The German plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market grew 31% in July, to 5,617 registrations, with BEVs growing faster (+39%) than PHEVs (+28%). In 2018, fully electric cars are now reaching 1% market share on their own and so are plug-in hybrids, resulting in a total PEV share of 2%.
BMW is a top electric vehicle producer. Indeed, it isn’t yet shipping 1 million EVs a year and it only has the i3 in its fully electric stable, but it already has plug-in versions of four of its popular models, to supplement the “born electric” i3 and i8. Overall, BMW’s plug-in vehicle sales have been growing significantly and they now represent 5% of BMW’s sales globally (7% in the US and 9% in the UK). BMW’s plug-in vehicle sales have increased 73% in the US, 25% in the UK, and 646% in China this year.
Charging an electric vehicle (EV) should be as convenient as refueling a gasoline car, if not better. While many carmakers try to find the best solutions, the simplest option is often overlooked. If you don’t have to plug in to charge, you never even have to realize that you are doing so. Wireless charging is a great out of sight, out of mind solution to keep your EV humming along. It has long been a bit of a distant option, but BMW is now offering it for new plug-in models.
BMW has been working on wireless charging since 2014. Now, it says it will begin offering it on production cars, starting with the 530e iPerformance beginning in July.
The Netherlands had 1,834 registrations in March, up 123% compared to March 2017. Last month actually resulted in a 4.3% plug-in vehicle share of the auto market, thus helping the 2018 share climb to 3.3%. The Tesla Model S was once again the monthly best seller, thanks to 588 registrations, allowing it to beat its own record of 576 deliveries, which dated back from December 2013…
Bet not too many knew BMW had its own wireless charging system, and now the company says it will offer it to its US customers.
The European passenger plug-in vehicle market had its best not-last-month-of-quarter record in November, with over 29,000 vehicles delivered to happy customers. This is the 7th time in the last 8 months that we saw +50% growth rates.
Breaking news today regarding BMW and electric vehicles was … more or less a repeat of statements BMW made in 2013 and 2015, but it also provided some extra details.
The battle over whether a plug-in hybrid is really an “electric car” continues and BMW is doing nothing to tamp down the controversy. The latest EPA figures show the BMW 530e and 530e xDrive both have a minuscule all-electric range of just 16 miles or less. Hardly the “compelling electric car” Elon Musk has been begging legacy manufacturers to build for several years.
Originally published on The Electric BMW i3. By Tom Moloughney I had the opportunity to sit down with BMW NA’s top man when it comes to electric vehicles, Jose Guerrero, at this year’s New York International Auto Show. Guerrero is BMW i’s North American Product & Operations Manager, and has … [continued]
