Electric Vehicles

BMW unveils new EVs, says Europeans don’t want them

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The Driven

Minutes after BMW announced it would accelerate its electrification strategy by two years at an event in Munich on Tuesday, a senior BMW executive has said that Europeans don’t actually want to buy pure electric vehicles.

BMW board member and executive Klaus Frölich said at the round-table interview that despite BMW accelerating its plans for 25 new plug-in electric cars to 2023 instead of 2025 – and now also at least one all-electric motorcycle – he doesn’t expect BMW’s all-electric vehicles will attract much interest.

“There are no customer requests for BEVs. None,” Frölich, BMW’s director of development, said according to Forbes.

“There are regulator requests for BEVs, but no customer requests.

“If we have a big offer, a big incentive, we could flood Europe and sell a million (BEV) cars but Europeans won’t buy these things.

“From what we see, BEVs are for China and California and everywhere else is better off with PHEVs with good EV range.”

To read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, click here…

Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology, and has a keen interest in the role that zero emissions transport has to play in sustainability.

Bridie Schmidt

Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology, and has a keen interest in the role that zero emissions transport has to play in sustainability.

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