BMW plans sub-$40K i2 EV

Germany’s

Currently in Australia, the German brand’s cheapest model is the soon-to-be-replaced BMW 118i, priced from $38,990, and its most affordable -- and only -- EV is the i3 (from $68,700).

The new model will be the first BMW-branded machine to come from the EV architecture it is jointly developing with arch-enemy Daimler.

Roughly the same size as the current i3, but with far greater range and higher battery capacity, the i2 is targeting a range of around 300km.

It will ditch the i3’s ultra-expensive carbon-fibre bodyshell, which also sits on a ladder-frame aluminium chassis, in favour of cheaper body materials like aluminium. It is expected to look more conventional, with a lower roofline.

The skateboard architecture is expected to deliver half a million cars a year, split between the two traditional premium-segment foes.

While Mercedes-Benz is expected to bring two models off the new joint architecture, the Bavarians are only considering the i2, sources say.

Both companies have bet on multi-use architectures in the transition period into EVs in the early 2020s, with Benz’s EQC a classic example.

BMW has already developed its next modular vehicle architecture to accept internal combustion, hybrid and full EV powertrains.

The Volkswagen Group, including Audi and Porsche, has used its economies of scale to go the other way, developing new platforms exclusively for internal combustion/hybrid and then other platforms for EVs.

BMW has decided it won’t do any stand-alone EV architectures, though Mercedes-Benz’s EQS will be its first exclusively-electric platform.

Porsche has the J1 architecture that will be used beneath the Taycan and the Audi e-tron GT, Audi has the C-BEV architecture for the e-tron and they’ll both share the next-generation PPE architecture for their future BEVs.

Volkswagen and the volume brands Seat and Skoda have the MEB modular electric-car architecture, which will debut in this year’s I.D. hatch, while the Group is also developing an exclusive supercar and sports car EV architecture.