BMW, NEVS, Tesla, Volvo, Tata, Mitsubishi.

BMWi on price par with ICE: BMW wants to sell its electric vehicles at a similar price to comparable gasoline-powered cars comes 2020, Bimmertoday reports from a symposium in Vienna. In order to lower costs, the Bavarians bet on nickel manganese cobalt batteries and a highly flexible architecture to enable an output range of 90 to 250 kW. Meanwhile the BMWBlog reports that the future iNext, due by 2021, will be a crossover similar to Jaguar’s I-Pace. It focuses on autonomy starting at level 3 but with the capability to allow for level 5, which essentially is full-autonomy, i.e. hands and eyes off.
bimmertoday.de (in German), bmwblog.com (iNext)

See the first Saab EV 9-3: Saab’s parent company NEVS is readying its the production version of its all-electric 9-3 to launch this June at the CES Asia in Shanghai. First spy shots already emerged and show a very Saab-like EV. Apart from the electric version with 300 km range, there may also be a 9-3 hybrid. The first 150,000 electric Saabs have reportedly been sold to Chinese Panda New Energy already.
carnewschina.com (with photos)

Tesla rethinks line-up: After teasing its upcoming electric truck Semi recently, Tesla added a few details. The Semi will utilise many Model 3 components, e.g. the electric motor, in order to enable high gross margins. Meanwhile, Elon Musk doubts his idea of an electric mini bus programme for future sharing services. His judgement builds on his previous prediction that in a fully autonomous environment, shared electric cars will essentially make large parts of public transport redundant.
electrek.co (Semi), electrek.co (mini bus)

Volvo’s first EV is going to be a compact model, specified R&D leader Henrik Green. It will be based on the compact car platform CMA and have the size of Volvo’s 40 series. Launch is set for 2019.
digitaltrends.com

Tata to electrify its Nano? After the Indian carmaker introduced its sub-brand Tamo with a sports car in Geneva, it wants to add an electrified small car to the line-up, reports Autocar India. Tata’s Nano could thus get an electrified twin, earlier photos of a corresponding prototype suggest.
autocarindia.com

Mitsubishi training certified: The Japanese group designed a three-day course to provide its UK dealer network with the tech knowledge required to work with hybrid and electric vehicles. The carmaker cooperated with the IMI to elevate the course to an industry-recognised qualification.
electriccarsreport.com