BMW's New Electric Vehicles i1 and i2 Preparations and Future Plans
TapTechNews June 20th. According to the news from AutoCar citing BMW insiders, BMW has begun preparations for the production of the new electric vehicles i1 and i2. The research and development work of these two new models has started at the FIZ research center in Munich and will be launched later in this decade, and will be sold simultaneously with the existing fuel vehicle models of the upgraded 1 Series and 2 Series.
The report said that the new i1 is expected to be a hatchback or sedan, and the i2 is a compact crossover, and a coupe body version is also available. Industry insiders say that the i2 will become the spiritual successor of BMW's first all-electric vehicle, the i3 (TapTechNews note: not the current i3 model of the pure electric 3 Series).
The BMW i3 mentioned in this article was launched in 2013 and discontinued in 2022, and at that time, pure electric and range-extended two types of models were provided, and the domestic prices were $62,800 and $71,200 respectively.
BMW will still be committed to the development of the 1 Series and its derivative models, while its competitor Mercedes-Benz will permanently discontinue the A-Class model in 2026.
According to the report, Bernd Körber, head of BMW products, said that the BMW brand hopes to achieve growth in all markets and establish a connection with the younger generation, and having entry-level models such as the 1 Series and 2 Series is crucial to achieving this goal. Although their profitability is lower, they also have different purposes, that is, to attract young customers. Therefore, they are still part of our strategy.
He also believes that the withdrawal of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class from the market is providing an opportunity for BMW to expand its market share through the new generation of 1 Series.
According to the plan, BMW may launch the electric vehicle i1 in 2027 and the sporty i2 in 2028. However, the updated 1 Series and 2 Series still use the existing FAAR platform, and the two new compact electric vehicles are designed around the new dedicated Neue Klasse electric vehicle architecture.