Although cars employing the engines will still be put together at the Munich factory, the ICE engines currently constructed in Munich will be produced in BMW’s plants in Austria and the UK in the future, according to production chief Milan Nedeljkovic.
However, the business predicted that by 2023, at least half of the vehicles built in Munich would be electric, either battery-powered or plug-in hybrid.
At a conference last week, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse stated the business would be prepared with an all-electric option if any market outlawed ICEs by 2030. BMW has set a goal for at least 50% of new worldwide car sales to be electric by that time. View More
According to the manufacturer, the i4 battery-electric vehicle was produced on an assembly line alongside ICE and hybrid vehicles like the BMW 3 Series Sedan and Touring. This change in production infrastructure cost 200 million euros ($233 million).
The BMW iX, along with hybrid and ICE vehicles, are produced at the automaker’s Dingolfing factory, where a comparable mixed assembly line is already in operation.
Peter Weber, the plant’s chief, said that when choosing how to distribute scarce chips, the new model will be given priority. Nedeljkovic stated that the company had plenty of other raw materials on hand.
BMW has previously stated that the chip shortage that has beset automakers globally will cost them to produce 70,000 to 90,000 fewer vehicles than it could have sold this year.
Additionally, it pledged to reach zero emissions from transport logistics at the company’s largest factory in Munich within the next five years without specifying a deadline.
It was stated that this would be accomplished by utilizing rail transportation and trucks driven by batteries more frequently to move cars inside and outside of the plant.
(This story has been updated to reflect that the Munich factory would phase out internal combustion engines rather than automobiles.)
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At its primary factory, BMW will shortly quit producing fossil-fuel engines.
By 2024, BMW said it would stop producing internal combustion engines (ICEs) at its primary manufacturing facility in Munich, Germany. BMW’s head of production, Milan Nedeljkovic, stated earlier today, prior to the start of production for the company’s all-electric i4 model, that even by the end of next year, at least half of the vehicles made in Munich will either be all-electric or hybrid.
BMW stated that its facilities in Austria and the U.K. will continue to produce ICEs for its other car models that use fossil fuels even though Munich’s location is expected to become environmentally friendly in two years. It’s not like the world’s ecosystems aren’t in jeopardy or something when we take one stride forward and two steps back.
There are now high-end EVs. The competition for luxurious electric automobiles has finally begun with the i4’s impending release next summer. For years, that image has been associated with Tesla’s products, but when rivals like the BMW i4 and the upcoming Rolls-Royce Spectre reach the market, it’s obvious that the Technoking will need to improve his game to stay ahead of the competition.
BMW wants everything to be electric — Not all of the iconic German automaker’s models are intended to be “electrified,” so to speak. The business has displayed a number of concept ideas for both two-wheeled scooters and motorbikes in addition to its incredibly futuristic-looking CE 05.
These are all excellent points, but they sidestep the current pressing problem: the need for numerous, reasonably priced EV solutions for regular drivers. Even while there are already a lot of options, luxury EVs won’t be the only source of cultural transformation.
The switch to EVs won’t happen suddenly, thus the traditional ICE will be modernized to comply with Euro 7 standards.
Mercedes has pledged to switch to all-electric vehicles by 2030 where “market conditions permit,” whereas Audi will begin selling entirely EVs in 2026 and (mostly) stop making combustion-engine vehicles by 2033. How about the BMW? For the time being, the second Big Three member of Germany is hesitant to make such a commitment since it believes the combustion engine is still useful.
The switch to EVs won’t happen suddenly, according to BMW’s development chief Frank Weber in an interview with Automotive News Europe, since several issues must be resolved first. “When will the infrastructure be prepared to accommodate all those battery-electric cars? Infrastructure for charging and renewable energy are the topics. Is everyone prepared? The system is it ready? Is the infrastructure for charging ready?”
A car manufacturer is releasing battery-powered SUVs and sedans.
Germany’s NUERTINGEN — With an assortment of electric vehicles, BMW will be prepared for any combustion-engine vehicle ban beginning in 2030, according to CEO Oliver Zipse.
As part of a larger package of measures to tackle global warming, the EU has proposed an effective ban on fossil-fuel vehicles beginning in 2035.
“We’ll be ready for the ICE ban. If a region, city, or nation decides to outlaw ICEs, we have an offer, “In the town of Nuertingen, close to Stuttgart, Zipse spoke at a conference.
“This is unimportant to the BMW Group. The idea’s viability is up for debate, but we will make an offering.”
BMW has not announced a deadline for the end of combustion-engine automobile production, in contrast to rivals like the Volkswagen Group and General Motors. However, it has stated that by 2030, EV sales will account for 50% of all new car sales worldwide.
The i4 electric sedan and the iX electric SUV are now being unveiled by BMW. Next year will see the release of battery-powered versions of the 7-Series sedan and X1 SUV, while 2023 will see the introduction of electric versions of the 5-Series sedan and Mini Countryman.
BMW is developing new internal combustion engines.
