With more than 350,000 units (over 130,000 fully electric vehicles and more than 220,000 plug-in hybrids) delivered to customers up to the end of 2018, the BMW Group is already a leading supplier of electrified vehicles.
At the beginning of March, the new plug-in hybrid versions of the BMW 3 Series, BMW 7 Series, BMW X5 and BMW X3, which now come with extended electric range, were showcased at the recent Geneva Motor Show.
By the end of next year, the BMW Group will have more than 10 new or revised models equipped with fourth-generation electric drivetrain technology (“Gen 4”) on the roads.
By the end of 2019, these will include the all-electric MINI Electric manufactured at the Oxford plant and, from 2020, the BMW iX3, which will be produced for the world market in Shenyang, China. Together with the pioneering BMW i3, the BMW i4 and the BMW iNEXT, the Group will have five all-electric models on the market by 2021 and the number is scheduled to rise to at least twelve models by 2025. Including the rapidly growing range of plug-in hybrids, the BMW Group’s product portfolio will then comprise at least 25 electrified models.
This wide range of electrified models on offer will be made possible by highly flexible vehicle architectures and an equally agile global production system.
Going forward, the BMW Group will be capable of manufacturing models with all-electric (BEV), hybrid-electric (PHEV) and conventional (ICE) drivetrains on one production line. The ability to integrate e-mobility in its production network will enable the BMW Group to respond even more flexibly as demand grows.
In 2018, the BMW Group delivered more than 140,000 electrified vehicles to customers. By the end of this year, the company expects to have an overall total of more than half a million electrified vehicles on the roads.
The BMW Group is currently developing the 5th generation of its electric drivetrain, in which the interplay of electric motor, transmission, power electronics and battery will be further optimised.
Integrating the electric motor, the transmission and power electronics also plays a role in cutting costs. Furthermore, the electric motor does not require rare earths, enabling the BMW Group to reduce its dependence on their availability. The fifth generation of the Group’s electric drivetrain technology will be installed for the first time in the BMW iX3 from 2020.
