BMW Group has updated its time table for its electric vehicle (EV) rollout. The company is planning to have a total of 25 electrified models available two years earlier than anticipated.
Originally, BMW planned to have 25 electrified models on the road in 2025, but due to changing conditions in the automotive market, the company is moving up the transformation toward sustainable mobility. More than half of the 25 vehicles will be fully electric while the other cars will be plug-in hybrids, BMW said.
BMW said it expects to double its sales of electrified vehicles compared to 2019 and expects a steep growth curve toward 2025 with sales averaging a 30% increase every year. By the end of this year, BMW plans to have more than a half million vehicles with fully electric or plug-in hybrid drive trains on the roads. In two years, BMW will have five models on the road with vehicles being produced in Germany and China.
Due to climate change, changing regulations from governments and increased consumer interest, automotive OEMs are moving up plans to put more EVs and plug-in hybrids on the road. BMW isn’t the only company that is doing this: Ford has invested $500 million in Rivian, an EV startup, as well as an $11 billion investment in electrification over the next few years to bump up its EV portfolio. At the same time, Ford is decreasing its combustion engine investment and laying off employees in these areas. General Motors is also taking similar steps and turning its attention away from combustion engine vehicles.
Volkswagen has also accelerated its EV plan, ramping up investments from $9.1 billion to $21.5 billion through 2023. At the same time, it is reducing its staff in its combustion space and expects to have more than 10 million EVs on the road in the next 10 years as a result of this acceleration. Count Volvo as another company investing heavily in EVs: the company has a goal of having EVs worth 50% of its sales by 2025.
