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• BMW's iX3 makes its world premiere on Thursday 14 August.
• The BMW Group is aiming to have 50% of all models powered by all-electric or plug-in hybrid systems.
• Locally, BMW offers the all-electric i3 with the Mini Cooper SE arriving in early 2021.
BMW outlined its ten-year plan for sustainability with the main focus being on the expansion of electric mobility. Sales of BMW and Mini featuring all-electric and plug-in hybrid drive systems account for approximately 13.3% of all new registrations Europe-wide, the Munich-based carmaker said.
This corresponds to 1.5-fold of the average share of all brands, which is around 8%. The company expects this figure to rise to a quarter by 2021 and to a third by 2025. The lofty 10-year plan is to sell 50% of BMWs fitted with an all-electric or plug-in hybrid system by 2030.
Image: BMW Press
Over 500 000 electrified BMW Group vehicles were sold by 2019 with a projected total of over a million sold by the end of 2021.
The group's sustainability goals aim at putting more than seven million vehicles with electrified drive systems on the road worldwide by 2030, two thirds of them all-electric variants. As a result of the massive expansion of electric mobility, emissions produced by company vehicles per kilometre driven will be reduced by around 40% percent by the year 2030.
Looking at models available with electric drivetrains, the X3 is the first model available either with highly efficient petrol and diesel engines including 48-volt mild hybrid technology, with a plug-in hybrid drive system or all-electric drive system.
BMW says in future, further series models with electrified and with conventional drive systems will be built on a single production line.
The flagship 7 Series has been confirmed to be offered as a purely electric model variant. Other models include the high-volume series 5 Series and X1 which will be available with petrol and diesel engines and plug-in hybrid systems, but also with all-electric drive units.
Image: BMW Press
The imminent premiere of the new iX3 will showcase the brand's latest eDrive technology. BMW says the new EV's components – including the electric motor, high-voltage battery, charging technology and power electronics – is the result of the experience gained by the BMW i brand in the electric mobility sector since 2011.
Development of all components for the eDrive technology are done in-house. One example of the advancements achieved in this way is the high-voltage battery for the i3, the storage capacity of which has doubled since the launch of this model despite unchanged installation space.
Image: BMW Press
The new iX3 is powered by a newly-developed electric motor delivering 210kW to the the rear wheels. It has a claimed range of up to 520 kilometres. BMW says from 2021, the fifth generation of eDrive technology will also be deployed in the models i4 and iNEXT.
In South Africa the i3 is the only fully electric model on offer with the Mini Cooper SE on the way in early 2021.
