BMW is clearly on a march toward electrifying its entire lineup, doubling down particularly on its i brand, the company’s eco-friendly subdivision.
We were recently and vividly reminded of this with the Vision iNEXT Concept, which the company revealed not too long ago. Making a big spectacle of the occasion, BMW teamed up with Lufthansa Cargo to ship its one-off Vision iNEXT Concept to select cities in major markets around the world for journalists to get an up close and personal look. Earlier this month, we got an in-person look of the concept in New York.
Although BMW’s electrification initiative is quite clear, how many models the company plans to spawn out of this effort has been rather unclear. That was, until Klaus Frolich, BMW AG’s head of development, shed some light on the topic while introducing the iNEXT Concept to journalists in the belly of a Lufthansa Cargo Boeing 777F.
So far, BMW’s electrification efforts are yielding results, according to Frolich, who spoke of the brand’s recent success of selling more than 100,000 electrified vehicles to customers around the world.
“You can see our initial efforts and investments are paying,” Frolich said. “In 2017, we sold already more than 100,000 electrified vehicles to customers. This year, it will be 140,000. As a result of the success of our strategy, now we are one of the leading providers of electrified vehicles worldwide.”
Despite the recent success however, the company isn’t showing any signs of slowing as Frolich finally shed some light on how many models we can expect from BMW’s electrification initiative.
“And, our model initiative is still speeding up,” he continued. “By 2025, we will offer 25 electrified vehicles, I have to say at least 12 of them will be fully electric. And we are just finishing up developing our fifth generation of our electric drivetrain and batteries.”
Frolich didn’t quite specify however what models will be electrified. But we do know the Vision iNEXT Concept is slated to make it to production in some form, which already accounts for one.
In addition to the new, fifth-generation electric drivetrain and battery technology, there’s a new platform, which will essentially underpin the company’s entire electric vehicle lineup. Further, the plan also includes offering hybrid and all-electric versions of some of its core models, providing buyers with flexible choices rather than confining the electric powertrains just to its i cars.
