BMW, China, Smart, Toyota, Nissan, CarCharging.

BMW update: New BMW boss Harald Krüger is keeping up the electric vibe, as he plans a longer-range version of the i3, a stronger i8, and an all-electric SUV, writes German Handelsblatt. All three models should be presented to the board next month. That would mean that the Bavarian continues to move into an era of electric mobility – maybe not at warp speed, but consistently.
handelsblatt.com (paid content)

High-end support: China’s government will foster high-end manufacturers, including those making electric cars. The companies will receive financial support and are asked to acquire firms overseas.
reuters.com

Smart ED update: Buyers based in the U.S. will have to wait until 2017 to get the chance to buy the latest Smart ED. In Europe, the electric mini Daimler is due to launch one year earlier, in 2016. In the States, only the Smart fortwo is available.
autonews.com, autoblog.com

Low interest in the future: Toyota received up to 60 Mirai inquiries per day in the first ten days of its online ‘Request Portal.’ To that into perspective: When Nissan opened its pre-order portal for the Leaf, 2,700 customers managed to reserve an EV in the first 3 hours.
insideevs.com, transportevolved.com

Nissan update: The new 300-km range Leaf will be launched in Japan this year already. The increased range for the best-selling EV will be reached via battery upgrade.
yomiuri.co.jp (in Japanese)

New boss: CarCharging appointed Mike Calise as new CEO. Calise has longstanding experience in the EV sector and formerly headed North America EV Solutions at Schneider Electric. He also founded EVadvise that developed plans for large scale EV charging infrastructure.
cleantechnica.com