BMW: We'll Have 25 Electrified Models by 2025

Add BMW to the growing list of automakers with extensive plans to electrify its model lineup. In a chairman's report this week in advance of the Frankfurt Auto Show, Harald Krueger said that by 2025, 25 of the company's models would be electrified, and 12 of which will be fully electric.

BMW currently has 10 "electrified vehicles" on the market: nine electrified cars (including hybrids and plug-in hybrids) and the BMW C Evolution electric scooter. It will announce several electrified cars at next week's Frankfurt Auto Show.

Frankfurt, the Ever-More Electric Show

With some European countries talking about banning diesels over the next two decades and concerns about climate change, every automaker feels the pressure to provide alternatives to the combustion-engine vehicle. There will dozens of EVs as well as hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

BMW Group, which includes BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce, will introduce an electric Mini (shipping 2019) at Frankfurt, as well as a BEV (battery electric vehicle) BMW X3, and a vision car between the i3 small sedan and the i8 sports car. They will have a range up to 435 miles (700 km).

BMW's Statement of Direction

We call the driving forces of future mobility the ACES: Automated, Connected, Electrified, and Services – specifically, mobility services. These are key elements of our corporate strategy, Number One > Next, our roadmap for the future. The BMW Group is becoming more and more a "tech company" – and we are in an excellent position to move forward with the ACES. Many others are convinced too: Major players such as Intel, Mobileye, Delphi and Continental have joined forces with us to shape the future of automated driving. Our test fleet is now on the roads in Germany, Israel and the US – making daily trips.

... we began testing our Mini E fleet worldwide back in 2008. Valuable know-how was integrated into our first fully-electric production car, the BMW i3, the "original". It’s been the world’s top-selling electric car in its segment since its launch in 2013. We are successfully transferring BMW i’s technologies to our core models.

... Our strong commitment to e-mobility is underlined in NUMBER ONE > NEXT. We will be increasing the share of electrified models across all brands and model series. And, yes, that also includes the Rolls-Royce brand and BMW M vehicles.

Furthermore, we are currently gearing all BMW Group plants towards e-mobility. In the future, we will be able to equip all our models with every drive train. Two flexible vehicle architectures and a flexible production network will allow us to respond quickly and efficiently.

Let me make one thing very clear: In e-mobility, the BMW Group will also be the leading provider in the premium segment. By 2025, we will offer 25 electrified vehicles – 12 will be fully-electric.

Who Else Is Pushing Hard for Electrified Cars

Volvo in July made a public commitment to electrified. It was widely written (at first) that Volvo would be all-electric by 2019. What the company said was that as of 2019, every Volvo model introduced then and thereafter would have an electrified version, meaning it might also have a combustion engine version as well. Actually, of the Volvos we recently test-drove, the S90 sedan, XC90 SUV, and best-selling compact crossover XC60 all have 400-hp plug-in hybrid variants already.