BMW has been involved in electric vehicles for more than half a century. The journey started with two 1602 sedans converted for EV duty at the 1972 Olympic Games. The first production model arrived many decades later when the i3 went on sale in 2013. While primarily an EV, the city car was also offered with a range extender that used a small combustion engine to charge the battery.
Many EVs have followed since that quirky hatch made a splash over a decade ago. They all share one key trait: platforms that, to varying degrees, are also used by combustion-engine vehicles. Even the polarizing iX is closely tied to the CLAR architecture. The second-generation iX3 breaks that pattern, becoming the first BMW built on a platform developed exclusively for electric vehicles.
The upcoming i3 sedan, due in a few months, will ride on the same underpinnings as the iX3. That doesn’t mean, however, that all future EVs from Munich will move to dedicated platforms. In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, BMW Chief Technology Officer Joachim Post explained that larger electric models will continue to share architectures with their gas-powered counterparts.
The reason is cost. Post says BMW could justify the investment in an EV-only platform for the iX3 and i3 because they are expected to be high-volume models. Larger vehicles sell in lower numbers due to their higher prices. As a result, future EVs based on the next-generation X5 and X7 will stick with the proven CLAR platform.
The first-ever iX6 and the rumored rugged SUV are also expected to use the same multi-energy architecture. While packaging compromises are often associated with EVs based on combustion-engine platforms, Post is confident BMW can still deliver “uncompromising electric vehicles.”
According to the CTO, the CLAR platform isn’t going anywhere. The reason is simple: BMW expects combustion engines to remain in production well into the 2030s, and possibly beyond. The next model to use the Cluster Architecture will be the eighth-generation 3 Series. The “G50” is set to arrive later this year, when we’ll also see the new X5 “G65.”
What remains unclear is whether EVs smaller than the iX3 and i3 will receive the full Neue Klasse treatment. The next-generation iX1 has already been spotted, and reports point to an i1 hatchback and an i2 sedan later this decade. Given their lower price points, volumes could be high enough to justify a dedicated platform.
That said, thinner profit margins in the compact segment make a bespoke EV architecture harder to rationalize. It will be interesting to see which path BMW chooses, but one thing is certain: the dual strategy of offering both combustion-engine models and EVs across nearly the entire lineup isn’t changing.
Source: Auto Motor and Sport
