While announcing the third quarter fiscal results of the company, BMW also confirmed their long term plans and it looks promising than ever as they are going to come up with multiple all-electric cars by the year 2020.
The models will not be restrained until 2020 but rather the launch schedule will commence probably in 2018 to slowly expand the EV lineup of cars. During the meet, the brand’s top executives confirmed that the BMW X3 electric SUV will be the first one to hit the market by 2019. It will add the i3 series but it is speculated that the first SUV could actually be a plug-in hybrid rather than a car with an electric motor. Talking about the proposed launch, BMW’s head Harald Kruger said that the company is able to finance their future investments from available resources than seeking help from third party investors.
The upcoming X3 EV will have an all-new platform pioneering the changes for the new range of X3 models with a plug-in hybrid engine and might use the 2.0-liter four-cylinder petrol engine which is already used to power the BMW 330e. It is capable of delivering up to 249 horsepower, a decent performance to match the design and overall perspective the brand proposes to provide for its SUV.
Following the launch of the X3 SUV, MINI will foray into the electric segment with its own electric car by 2020. The company recently announced the Countryman Cooper S E plug-in hybrid model which uses an all-wheel drive system. The car will make use of a three-cylinder engine combined with an electric motor that evenly distributes the power with all four-wheels.
Nicolas Griebner, head of MINI UK confirmed that the entire brand is committed to electrification and are very much interested in bringing more such EV cars in the near future. MINI hatchback is one of the best- selling models from the automobile manufacturer and inside sources claim that they have planned to electrify the model as their next launch. There are a couple of unconfirmed models, both new and old ones which will receive plug-in hybrids or fully electric motors.
Electrification is now widely adopted in the automobile industry and the next big challenge is to offer EVs at affordable rates. Tesla will launch its Model 3 by 2018 priced at $35,000 followed by Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Bolt, both at affordable rates and immensely reliable mile range – 250 miles or more.
