BMW is working on a new generation of electric cars. Some models supported by the Neue Klass platform that will stand out, among other things, for offering superior autonomy. However, despite the capabilities of this new architecture, BMW has established the maximum autonomy limit that its future electric vehicles will have.
One of the great challenges posed by the process of transition to sustainable mobility is neither more nor less than the development of battery-powered electric cars that have an attractive sale price and, above all, offer a level of autonomy high enough to to face the daily journeys and to be able to make long trips. BMW, one of the giants of the European automotive industry, is working on solving this issue.
The process of developing a new generation of electric cars opens up a whole range of possibilities. BMW warns that its next generation of batteries will drastically increase the autonomy of its new electric models. Now, this will not mean an “open bar”. And there will be a limit.
BMW puts a limit on the autonomy of its next electric cars
The arrival on the market of the new Neue Klass platform will mark a turning point in BMW’s commitment to the electric car. This new architecture will make it possible to develop new, more technologically advanced models with greater autonomy. Nevertheless, BMW has no plans to sell electric cars with more than 1,000 kilometers of autonomy.
Thomas Albrecht, Head of BMW Efficient Dnyamics, has pointed out in a recent interview that, although they will be able to develop electric models with more than 1,000 km of autonomy, they have no plans to put them on sale: «The Gen6 batteries will give us 30% or more of autonomy compared to current models, but we will not exceed the 1,000 km of autonomy, even if we can ».
In the company they do not see the need to sell electric cars with such a high autonomy. The simple fact of having models with up to 1,000 km in its range will make it possible to eradicate at a stroke the desire to run out of autonomy. Moreover, for many drivers, the autonomy offered by current models is still the main drawback to entering the world of fully electric mobility.
BMW does not believe that electric vehicles with more than 1,000 km of autonomy are necessary
“We don’t think such a long range is necessary,” Albrecht said. Is new generation of electric will approach, to a certain extent, the autonomy of diesel models that BMW has in its range. We can take as a reference the BMW 3 Series in its 318 d version, which can travel more than 1,300 km on a single tank.
The new BMW battery cells will have a cylindrical shape and will be signed by CATL and EVE. Depending on the configuration of the battery pack they will have a diameter of 46, 95 and 120 mm respectively. These new cells will not only allow autonomy to be achieved, they will also make the batteries up to 20% lighter.