Reporting by Chen Yannan and Tong Haihua in Beijing
At the annual earnings meeting held on March 16, the BMW Group announced that the electrification process will be accelerated again.
The reporter of China Business Daily learned from the BMW Group that in fiscal 2021, the global sales of new energy vehicles of the BMW Group increased by 70%, exceeding 320,000 units. In order to continue this momentum, the BMW Group will accelerate the expansion of its pure electric product lineup. In 2022, the number of mass-produced and pre-production pure electric models will reach 15; the "new generation" model based on the new structure will begin trial production in 2024 and be unveiled in 2025; and by the end of 2025, the BMW Group plans to deliver 2 million pure electric vehicles worldwide.
At the same time, at the annual meeting of the financial report, Wei Bofan, director of the BMW Group responsible for research and development, showed the world for the first time some of the design details and technological highlights of the new generation of BMW 7 Series. "This year, the all-electric BMW i7 will take the BMW electric model to new heights and will be an important part of our continued success and leading change. The new BMW 7 Series is the next trump card in our successful growth strategy in the luxury car segment, which will be the first luxury sedan in the BMW luxury segment to offer an internal combustion engine, plug-in hybrid and pure electric drive. BMW Group Chairman Chiptzer said.
Chiptzer, Chairman of the BMW Group
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The new generation of THE BMW 7 Series is based on THE CLASSIC DESIGN ELEMENTS OF BMW, and the new generation of the BMW 7 Series, including the innovative pure electric BMW i7, will be launched worldwide in April. As BMW's world's first all-electric luxury flagship sedan, the BMW i7 will have a driving range of more than 600 kilometers, bringing more excellent and innovative pure electric driving pleasure.
The launch of the innovative all-electric BMW i7 means that BMW's pure electric product array will expand into the large luxury car segment, and for the first time, the exclusive luxury, respect and comfort of the BMW brand large luxury flagship sedan will be perfectly integrated with zero-emission pure electric driving. Mr. Wei Bofan, Director of R&D of the BMW Group, said: "The new BMW 7 Series has created a new trend and development direction in every field, and is a unique representative of BMW's innovative strength. As the most powerful model in the BMW 7 Series, the innovative all-electric BMW i7 combines pure driving fun with leading digital experiences and will be the ideal vehicle for forward-thinking, responsible pioneer leaders. ”
In addition, the "new generation" model based on the new structure and equipped with the sixth-generation eDrive electric drive system will usher in the first trial production model in 2024. The "Next Generation" models will feature a redesigned IT and software architecture, a new generation of high-performance electric drive systems and batteries, and a new sustainable concept throughout the vehicle lifecycle, in particular prioritizing the use of reusable materials and promoting a circular economy. The sixth-generation eDrive electric drive system combines performance and cost control with new chemical and battery form factors.
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With the rapid expansion of its product lineup, the BMW Group expects that sales of electric models will also grow rapidly: by the end of 2025, the BMW Group plans to deliver a total of 2 million pure electric vehicles. "By 2030, at least half of all global sales will be pure electric vehicles. We are doing everything possible to achieve this ahead of schedule. By then, the annual sales volume of pure electric vehicles will exceed 1.5 million units. Of course, this also depends on the speed of development of charging infrastructure in different parts of the world, as well as the supply of battery-related raw materials. Chiptzer said.
According to Chiptzer, in order to ensure the production of existing models, the BMW Group has also made full preparations for the supply of key components. For example, in order to ensure an adequate supply of batteries, the BMW Group has increased the purchase of batteries equipped with the fifth-generation eDrive electric drive system from 12 billion euros to more than 20 billion euros.
By 2030, the BMW Group plans to deliver a total of 10 million pure electric vehicles to customers. At that time, the other three brands of the BMW Group will also be fully electrified: the Rolls-Royce brand will complete the electrification of all products; the BMW Motorrad urban mobility series will be fully electrified; and the MINI brand will also move towards full electrification from the early 2030s, providing customers with zero-emission driving pleasure.
In addition, as another focus of new energy technology, the BMW Group is steadily promoting the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology, and announced that the electric drive system based on this technology can also be applied to the "new generation" model, becoming another choice for sustainable mobility. This year, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will also undergo small-scale mass production. It is expected that from the second half of the 2020s, hydrogen fuel cell technology will be more and more represented in the drive system portfolio.
(Editor: Zhang Shuo Proofreader: Peng Yufeng)