German automaker BMW has reached another milestone in eco-friendly cars. Since the introduction of the BMW ‘i’ range in November 2013, it has sold over 1,00,000 electric cars worldwide. The sales figure includes all the electric as well as plug-in hybrids cars sold till date. BMW sold more than 60,000 units of the i3, making it the most successful electric vehicle in the premium compact segment.
The other blockbuster is the BMW i8, which has sold over 10,000 units since its launch in mid-2014 and ranks first among all electrified sports cars. Apart from that, there are approximately 30,000 plug-in hybrids sold till date.
In a press release, Harald Krüger, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG said, “BMW i remains our spearhead in terms of innovation and it will continue to open up groundbreaking technologies for the BMW Group. When it comes to electric drivetrains, we’ve already successfully managed to put this technology transfer on the road. The next technological advance we will address is automated driving, where the BMW iNEXT will set a new benchmark.”
BMW has seven models currently on sale that either run on electric power alone, like the BMW i3, or are plug-in hybrids, like the BMW i8, which features a combination of an internal combustion engine and an electric motor to power the car.
In the coming years, BMW will add to the tally of its electric-powered vehicles, including a MINI Countryman plug-in hybrid which will make its debut in 2017. In 2018, a new variant of the BMW i8 sports car with plug-in hybrid drive will come out - an open-top BMW i8 Roadster, followed by an all-electric MINI in 2019, and an all-electric BMW X3 in 2020.
Source: Zigwheels.com
