BMW to join the Electrified Club as well
Automakers are clamouring to "go electric" and here's Automologist MAC's two cents about it... No sooner than we had wri...
http://automology.blogspot.com/2017/09/bmw-to-join-electrified-club-as-well.html
Automakers are clamouring to "go electric" and here's Automologist MAC's two cents about it...
No sooner than we had written about the plans of Jaguar to electrify its fleet, then BMW makes a similar announcement. Apparently, by 2025, 12 of the 25 models that BMW are selling will be totally electric, and the others will all be hybrids, according to CEO Harald Kreuger.
BMW will be unveiling an all-EV version of one of its popular four-door saloon cars at the upcoming Frankfurt Auto Show next week. According to Kreuger, the new car will be positioned between the i3 and i8, which seems a little obvious seeing as the i3 is the baby of the range, and the i8 is the hybrid supercar that consumers currently don’t want.
BMW, who also owns the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, say that it will be producing electric vehicles for these brands as well. In fact, the Mini is already set to launch an EV version, apparently. The announcement by BMW seems to be a little more thought out than the earlier one from Jaguar Land Rover, as BMW has given itself a little more time in which to achieve its goal AND it already manufactures and sells EV cars—8000 of them in the UK.
So, what is driving the sales of EVs at present? Well, of course politicians want to get re-elected and thus need to be in tune with society’s worries about global pollution, but thus far, EVs have only accounted for 1% of global sales, with the vast majority of those coming from China. Of course, there is also the small matter of peak oil having been hit and the need to migrate transport networks over to something more sustainable and abundant, prior to complete exhaustion of supplies.
Previously, the cost of the EVs has been a negative factor, with the cost of the battery being responsible for this. However, in the past six years, cost has dropped from US$1,000 per kilowatt hour to about US$300. Some countries, like China for instance, have gone further by adding a massive subsidy to encourage people to get involved with the technology, but as we have seen in Denmark, once the subsidy is cut, then the sales plummet.
For me, the choice is quite simple: as long as the range is limited to a few hundred kilometres and battery life is under six years, and it takes more than a few minutes to recharge the batteries, I will be still in favour of the internal combustion engine, and will be looking to stopping the cows from farting to combat global warming. And if you still don’t believe me, watch the BBC video below.
No sooner than we had written about the plans of Jaguar to electrify its fleet, then BMW makes a similar announcement. Apparently, by 2025, 12 of the 25 models that BMW are selling will be totally electric, and the others will all be hybrids, according to CEO Harald Kreuger.
Read also: Jaguar Land Rover to join the "Electric Only" Club by 2020
BMW will be unveiling an all-EV version of one of its popular four-door saloon cars at the upcoming Frankfurt Auto Show next week. According to Kreuger, the new car will be positioned between the i3 and i8, which seems a little obvious seeing as the i3 is the baby of the range, and the i8 is the hybrid supercar that consumers currently don’t want.
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| The i5 teaser, slated for debut at Frankfurt. |
So, what is driving the sales of EVs at present? Well, of course politicians want to get re-elected and thus need to be in tune with society’s worries about global pollution, but thus far, EVs have only accounted for 1% of global sales, with the vast majority of those coming from China. Of course, there is also the small matter of peak oil having been hit and the need to migrate transport networks over to something more sustainable and abundant, prior to complete exhaustion of supplies.
Previously, the cost of the EVs has been a negative factor, with the cost of the battery being responsible for this. However, in the past six years, cost has dropped from US$1,000 per kilowatt hour to about US$300. Some countries, like China for instance, have gone further by adding a massive subsidy to encourage people to get involved with the technology, but as we have seen in Denmark, once the subsidy is cut, then the sales plummet.
For me, the choice is quite simple: as long as the range is limited to a few hundred kilometres and battery life is under six years, and it takes more than a few minutes to recharge the batteries, I will be still in favour of the internal combustion engine, and will be looking to stopping the cows from farting to combat global warming. And if you still don’t believe me, watch the BBC video below.
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