"Eight years ago, it looked like BMW was positioning itself in a good place for the electric future."<p>No, it didn't. They had a single, sub-brand model (the i3) that was neither technologically interesting nor performant.<p>"It founded BMW i, a sub-brand to bring electrified products to its dealers"<p>I didn't want a cutesy little i-car. I wanted an electric 7-series. There have been three model iterations of the 7-series since the Model S was revealed ... and they have nothing to show for all of that time.<p>To auto makers: We don't want your <i>electric car</i>, we want <i>your car, electric</i>.<p>"... BMW’s current plans as reported by InsideEVs, which include keeping the 6-year-old i3 around for a few more years and canceling the i8 entirely."<p>The i8 was not an electric car - it was a a hybrid car with a little chainsaw engine inside that had worse performance than (I believe) even a base spec Tesla 3 series (for example).<p>There was never a serious strategy and there were was a single (silly) e-mobile/i-car.<p>I repeat: We don't want your "<i>electric car</i>", we want <i>your car, electric</i>.
BMW's EV strategy makes perfect sense from a short-term perspective. Re-tooling factory lines for EV powertrains is expensive and time consuming. Coming up with a post-sales revenue model that doesn't rely on fixing/replacing ICE powertrain parts is hard. Scaling battery pack and related components production to meet potential demand for something like an electric 3-series is hard <i>and</i> expensive. Meanwhile, gas prices haven't shot through the roof and the overall auto market is shrinking, which is putting <i>a lot</i> of pressure on OEM margins.<p>Is it a foolish long-term strategy? Yes. Does it make sense if your goal is to maximize profits over the next three years? Absolutely.
Traditional auto manufacturers are mostly approaching EVs the same way old mobile phone makers approached smartphones. They remain convinced that ICE cars (dumbphones) and hybrids (featurephones) will remain relevant indefinitely, even when there is ample evidence that BEVs (smartphones) are the only logical path forward.<p>Without a dramatic change in course I don't see many of these car companies surviving another 15 years.
I remember reading that many of the assumptions BMW made for the i3 didn't hold true. The main design focus of the i3 was the expensive low-weight carbon-fiber body. They regretted that later when it turned out that the cars' weight didn't have that much of an impact on the efficiency.<p>Also, when I drove an i3, I was seriously underwhelmed. It just felt too small to be practical and didn't drive well enough to be fun. I think Tesla's strategy of starting with large, expensive vehicles make more sense. Most people who can afford an expensive car don't want a tiny car.
THe author dismisses the eletric mini out of hand.<p>Unlike any other electric car on the market, its <i>cheaper</i> than the petrol model.<p>That alone is far more disruptive than anything else. I accept that a lack of high end electric is bad, but not end of the world.
None of the EV strategies make sense from a CO2 emissions point of view, because producing batteries already emits the equivalent of driving the same petrol car for 80000 to 100000km. In countries where electricity is largely carbon based (such as Germany), the EV never offsets the CO2 emissions of the petrol one during its lifetime. Only hybrids make sense: it yields the largest fuel reduction per kg of battery, while still being usable cars.
I saw an ad for an electric BMW on Reddit today. The very first sentence was "forget other electric vehicles." This tells me that someone writing copy for a living was employed as a measure to somehow increase interest and sales. The only thing they could do was reference other companies that make EV's (I'm not even going to say the name of the one that everyone will automatically think of when instructed to "forget other EVs").
Interesting analysis, but I wonder if they have plans the author is not aware of.<p>BMW knows Tesla is eating their 3 series lunch. I’d be surprised if they had nothing up their sleeve.
BMW is a small car manufacturer but they will end up as SAAB or sold as brand to another company (VW) ... won't surprise me if Tesla takes over their 3 series market once they get better at mass manufacturing.|<p>Toyota is another odd one ... they are still dreaming that Hydrogen fuel cells is the answer ... as a layman I will be thinking Hindenberg.