Model that would price cheaply enough to earn Government’s electric car rebate is on horizon – but not this year.

POTENTIAL for a fully electric BMW-badged car to price under $80,000, the current barrier to achieving a Clean Car rebate, will not realise in 2023, but will likely happen in the immediate period beyond.

This from the brand’s top local boss, Adam Shaver (above), in speaking to his brand’s latest EV news and also to thought from the top in Germany that electromobility and electric cars will become less expensive – but never cheap.

A plug-in hybrid version of a compact crossover, the 2-Series Active Tourer (above), releasing later around July for $78,500 will become the cheapest electrified car BMW offers and is the first current era product to win a rebate. But the least expensive fully electric model, the incoming iX1, is nowhere close: It’s a $97,500 car.

“That’s just 2023. I think it is possible that we could get fully electrified vehicles, just a little bit further down the road, into that price point,” Shaver said when discussing the cars at a media meet-up in Auckland yesterday.

 “There is opportunity there. For me, it really is about making sure that we have offers that are electrified throughout our range. I don’t want electrified to be only something for the top-end vehicles.

 “I want customers who are interested in all of our vehicles to have opportunity to get into electrified vehicles.”

Shaver has not said what might come in for under $80k, but the factory has dropped strong hints of a BMW i1 and i2 - electric equivalents to the petrol-powered BMW 1 Series and BMW 2 Series – though timing for those remains vague.

On the more immediate horizon, but less likely to be cheap enough to win a Government cheque, is the future electric 3-Series, previewed at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas in January, by a concept called I Vision Dee. This study also previews the upcoming Neue Klasse platform, coming out in 2025.

Named after the game-changing Neue Klasse saloons of the Sixties, Neue Klasse uses BMW’s next-generation electric-car batteries, which it claims can deliver up to 30 percent more driving range for half the price of its current battery packs.

 Shaver says NZ is recognised by Munich as being a special case market, unlike almost any other, because of the fast-climbing national interest in electric cars. 

BMW has felt that vibe. Its electrified vehicle sales surged so much here in 2022 to be recognised by Munich as the leading market in the Asia Pacifc region for sales of electrified models in its overall mix.

 BMW sales, year-on-year, were down 2.6 percent, but volume of BMW-badged models with battery involvement – so, not just full electrics but also plug-in hybrids - enjoyed a 135 percent growth on 2021, with 454 cars registered. MINI models of the same ilk gained 88 percent year-on-year, with 482 sold, while fully electric offers from BMW and MINI climbed 502 percent and 100 percent respectively.

At present BMW’s battery-dedicated stock is all high-end, and the latest is most expensive yet. The i7 limousine shown off yesterday costs $276,900, gets 625kms on a charge and is packed with the brand’s latest and flamboyant technologies.  

However, soon there’s be a car that is more budget-minded – by BMW spending standards.

 The iX1 30e (above), a fully electric version of the X1 crossover just released locally, won’t win a break from Government’s EV support scheme, but it is the first fully battery-fed BMW below $100k.

Prior to this, the cheapest fully electric BMW has been the iX3, which from today avails in a single choice, for $118,900. Basically, it’s the Impressive edition that cost $5100 more when released last year, as a more expensive alternate to a base car now discontinued.

“We have put a lot of effort into simplifying our product portfolio,” says Shaver in explaining this revision, which occurs less than a year after the car first became available.

“From a global perspective there are never-ending variants of any BMW available, but in a small market you really need to focus on what sells and what has the most potential.” 

The cheapest car sold by the brand, the $70,115 MINI Electric, attracts the full $8625 rebate and has been the single strongest-selling MINI model over the past 12 months.

To get a handle on the overall scene, NZ’s cheapest electric car – the MG ZS EV – is priced from $49,990 before the $8625 Clean Car rebate and BMW NZ’s least expensive BMW model is the petrol-wed BMW 118i, at $58,900.

Delivery of a PHEV 7-Series, the 750e, for $229,900 also around July-August are core undertakings this year. So is release of the first plug-in hybrid sports utility from the ultra-sports M Division, the XM – also the first dedicated M model in 40 years - price yet undisclosed. 

Shaver is confident about bringing in additional electrics because there’s market demand and he feels the overall political sentiment supports uptake of this technology.  

Last year’s national result was reflective of the rapidly evolving automotive landscape, with it arriving in the same period Government implemented forward-thinking policies to accelerate the adoption of electrified models and take important steps toward carbon neutrality “a move that undoubtedly played a role in changing customer mindsets.”

He feels the upcoming general election and potential for a change of Government could well result in change for Clean Car, but believes both major political parties are nonetheless committed to NZ going into a low carbon future. 

Uncertainty about how much of Clean Car might remain under a new administration does weigh in, but the rebate isn’t a be-all for BMW anyway. 

“It’s not about pricing to the Clean Car discount … no-one knows what is going to happen with that in the coming months.”

Asked for his thoughts about Clean Car and the $80,000 cut-off, Shaver offered he is “supportive of Government policies that incentivise electrified vehicles.

“I think the Clean Car discount certainly has its flaws. What we’ve seen is that the threshold drives volume to certain, very inexpensive electric vehicles only. It creates, let’s say, some disadvantages to people who are forced to buy other types of vehicles.

“I don’t think it is a fully thought-through system.”

How could it be improved? “There are a couple of obvious directions. I think that one could be to simply focus on pure electric vehicles and potentially leave out hybrids.

“My view, though, is that in general, if the Government wants to promote low emission driving in NZ they should make it as broad as possible. And that means opening it up, not shutting it down. If the ambition is to electrify the automotive fleet.”

Thought about electric spanning all the BMW portfolio was also touched on recently by BMW’s chief executive Oliver Zipse, who said his firm’s target of achieving a big electrified range by 2030 won’t require abandoning its lower-priced segment.

“… even if you consider yourself a premium manufacturer, it is wrong to leave the lower market segment -- that will be the core of your business in the future.”

His comments contrast with the strategy of rival Mercedes-Benz, which said last year it was dedicating 75 percent of its investments to top-end vehicles and its highest-selling segment of "core luxury" C-Class and E-Class models while cutting the number of entry-level models.

Zipse has claimed prices of electric cars won’t be considered cheap by existing standards, even if costs go down as production increases. That is the next task for this industry, to bring the prices down even further.