BMW is accelerating electrification plans

It seems the BMW EV strategy is not very focused, mostly electrifying ICE platforms which means they won't be very competitive with the pure EV models. Take the I4 which is just an electrified 3/4 series and will compete directly with a Model 3 Tesla which sells in the hundreds of thousands. The BMW will be a niche product at best.

A clearly coordinated campaign against Harald Kruger and his intelligent management is underway. Tesla - the $35,000 vaporware car that never materialised and sales nowhere near the supposed 400,000 reservations that likewise have evaporated if they ever existed - which raises serious questions of potential fraud against Mr "Musk". Meanwhile we see VW Battery supply in trouble (27.05.19) with Samsung possibly cutting supply from 20 to only 5 GWh. We see Audi revises down etron production targets "by more than 10,000 units to 45,242 units, due to supply issues (batteries). Also, production of Audi’s second electric model, the e-tron Sportback, is to be postponed until 2020" (23.04.19) but even so Audi e-tron sales have already overtaken the Tesla Model X and S in Europe and USA combined - which are Tesla's highest margin cars. Musk announced sales of 500,000 this year in an unapproved Tweet whereas so far they are on less than 90k per quarter. The Dutch electric car rental company EC Rent had to shut down in December 2018 due to lack of spare parts supply from Tesla and a Chinese ride hailing company took out billboards in Times Square saying 20% of their new Tesla cars were delivered with mechanical problems. Average service time: 45 days. Do Toyota have a pure EV? No. Jim Lentz their USA President said recently there is a limited business case for EVs with gas at $2.50 a gallon while paying a premium, limited range and long recharging times. Tesla is a tiny niche company – not a mass manufacturer. The decisions that Toyota and BMW have to take are completely different. And for all their EV noise, to distract from their diesel sins, VW’s raw materials requirements for lithium and cobalt will be totally unrealistic – current global lithium carbonate production is 200k tonnes p.a. and China want 800 ktonnes alone by 2025!! And China control more and more of the lithium supply chain. PHEVs make far more sense – a small 8 kWh battery not 80 kWh, limited battery cost, still get 30 – 50 km electric range which covers 80% of daily driving needs but no range anxiety either or chance of getting stranded – a flexible car that covers all your needs with electric for short local use and quick to recharge and petrol for the long trips and not loaded down with batteries that weigh more than armour plating. Plus 10 cars get excellent fuel economy instead of only 1 EV not using petrol at all creating much much higher overall reduction in petrol consumption. PHEVs are the intelligent electric strategy and I hope the Germans still pride themselves on being intelligent.

@William Tahil. You are right that there is a reversal of fortunes for pure EVs, and your intimation that this is primarily due to refuelling problems is also right. But I disagree that PHEVs are the solution, since they are routinely used as ICE vehicles and make little significant impact on fleet carbon.A better solution is the Range Extender - either petrol (as the i3) or a fuel cell (perhaps from Ceres power). This provides 90% of driving in EV as a routine solution. But the 10% of long range driving is covered by a slightly performance-compromised option.

The i3 is heavily criticized in reviews for its range. And to be honest the range on my 2018 i3s is disappointing.But I love that car and I don't understand why they haven't picked up that Lion Light battery as an option. With a 100kWh battery option they would outclass the competition and be a winner in BEV. Instead the competition is jumping all over them with new cars for less money with longer range.