BMW’s i3 electric car is profitable at just 20,000 units sold a year — according to the reverse-engineering firm Munro & Associates, which recently did just that, reverse engineered the i3.
As per the firm’s opinion, BMW’s well-liked EV was “impressive” in a number of different regards — particularly the CFRP-utilizing “Life Module” body shell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=rqiBWfsDTAA
The chief executive of the firm that performed the recent deconstruction at its facility in Detroit, Sandy Munro, noted how impressed he was by way that the fibers of the CFRP material were aligned to provide extra stability, and by BMW’s general willingness to try the material out in a mass-market vehicle.
He also noted that he was impressed by the model’s lithium-ion battery pack — particularly the modular design that potentially allows for the easy replacement of specific cell-groups as they wear out.
As stated at the beginning of the article, the i3 can potentially be profitable at very reasonable sales volumes (according to the firm anyways) — that’s the real takeaway here, that the sales targets put out there previously by BMW represent what is, according to a third-party as well, a profitable number. As Munro put it, it “makes money.”
BMW has previously noted that it currently possesses the capacity to manufacture ~30,000 such EVs a year. Importantly, given that sales of the i3 have been pretty good so far, these numbers seem pretty obtainable.
Kudos to BMW for being an electric vehicle leader, even if it’s not the electric vehicle leader.
Image Credit: BMW
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