…and what’s their BEV share? How relevant are DTM or Formula E wins to anyone driving in urban gridlock? And speaking of legislated into existence…how much has the world’s governments spent on subsidizing the fossil fuel industry?
Small appliances plug into household electric outlets. Not cars. I have a 20th century underground parking space, NO ONE can charge in our garage, true of most drivers in my city of 7 MILLION. Ditto Trans-Canada Hwy., not even factoring in our winters’ effect on range. And this is in the DEVELOPED world, not most of the planet where NO they do not have ACCESS or GRIDS. Google is your friend, look up BEV share, I don’t know & don’t care because in a nascent industry those stats are irrelevant because they are changing every month (BMW were the biggest seller of electric in Europe as recently as Dec., did see that headline). Oh, & those contracts are for future product (like Model Y, Roadster & Semi) so again current BEV share is moot. F1 also don’t drive in gridlock so more irrelevancy, Formula E is more future tech. R&D. Oil is history & also irrelevant, as I have also noted, CAFE, safety features & emissions ALL had to be regulated into existence, BEV needs to be to save lives, consumers aren’t doing it. Since neither of you fantasists are typing about the actual subject of this bmwblog page, why don’t you just head back to teslarati?
Where did you see that BMW is number 1 for EV in Europe ???
i3 might have sold well at some point in time to complete the fleets of Drive Now but it is not selling well …
Forget where I saw the headline, but cleantechnica have a chart & Zoe & Leaf are best-sellers (weirdly, “Others” top them both, guess the market is that fragmented), but BMW PHEV put them over the top – i3 is their best-seller, but 530e, 225xe Active Tourer, Countryman PHEV & 330e combine for over 7,000 units.
Ah, you don’t only talk about BEV…
Toyota Yaris hybrid will probably achieve the same number, with only 1 car model …
Toyota have sold millions of hybrids over twenty years. As far as consumption goes, electric is electric. Weirdly enough, NO Toyota on cleantechnica’s list of Top 20.
The market share for EV is 2% worldwide, numbers never lie.
This sentiment sounds a lot like Steve Ballmer just before disruption ate his lunch:
https://youtu.be/eywi0h_Y5_U
I’m skeptical of BMW’s EV strategy. By the time the i4 comes out, Tesla will have sold 1 million Model 3’s and the i4 is based on a compromised platform. How is it going to be other than a niche vehicle?
How is the platform “compromised”? BMW have been building ICE, Diesel & PHEV on identical platforms for years, why would a century old global German engineering firm not also be able to integrate their dedicated 5th gen. BEV? Most Teslas I see are 5,000+ lb. sedans stuck in gridlock with 1 person on board, so what exactly is the benefit of a “dedicated” BEV platform? Oh, & BMW have been niche vehicles for a century, how they became #1 global premium.
A platform that can accommodate an ICE and an EV driveline is inherently compromised because the EV driveline offers much better packaging in terms of interior space. The i4 platform has to accommodate an inline six which takes up a huge amount of linear space that is wasted when fitted with an EV driveline. Compare the length of the hood on the i4 with a Tesla and you can readily see how much longer it is. The Tesla is cutting edge EV because it is a dedicated platform, while the i4 is compromised. The i4 will only sell in low volumes, maybe 10’s of thousands vs 100’s of thousands for the Model 3. I would rather buy a BMW, but not if it doesn’t compare well with the Model 3 which is the benchmark for mid-size EV sedans.
“Compromised” i4 will be more efficient than decade old Model S. You really think you can do a comparison with a vehicle you haven’t seen because it doesn’t exist yet?! Take your crystal balls & play with them elsewhere with the other fantasists.
I was a product development engineer and I can assure you that designing a one-size-fits-all platform for drivelines as varied as ICE and EV will result in compromises. Also, size wise the i4 is closer to a Model 3, not S. It would be even less favorable to compare the i4 against the S.
I3 is made from scratch, 100% original, with expensive materials, but Bmw is not making money with this model, so they will go with a ” compromise platform “.
Does the fact this forum is hosted by BMWBlog automatically equate to the indoctrination of biased support for BMW AG’s brand and its products?
It’s hilariously entertaining to see dolts piss-marking territory when they see a comment that they don’t subjectively like.
Intelligent people welcome articulate debates and embrace dissent as a challenge because it ultimately ups their knowledge and prowess. Logic-challenged half-wits tend to get emotionally fired up and start lobbing insults in a desperate clutch to redeem themselves like toddlers at the community playground.
You would know, stop squeezing so tight.
I don’ understand why Tesla fan boys cares about future Bmw models, ok, they are compromised and Tesla rules, good for them.
I own an i3 and a Model 3. Past owner of a 3 Series.
I care about BMWs progress in EVs because I’d like Tesla to have some competition to keep them honest and I’d like to have more options in the marketplace.
BMW offers basically nothing that truly competes with Tesla at this point, and it doesn’t seem like they will anytime soon either. I’m very skeptical a shared platformed is going to cut it. That might work in the Kia price range, but not at the price ranges that compete direclty with Tesla.
i4, iX3.
Tesla’s are the only ones with front trunks
Ah, good point. More interior space and “frunks” are both advantages of an EV specific platform.
The Teslas are all quite long, in the meantime, its BMW that will offer a 3m50 EV (MINI) …
Model 3 is the benchmark, I agree with you, but unlike Tesla, BMW wants to make money with decent gross margin, and for that, one platform that fits all is much better.
If EV market explodes or takes off, or PHEV, or Diesel makes a come back, they will be ready, this is why most OEM use common architectures.
I get the financial angle completely and BMW is caught in the middle with declining margins in recent years as it is. Nobody has yet to make money from an EV. Mercedes has stated they will develop a bespoke platform when the need arises. As a consumer though who has been driving a Leaf every day for over 8 years, I want a car that takes full advantage of what an EV driveline can offer in terms of packaging and will buy one that does when I replace my Leaf in a year or two. Right now that would be a Tesla 3 or Y or something that uses the VW MEB platform. The VW ID.3 or Seat El Born would be great but are not going to sold in the U.S.. The Audi e-tron Q4 or VW ID Crozz may be viable.
If you are driving a Leaf, you are probably not a BMW potential customer (for this specific need/car type)
Many people here talk about the practicality of the Teslas, but since when does a BMW customer look for practicality as key parameter ? If they would, they would never buy 1 series nor 3 series, other brands offer much more practicality for the same price or less in the same package.
When I bought the Leaf I made the decision to go all-in with an EV and there were no alternatives. I placed a deposit one ahead of its introduction. The Leaf fulfilled its purpose until something more interesting comes along which is why the i4 caught my attention. As an engineer and after the Leaf I don’t want to compromise so the i4 is likely too little too late. I have owned several BMW’s including a new 5 series and a cool 2002.
I went from BMW to Tesla because the latter drives much better and I’m a car enthusiast. A geared transmission is simply not competitive with single gear and 100% torque at 0 RPM.
The Telsa also happens to be more practical as I can charge it at home and never need to visit a gas station.
10% China mandate on EV’s is forcing the US and others to the EV party. China sells 30 million vehicles/year. So 3 million must be full EV. This mandate percentage increases yearly. EV’s will explode on the market in a short time like the smartphone. Selfdriving coming with it. WiFi updates must be available for frequent self driving updates. Cars must have hardware ready to go for self driving.