BMW EVs here from 2021

The electrification of BMW will shift into high gear in Australia from 2021, when the company says its mainstream battery-electric cars — the BMW iX3 , BMW iNext SUV  and BMW i4 four-door coupe (all pictured here) — and the MINI E will arrive in local showrooms.

BMW Group was one of the first luxury car-makers to move on plug-in cars, first with the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car and BMW i3 EV hatch and i3 REX (range-extender), which has since been discontinued here, and then with the MINI Countryman Plug-in Hybrid, which went on sale here last month.

Now the company is getting ambitious, but not over-confident, with its pure-electric vehicle (EV) plan for Australia.

“Munich has already announced that we will have 25 electrified models between now and 2025. We will definitely put up our hands for as many as they make in right-hand drive,” the head of product and market planning for BMW Australia, Brendan Michel, told carsales.com.au.

“We don’t have a clear position on a percentage of our cars by a certain time. [But] there is a clear commitment from our brand focus."

“We’re looking at 2021. It will start happening over the next two years.”

The MINI Countryman PHEV is already undergoing a soft launch in Australia, ahead of first deliveries of an upgraded model by around September.

“There are cars in the country already, running around. They have been sent to dealerships for customer test drives,” said Michel.

“It available for order for July production, which is in line with the increase in power. It has increased battery capacity.”

Michel says the 2021 target date is when there will be significantly more choice in BMW showrooms, but he concedes that only 12 of the 25 electrified models will be fully battery-electric.

“We’ve already got an i3. But there is a fully-electric X3 coming,” he says.

“And there is the iNext, which is currently only a concept. There will be an i4, which is based on the next-generation 4 Series Gran Coupe.”

Michel says BMW’s intention is to employ the same flexible modular platform for both internal-combustion engines and electric powertrains including full EVs.

“Essentially, in the next couple of years they will have modular platforms. So on the same platform we will have an internal-combustion engine, and a plug-in hybrid, and then a fully-electric model.

“There is a serious commitment to have an [electrified] offering across the various models coming forward.

“So at some point you can have a 5 Series, and you can choose an international combustion engine, or have a plug-in hybrid, or if you want a full battery-electric you can have it in full BEV. And all will still be the ultimate driving machine.”