BMW continues to place a high focus on the combustion-powered automobile market even as it intensifies its electrification efforts. The Neue Klasse, or short NK, is a brand-new, electric-focused platform that will be unveiled by the BMW Group in 2025. The next-generation 3 Series, which will use the platform codename NK1, is expected to be the first vehicle to use this new architecture. The following-generation X3 SUV will be closely after it, followed by other models as they undergo refreshes.
Frank Weber, the head of BMW Research and Development, recently discussed the company’s goals for both gasoline and diesel engines in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport. The BMW board member thinks that combustion-powered BMW vehicles will still be required by 2030 since many automobile markets are unlikely to be fully electrified. In light of this, Weber predicts that BMW will continue to produce cutting-edge, highly effective gasoline and diesel engines for many years to come.
BMW will maintain enhancing its engine range in order to meet the strict pollution regulations and other requirements. In the interview, Weber claims that both six and eight-cylinder engines will be a part of an entirely new generation of engines that will be released in the future. Additionally, Weber guarantees that the six-cylinder engines would use less fuel than any engine generation before it. BMW will soon be able to provide petrol and diesel engines in many countries, which, with incredibly low CO2 emissions, are an option for anyone who isn’t ready or able to adopt electric cars. This is possible because of the efficiency leap.
With this approach, BMW will likely stand out in a variety of market areas. For instance, the 2024 release of the G90 BMW M5 features a plug-in hybrid drivetrain with a V8 engine. The new M5 might be the only vehicle available in that market segment with a fantastic-sounding V8 engine. We anticipate seeing the exact same component, which debuted in the BMW Concept XM, in other BMW vehicles.
In the same interview, Weber also goes into great detail regarding the electrified future and the new class, which is expected to set new norms starting in 2025. Of course, BMW is fully dedicated to the electric movement as well. Direct access to the entire interview is accessible at Auto Motor und Sport.
For another 30 years, according to the R&D boss of BMW, internal combustion engines will be produced.
According to Klaus Froehlich, chief of R&D at BMW, the business will continue to build fossil fuel-powered engines for at least another 30 years, but the V8’s prospects are dim.
Don’t be misled into believing that the internal combustion engine’s demise is near just because the electric car revolution is on the horizon. At least, it is not the impression we get from reading Klaus Froehlich’s remarks about R&D at BMW.
Froehlich stated that “our four and six cylinder diesels will remain for at least another 20 years and our gasoline units for at least 30 years” when discussing electrification and how BMW will approach it moving forward.
All of this is consistent with BMW’s philosophy of using a flexible vehicle architecture that supports many types of engine in order to satisfy the diverse needs of markets across the world. For example, CLAR (cluster architecture) will power the fully electric i4, which Froehlich refers to as “essentially a battery-powered 3-series.” CLAR is also utilized for hybrid and pure ICE vehicles.
However, there is bad news for BMW’s V8 and V12 engines. Given the low annual production rate and “the few thousand more euros it takes to make them compatible with tougher emissions laws,” Froehlich claims that the V12 “may not have a future.”
The V8’s problem, on the other hand, is that BMW doesn’t require as many cylinders or as much displacement to produce significant power statistics. Given that we have a six-cylinder, high-powered plug-in hybrid unit with 441 kilowatts of power and enough torque to demolish many transmissions, he said, it is already challenging to make a compelling financial case to keep the V8 alive.
Although we really didn’t want to add any more terrible news, it’s also important to note that BMW’s quad-turbo inline-six diesel won’t be replaced. Why? Naturally, the reason is that it “is too complicated to build.”
Will BMW eventually quit producing gas-powered vehicles?
Late last year, there was a reorganization at the top of BMW. For the second time, industry veteran Frank van Meel has been named head of the brand’s performance M division. Prior to late 2018, when he switched to concentrating on new electric vehicles including the BMW iX SUV and the new i7 EV flagship sedan, he worked as the M boss. His experience with EVs will be put to good use now that he is back in charge of the M division, but not until the new, gas-only 2023 BMW M2 goes on sale as the final example of its sort.
The returning executive appeared to confirm that the impending next-generation BMW M2 will be the final gas-only combustion-powered car to pass through the M division in an interview with the German publication Bimmer Today. If we believe van Meel, the performance brand’s future will be entirely electric vehicles (EVs), while in the short term, each new model introduced following the M2 is expected to adopt some type of electrification, including the new flagship hybrid BMW XM SUV (translated to English from its original German publication). We shouldn’t need to wait long to learn more as the M2 launch is soon.
Although the new BMW M2 has only been formally hinted at thus far, it is rumored to be a six-speed manual transmission purist’s dream. Future M division vehicles are probably going to need a lot of gas power for a long, but they’ll also likely embrace the XM’s 48-volt mild-hybrid engine technology. Future M cars are expected to have more batteries because the next-generation M5 has apparently been sighted in development testing with hybrid badging as well.
Even if the division is spreading out into bigger and bigger cars and offering a flagship SUV over a specific sports car platform like the classic M1, van Meel says in the interview that reducing weight is still a top goal for future models. The M division’s larger, heavier performance vehicles will continue to do well thanks to electrification, which often offers more rapid torque and power benefits as it pursues new customers with new sector offerings.