BMW is likely to build a ‘New Class’ platform model using electric drive by 2025. BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said this when announcing the latest quarterly sales figures.
When it hits the market, it will be concentrated on the 3-Series segment and at that point in time the market will have developed into a size where it is reasonable to have only one drivetrain in that architecture,” said Zipse
However, the architecture used allowed the technical option to also install an internal combustion engine at a later date. Only the first model was confirmed as a pure BEV.
BMW appears to be concentrating exclusively on battery-electric drive for the New Class, as well as for future models.
The internal combustion engine will not be stopped at all. The combustion engine can still be built on top of other BMW platforms. However, the board has not yet decided which model will use the new combustion engine for the period beyond 2025.
BMW is thought to be planning to discontinue internal combustion engines “more radically than expected”.
