BMW Group announces next steps in electrification strategy

[Jason]

BIMMERPOST NEWS

BMW Group announces next steps in electrification strategy

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July 25, 2017

Flexible vehicle architecture to enable electrification of every model series
Fully electric MINI confirmed as MINI 3-door Hatch
Electric drivetrain Made in Germany, integrated into car in Oxford


Munich. Electrification is one of the central pillars of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT and the company has announced that all brands and model series can be electrified, with a full-electric or plug-in hybrid drivetrain being offered in addition to the combustion engine option. Additional electrified models will be brought to market in the coming years and beyond 2020, the company’s next generation vehicle architecture will be structured in order to enable new models also to be offered as a full-electric vehicle.

The BMW Group announced today that the new battery-electric MINI will be a variant of the brand's core 3-door Hatch model. This fully electric car will go into production in 2019, increasing the choice of MINI powertrains to include petrol and diesel internal combustion engines, a plug-in hybrid and a battery electric vehicle. The battery electric MINI’s electric drivetrain will be built at the BMW Group’s e-mobility centre at Plants Dingolfing and Landshut in Bavaria before being integrated into the car at Plant Oxford, which is the main production location for the MINI 3-door Hatch.

Oliver Zipse, BMW AG Management Board member for Production said, “BMW Group Plants Dingolfing and Landshut play a leading role within our global production network as the company’s global competence centre for electric mobility. Our adaptable production system is innovative and able to react rapidly to changing customer demand. If required, we can increase production of electric drivetrain motor components quickly and efficiently, in line with market developments.”

By 2025, the BMW Group expects electrified vehicles to account for between 15-25% of sales. However, factors such as regulation, incentives and charging infrastructure will play a major role in determining the scale of electrification from market to market. In order to react quickly and appropriately to customer demand, the BMW Group has developed a uniquely flexible system across its global production network. In the future, the BMW Group production system will create structures that enable our production facilities to build models with a combustion engine, plug-in hybrid or fully electric drive train at the same time.

The BMW Group currently produces electrified models at ten plants worldwide; since 2013, all the significant elements of the electric drivetrain for these vehicles come from the company’s plants in Dingolfing and Landshut. Dingolfing additionally builds the plug-in hybrid versions of the BMW 5 Series and the BMW 7 Series and from 2021, it will build the BMW i NEXT. The BMW Group has invested a total of more than 100 million euros in electro-mobility at the Dingolfing site to date, with investment continuing as the BMW Group’s range of electrified vehicles further expands.

Electrification of all brands and model series continues

The new, fully-electric MINI is one of a series of electrified models to be launched by the BMW and MINI brands in the coming years. In 2018, the BMW i8 Roadster will become the newest member of the BMW i family. The all-electric BMW X3 has been announced for 2020, and the BMW iNEXT is due in 2021.

Today, the BMW Group offers the widest range of electrified vehicles of any car manufacturer in the world, with nine models already on the market. These range from the full-electric BMW i3 to the company’s newest electrified model, the MINI Countryman Plug-in Hybrid, which is produced by VDL Nedcar in the Netherlands. The company has committed to selling 100,000 electrified vehicles in 2017 and will have a total of 200,000 electrified vehicles on the roads by the end of the year.

The BMW Group has benefited from its early start on the road to electrification. Indeed, the company’s pioneering, large scale electric vehicle trial began world-wide in 2008 with the MINI E. Learnings from this project played a crucial role in the subsequent development of the BMW i3 and BMW i8, technology pioneers which themselves informed the company’s current range of plug-in hybrid vehicles.

[JorgenM]

15-25% by 2025 sounds extremely low, knowing that some countries has already passed 50% and some countries are aiming for 100% EV sales by 2025 (I'm even talking fully electric and not hybrids)

[JRobUSC]

what about the 48V architecture that Audi and Benz are already starting to implement?

[evolution80]

the beginning of the end...

like in that VW add where they suggest how cool it is to have speed limit info with auto brake function, next thing you know your car enforces the speed limit, doesnt let you overtake etc.


my incoming f80 will probably be the last car i spend my money on - all the joy and freedom that comes with driving will be taken away - all the while the media and corporations tell you how cool that is...

sad really


that said - electric drivetrain could be a good thing - i just mean all the autonomous driving stuff that will come with it...

[raysspl]

Good stuff

[midwest 340xi 6sp]

I'm not all doom and gloom with EV. Especially if its truly better for our planet. But then again, we really don't have global warming, right?

What in the world am I concerned about...

[cbertels]

I guess we can still have a gas powered generator in the trunk to recharge so we can still be nostalgic about the internal combustion engine.

[Pretender]

I have a little confidence about BMW full EV especially when Tesla is so far ahead with massive amount of Model 3 coming.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by JorgenM

15-25% by 2025 sounds extremely low, knowing that some countries has already passed 50% and some countries are aiming for 100% EV sales by 2025 (I'm even talking fully electric and not hybrids)

aiming for 100% EV sales in 8 years sounds incredibly ambitious and also highly likely to be delayed

[MRV99]

Originally Posted by Midwest 535i

I'm not all doom and gloom with EV. Especially if its truly better for our planet. But then again, we really don't have global warming, right?

