BMW i3 to be slowly killed off without replacement

BMW has confirmed it will slowly phase out the pure-electric BMW i3 hatchback and has no plans to introduce a direct replacement.

Instead, BMW global marketing boss Pieter Nota says the German car-maker will focus its resources on introducing plug-in hybrid and battery-only versions of existing models, as well as launching other dedicated EV models.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Nota did not confirm when i3 production would end, but said: "There is no concrete plan for an i3 successor. We are now bringing electrification more into the mainstream."

Nota says BMW is planning to introduce plug-in hybrids that, in the future, will offer far more zero-emissions range.

Currently, most cars can cover around 50km on electricity alone, but in the future BMW wants longer journeys to be covered without burning fossil fuels.

BMW has already announced that by 2023 it will have 13 pure-electric cars on sale.

Introduced back in 2013 as BMW's first pure-electric car, the i3 was used as a test-bed to whet its customers' appetite for zero-emission vehicles.

Heralded as a pioneering approach to battery-powered cars, the BMW i3 sits on a lightweight carbon-fibre architecture.

Despite BMW's admission it is about to pull the plug on the i3, the little EV has celebrated a record first quarter of 2019, finding 9227 homes globally.