Every vehicle BMW sells will include an electrified variant come 2020, but the company doesn’t expect those battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid drivetrains to account for much more than 20 percent of its sales volumes through 2025. In that year, company officials in Munich say, they anticipate the introduction of useful hydrogen fuel-cell cars in its product portfolio, probably starting with BMW’s larger, more luxurious models.
BMW Group CEO Harald Krüger says there is no conflict between this electrification of drivetrain technology and BMW’s reputation for exceptional chassis dynamics and enjoyable driving experiences, citing the quick acceleration electric motors can deliver as an element of “sheer driving pleasure.” Nor, said development chief Klaus Fröhlich, does the simultaneous push to advanced autonomous driving systems rule out tuning the car to make driving enjoyable. “It’s not fun to drive in heavy traffic. It’s not fun to be in a dense area and try to find parking,” he said. “These autonomous abilities will be an option for the driver to choose, not the only mode. Our drivers will always have a choice, and our architectures can do both. It’s not rocket science. It’s not so difficult.”
BMW has sold 100,000 electrified vehicles since the launch of its i sub-brand three years ago—a somewhat slower pace than initially planned—but aims to match that total with 100,000 in 2017 alone, said sales and marketing chief Ian Robertson, speaking at a press event at the company’s electrified drivetrain prototype shop in Munich. That 2017 sales total anticipates sales of plug-in-hybrid versions of both the new 5-series and the Mini Countryman. The latter will be Mini’s first electrified product offered to the general public. (Its earlier Mini E project was more of an experiment, offered as a lease-only proposition that was limited, in the United States, to 500 customers on the East and West Coasts.) A fully battery-electric vehicle (BEV) wearing the Mini brand will follow the Countryman PHEV, which comes to market next year.
BMW currently sells one BEV, the i3 (above), which it also offers as a plug-in hybrid with a range-extending engine. That car will undergo a midterm update next year, which could include additional battery power to extend its driving range between recharges beyond today’s EPA-rated 114 miles (that’s with the 33-KWh battery pack, an optional step up from the 22-KWh pack offered on the base model, which delivers 82 miles of range). BMW’s next BEV will be a version of the X3, due in 2019.
The brand’s current plug-in-hybrid range is topped by the purpose-built i8—there is no version with a conventional powertrain—which will add a roadster model in 2018. BMW also offers plug-in versions of the 3-series, 5-series and 7-series sedans, and of the X5 sport-utility, all marketed under the iPerformance sub-brand. Extending its electrified offerings to encompass all model ranges would mean adding the 2-, 4-, and 6-series coupes, plus the X1, X4, X6, and upcoming X2 and X7 SUVs. Today’s Z4 roadster will be supplanted in 2018 by an all-new model co-developed with Toyota, and this announcement confirms what was only rumored before: It’ll have batteries in it, probably as a plug-in hybrid with all-wheel-drive capability like that in the i8.
To make electric drivetrains available in all of its 2020 products, BMW is developing both its next-generation vehicle architectures and its own in-house electric battery packs and powertrains—which will enter their fifth generation in 2018, by BMW’s reckoning—to facilitate manufacturing the cars on the same production lines as the gasoline versions. Officials showed us a package incorporating the electric-drive motor, gearbox, power inverter, and control electronics in a single integrated unit that can be installed in place of an engine, plus battery packs configured to slot into the spaces ordinarily reserved for fuel tanks. For hybrids that would also need a fuel tank, smaller battery packs fit into half the fuel tank space. We also were shown a concept battery layout that would install all the cells under the car’s floor, the way Tesla does it, but without reference to any specific plan for a product using that design.
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