BMW preps for EV product offensive as sales double

After doubling full-electric sales in 2022, BMW Group is planning a major EV product offensive in the next five years, including the launch of six new models on the coming Neue Klasse (New Class) platform.

BMW says that it expects to sell 400,000 all-electric models in 2023, or about 15 percent of total sales, up from about 215,000 in 2022. By 2025, BMW says 25 percent of group sales will be EVs, rising to 33 percent in 2026 and 50 percent by 2030. 

On Wednesday, CEO Oliver Zipse told investors that BMW was well ahead of schedule in the transition to electrification. He said group CO2 emissions in 2022 were 105 grams per km, 22 g/km below its target.    

Perhaps the most important launch is a  full-electric version of the next-generation BMW 5 Series large sedan, due in October, followed by a station wagon version in 2024.

Another key model is the iX2, a battery-electric version of the sporty X2 compact crossover, which will also be revamped this year. 

The group’s other brands, Rolls-Royce and Mini, will also get new electric models. The Rolls-Royce Spectre, the luxury brand’s first EV, will reach buyers in the third quarter, at an estimated price of 400,000 euros. 

BMW's Mini brand will launch three full-electric models, including the Mini convertible in the first half, a new hatchback toward the end of this year, and an electric Countryman four-door by the end of the first half of 2024. A production version of the Aceman small electric SUV concept is also expected, although it was not included in a product cadence slide.  

The Aceman and Mini hatchback will be built on a platform developed with China’s Great Wall Motors; the Countryman will continue sharing the group’s FAAR platform with the BMW X1.

A key question is where new small Mini EVs will be built; Zipse said negotiations were continuing with the UK government on incentives for the Oxford, England, factory. The Countryman EV has already been allocated to Leipzig, Germany.

"We are in good talks with the UK government to receive support there for future models," Zipse said Wednesday.

BMW has not released a specific model plan for the Neue Klasse architecture, except to say that there will be six models launched in two years once production starts in 2025. 

The first models will be in high-volume segments such as the current 3 Series midsize sedan, station wagon and SUV. The i Vision Dee concept shown at CES in January, with a relatively conventional sedan profile, previews what one Neue Klasse model might look like. 

Asked about the future of the current 3 Series, which was launched in 2018, Frank Weber, BMW’s chief technical officer, said combustion and electric drivetrains would "coexist" for at least 10 years. 

"The core question is what is the future of the internal combustion engine," Weber said.
"We’re investing in the Neue Klasse in higher-volume segments, but that doesn’t mean we’re giving up on the internal combustion side."

From a technical standpoint, Neue Klasse models will make a leap forward on the user experience (UX) and powertrain front, BMW says. An augmented-reality head-up display called Panoramic Vision that envisions the entire windshield as a source of information will debut, as will BMW’s sixth-generation battery pack.

The battery pack will be 50 percent less expensive, BMW says, using cylindrical cell design and different chemistry. It will have 20 percent more density and 30 percent more range, as well as a 30 percent shorter charging time, than the current fifth generation.  

The cost cuts will help Neue Klasse models to achieve margin parity with comparable combustion engine cars, BMW CFO Nicolas Peter, said Wednesday. 

Overall, the cost of Neue Klasse cars will be 50 percent less than BMW’s current EVs, Peter said. Production will begin first in Debrecen, Hungary, in a new dedicated factory; followed by the automaker’s flagship factory in Munich, then China and San Luis Potosi, Mexico, in 2027. 

Spartanburg, South Carolina, BMW’s biggest factory, will have a full complement of Neue Klasse models by 2030, the automaker has said, as well as a new battery pack assembly factory in nearby Woodruff. BMW said last autumn that it would invest $1.7 billion to prepare Spartanburg for the new models, and $700 million on the battery facility.