What in the world am I concerned about...

I remember in the 70's when all the scientists were screaming about global cooling.

[3rdcoast228i]

Originally Posted by Midwest 535i

I'm not all doom and gloom with EV. Especially if its truly better for our planet. But then again, we really don't have global warming, right?

What in the world am I concerned about...

Where do you think all that electricity is coming from? Fossil fuels... mainly natural gas, and coal. There is a good bit of nuke power also. Don't tell me wind power and solar... they only produce a small fraction of the power used. And guess what? The wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine. Nether one comes even close to the power output of a natural gas turbine power plant.

EVs are false advertising when it comes to actually reducing emissions. I'm not saying they aren't more efficient. But I am saying your zero emissions car is not zero emissions like they want you to think. Not even close... don't get me started on batteries either. Sure... those don't pollute...

[midwest 340xi 6sp]

Originally Posted by 3rdcoast228i

Where do you think all that electricity is coming from? Fossil fuels... mainly natural gas, and coal. There is a good bit of nuke power also. Don't tell me wind power and solar... they only produce a small fraction of the power used. And guess what? The wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine. Nether one comes even close to the power output of a natural gas turbine power plant.

EVs are false advertising when it comes to actually reducing emissions. I'm not saying they aren't more efficient. But I am saying your zero emissions car is not zero emissions like they want you to think. Not even close... don't get me started on batteries either. Sure... those don't pollute...

Well, I did say "especially if its true they're better for the planet"

I'm not an expert, but not naive enough to believe ev is the end all be all. Better than today? I can't answer that with any authority, I certainly hop so. Especially since Tesla Model 3 is high on my next car radar.

I do wish hydrogen was getting more traction than it appears to be getting today.

[emdeuce]

Originally Posted by JorgenM

15-25% by 2025 sounds extremely low, knowing that some countries has already passed 50% and some countries are aiming for 100% EV sales by 2025 (I'm even talking fully electric and not hybrids)

A quick google search shows Norway at 22.4% and Netherlands at 9.7% and the next highest would be Hong Kong 4.8% (Not attesting to the accuracy of this). They also probably take into consideration that there are competitors out there that consumers may prefer to purchase EV from over BMW. Regardless, I like their projected goal of 15% sales of EV in 2025 as it is unarguably a step in the right direction.

[Thescout13]

Originally Posted by MRV99

I remember in the 70's when all the scientists were screaming about global cooling.

Yeah because science has not advanced at all in 40+ years...

[stvding]

Originally Posted by evolution80

the beginning of the end...

like in that VW add where they suggest how cool it is to have speed limit info with auto brake function, next thing you know your car enforces the speed limit, doesnt let you overtake etc.


my incoming f80 will probably be the last car i spend my money on - all the joy and freedom that comes with driving will be taken away - all the while the media and corporations tell you how cool that is...

sad really


that said - electric drivetrain could be a good thing - i just mean all the autonomous driving stuff that will come with it...

Pretty sure speed limit will be raised if all cars on the road are fully autonomous. But you won't care when u are not driving.

[ORIGIN M.]

To little, to late!!

[bjcarls]

I for one want more than a cookie cutter Tesla, maybe Prius owners are ok with it. I think anything from the Europeans with similar performance will put a hurt in Tesla, even at $5-10k more for a better interior. I'm defiently looking at the e' range for BMW but 10-15 miles on battery is a fucking joke, especially when you lose that much speed, i.e. Not trading a X5 50i for a X5 e. I and the kids need speed! If I didn't I'd buy a Toyota. I hope BMW makes a great electric car in the future.

[NFiftyWon]

I hope im dead before the day governments begin to enforce all electric drivetrains

[jackelliott]

Wtf is iNEXT ... A car? A segment? Marketing gimmick that only bmw employees understand?

[mundo74]

Originally Posted by Midwest 535i

Well, I did say "especially if its true they're better for the planet"

I'm not an expert, but not naive enough to believe ev is the end all be all. Better than today? I can't answer that with any authority, I certainly hop so. Especially since Tesla Model 3 is high on my next car radar.

I do wish hydrogen was getting more traction than it appears to be getting today.

sorry to say but hydrogen is an energy loser. only viable imo is fusion unlocks unlimited electricity and no one cares about efficiency.

[antzcrashing]

Originally Posted by JorgenM

15-25% by 2025 sounds extremely low, knowing that some countries has already passed 50% and some countries are aiming for 100% EV sales by 2025 (I'm even talking fully electric and not hybrids)

15-25 percent sounds realistic. Step out of the tesla, California, and sweden fantasyland. The real world isnt going to take electrics as fast as you want. If bmw is blindsided by the teslas of the industry they will ramp up more, but honestly I think the tesla hype is overblown

[IB M]

Simply baby steps to a future where wind and solar play a much larger role and power EVs. No one knows how fast we will get there but it does look like the journey has started and has momentum to keep progressing.