While battery supply issues have slowed or stopped the production of full-electric models such as the Audi e-tron and Jaguar I-Pace, BMW says its supply is steady and reliable. This is largely because the German automaker has been offering battery-powered cars since 2013, BMW sales boss Pieter Nota told Automotive News Europe Associate Publisher and Editor Luca Ciferri.
Battery supply shortages have slowed the production of full-electric models at some of your rivals. How will BMW ensure its supply?
Our long experience working with batteries, which dates back to the launch of the i3 in 2013, means we have a steady and reliable supply from our cell suppliers. We are not seeing any constraint so we still aim to have electrified models (battery electric and plug-in hybrid) account for 20 percent of our 2021 sales.
Have you decide which level of autonomous driving works best for BMW? Is that Level 2 plus, Level 3 or Level 4?
We are looking at customer experience and customer benefit rather than focusing on the level. We remain committed to offering highly automated driving in the iNext that arrives next year. The car will be able to take control on highways for a longer period of time. It will be eyes off, hands off, but the driver remains responsible and could be called to regain control in certain number of seconds.
Will BMW need to race to register cars that emit a high amount of CO2 before the end of this year to avoid EU emissions fines in 2021?
This won’t happen at the BMW Group. We will reduce our emissions in Europe by about 20 percent this year and be fully compliant with the new EU standards, both for 2020 and 2021. Missing targets is not an option at BMW.
Unlike rivals, BMW's battery supply is steady and reliable, top exec says
When asked whether BMW will also offer a subscription scheme to customers he was skeptical because "the models don’t appear to be gaining much traction in Europe."
What features that appear on the Concept i4 can we expected to see on the final product when it arrives next year?
The production model will be very close to the Concept i4 that was shown in March, including the vertical kidney grille used first on the Concept 4 unveiled at the 2019 Frankfurt auto show. Another feature that will make it into production is the curved instrument panel that extends to include the central display. This a driver-oriented cockpit puts the driver at the center of the action.The production i4 will use the fifth generation of BMW’s electric drivetrain, including a new generation of batteries. Dimensions wise, the production i4 will be similar to the 4-series Gran Coupe, which is 4638mm long, 1825mm wide and 1389mm tall. The current Gran Coupe, launched in 2016, is offered in four and five seat configurations. We are still open on the number of seats for the production i4.
Volvo is now offering subscriptions to car as an alternative to leasing or owning. Will BMW join this sector of the marker?
Subscription models don’t appear to be gaining much traction in Europe. That could be because there is a very fluid line between what is a subscription and what is a lease to a private customer. However, there are countries where a growing number of customers do not want to own a car, such as in the Netherlands.