i3

Make
BMW
Segment
Hatchback

Electric vehicles might not be catching on as fast as some automakers would like. But that's not deterring BMW.

At its #NEXTGen event in Munich today, the Bavarian manufacturer revealed not only the attention-grabbing Vision M Next concept (and a battery-powered motorcycle concept) but also its broader plans for electrification for the coming years. And they're already ahead of schedule: the company now aims to have 25 electrified models in its lineup by 2023 – the same number it had originally targeted for 2025, but now moved up by two years.

"We are moving up a gear in the transformation towards sustainable mobility, thereby making our company fit for the future: Over the past two years, we have consistently taken numerous decisions that we are now bringing to the roads. By 2021, we will have doubled our sales of electrified vehicles compared with 2019," said chief executive Harald Krüger. "We will offer 25 electrified vehicles already in 2023 – two years earlier than originally planned. We expect to see a steep growth curve towards 2025: Sales of our electrified vehicles should increase by an average of 30 percent every year."

That's an ambitious target, but it's already coming along. Beyond the i3 electric hatchback and i8 sports car, BMW already offers electrified versions of the 3 Series and 7 Series sedans, as well as the X3, X5, and Mini Countryman crossovers. Next year it will roll out the iX3, followed by the forward-looking iNEXT and i4. Soon it will also introduce plug-in hybrid versions of the 2 Series Active Tourer, 3 Series Touring wagon, 5 Series sedan, and X1 crossover (for China), plus the all-electric Mini E. That's already 16 models by our count, leaving just nine to be announced for launch within the next four years.