BMW 3 Series Electric to debut September, options cut to fund for EV R&D – reports

The all-electric BMW 3 Series sedan will reportedly be unveiled at this year’s Frankfurt motor show in September.

Sources have told Handelsblatt the 3 Series EV will make its debut in September, partially as a spoiler for the Tesla Model 3, which goes into production later this year.

It’s not clear when BMW’s electric sedan will go on sale, but an earlier report suggested electric versions of mainstream BMW models wouldn’t begin appearing in showrooms until 2019, although these models may now begin appearing earlier than that.

Above and below: BMW 330e plug-in hybrid.

In separate but related news, Nicolas Peter, BMW’s chief financial officer, confirmed to Reuters and others the Bavarian car maker will continue to spend heavily on electric vehicle development.

Aggressive CO2 targets from the EU, and EV and hybrid incentives in China are spurring BMW, as well as other manufacturers, to invest heavily in electrified drivetrains.

Over the next three years, the company plans on allocating between 5.5 and 6.0 per cent of its total revenue to its research and development budget.

To help offset the cost of developing and selling more electric vehicles, the company will streamline its options list, with Peter noting: “We have over 100 steering wheels on offer. Do we need that many variants?”

BMW will also pare back drivetrain options, with manual transmissions being dropped from the 2 Series coupe line in the US, and future models to feature fewer diesel variants.

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