BMW CEO Oliver Zipse has confirmed plans to increase the share of purely electric cars in the company’s upcoming lineup to 20% by 2023.
The Bavarian automaker hopes to up the ante by producing 250,000 more vehicles in 2021 through 2023 than originally planned. Hybrids and EVs currently constitute only 8% of the total, but this will change as soon as all four German BMW factories are upgraded for EV production.
The company admits that the more EVs hit the streets, the more urgent measures are required to develop the infrastructure for their charging and maintenance. Zipse believes that the number of electric cars in Germany will grow to 10 million in mere 10 years, necessitating around a million charging outlets. This means around 15,000 private and 1,300 public charging terminals need to emerge in the country on a daily basis – a figure currently unattainable due to numerous limitations.
This fall, BMW revealed its EV roadmap for the coming decade, mentioning plans to design nine new battery cars using its innovative CLAR and FAAR platforms. This includes vehicles marketed under the MINI sub-brand.