As an e-mobility pioneer, BMW has already delivered half a million electrified vehicles to customers worldwide.
For more read: BMW Sold Half A Million Electric Cars Worlwide
The German carmaker announced on Tuesday that a total of 145,815 electrified BMW and MINI vehicles were sold worldwide in 2019 – an increase of 2.2% over the previous year.
The BMW i brand continued its positive sales trend last year with the BMW i3 and the BMW i8, which both saw a 12.1% increase to 42,073 units.
This makes BMW i3 and the BMW i8, the top-selling electric cars in the BMW STABLE.
The automaker said sales of the MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 plug-in hybrid were up 28.1% in 2019.
The company added that the introduction of the new BMW 330e, the BMW X5 xDrive45e, the BMW X3 plug-in hybrid and the pure-electric MINI Electric brings the total number of electrified vehicles in the BMW Group line-up to 12.
The BMW Group plans to expand its range of electrified vehicles to 25 models by 2023, more than half of them fully electric.
A quarter of the BMW Group vehicles sold in Europe are expected to be electrified by 2021; a third by 2025 and half by 2030.
BMW i is a comprehensive and ground-breaking concept for sustainable mobility.
It represents visionary electric vehicles and mobility services, inspiring design and a new understanding of premium that is strongly defined by sustainability.
And it thrills with its innovative vehicles: the all-electric BMW i3, a locally emission-free vehicle for city driving that is sustainably designed throughout, and the BMW i8 concept as the future of the sports vehicle.
BMW i3
For seven years, the BMW i3 has played the role of iconic ambassador for electric driving pleasure, sustainability and intelligent connectivity in urban areas. These qualities have helped to make it the world’s best-selling electric car in the premium compact segment.
For more read: The Iconic Ambassador For Electric Cars Get a Facelift
Crowned the winner of the World Urban Car Award 2017, the BMW i3 is the BMW Group’s first volume-produced model driven purely by electric power. Conceived for urban dwellers looking for alternative mobility solutions, it is the world’s first premium car conceived from the outset to incorporate an all-electric drive system.
A crucial element within the success story of the BMW i3 has been that it is the only EV worldwide with an optional Range Extender (REX), which features a 650cc two-cylinder petrol engine, which is used to charge the battery.
BMW i8
Its unmistakable, emotion-stirring looks can be put down to a prototype design that was first unveiled in the guise of the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics, meticulously refined for the BMW i8 Concept exhibited at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show and now adopted virtually unchanged for the production version.
The plug-in hybrid drive system powering the BMW i8 combines the performance of a sports car with the fuel economy of a far smaller model. The three-cylinder combustion engine in the BMW i8 develops 170 kW and drives the rear wheels, while the 96 kW electric motor draws its energy from a lithium-ion battery, which can be charged from a conventional domestic power socket and sends its power to the front axle.
This bespoke plug-in hybrid system, developed and produced by the BMW Group, enables a range of up to 37 kilometres in the EU test cycle and a top speed of 120 km/h on electric power alone, coupled with a “glued-to-the-road” all-wheel driving experience headlined by powerful acceleration and a dynamically-biased distribution of power through keenly taken corners.
