Green or White? Which HOV Sticker will the BMW i3 REx Get in California?

There is a lot of confusion swirling around the interwebs the past couple days regarding the CARB classification on the BMW i3 with range extender. For Californians this is a very important topic because it will determine whether the REx i3 gets the $2,500 or $1,500 California rebate and more importantly, will it qualify for the white or green carpool lane sticker.

I was just beginning to write a post on this; what we currently know (the situation seems to be changing hourly) and what may come of this as it is an evolving event, when I noticed my good friend and fellow Electronaut, George Betek wrote a post on this for InsideEVs.com. It was really comprehensive and probably better than what I could do, so instead of me writing another post, I just got permission to post it here. Just so you know, this issue doesn't effect the all electric BEV i3. That will still get the maximum rebate and qualify for the white carpool sticker. It's the range extender that is causing the debate. I still believe when the dust settles the i3 REx will only get the $1,500 rebate (This was disputed by BMW - as you'll see they maintain it will get the full $2,500 rebate) and the green carpool sticker which will likely run out in about a year. Therefore if you live in California and are thinking about getting an i3 with the range extender, then order one as soon as they go on sale so you are assured of getting the coveted carpool access. The rest of the country can sit back and watch the drama unfold, as this will likely have little to no bearing on most people outside of California.

From InsideEVs:

 Green or white? Which HOV sticker will the BMW i3 get in California?

As trivial as this question might sound, it might have serious consequences for future buyers of the i3. Wait, what I am talking about? As you might have heard already, the range-extended version of the BMW i3, which is slated to arrive in the US sometime in April, is apparently at risk of not qualifying for all the incentives in California, which is the largest market for plug-in vehicles as of this writing.
*Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on George’s blog.  We suggest that you check it out by clicking here.
What incentives are those exactly? Well, for one thing, there are the carpool lane stickers, which permit single-occupant vehicles to use HOV lanes. Some people have said that it was “tantamount to having a helicopter for commuters”. OK, not quite, but it’s still an incredible perk. Then there is the clean vehicle rebate, which allows owners and lessees to apply for a rebate check, if they have either purchased or leased the new vehicle, and commit to keeping it at least 36 months.
That all looks pretty straightforward, wouldn’t you agree? I guarantee you that it won’t be when we delve into the specifics. The devil is in the details. Literally. Take the carpool lane stickers. They come in several varieties in California:

• Yellow
• White
• Green

Yellow Stucker

The yellow stickers were introduced in 2004 by Assembly Bill 2628, which allowed hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight, to access HOV lanes. It was limited to 85,000 cars, and the stickers were issued on a first-come first-served basis. This program was extended several times, and the original more limited allocation of stickers has been more than doubled. Although some owners kept them as a souvenir on their cars, the incentive came to an end on June 30, 2011.

White Sticker

The white stickers were established though Assembly Bill 71 in 1999. Eligible vehicles must meet strict emission standards set forth by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The following categories would qualify: pure battery electric vehicles (BEV), dedicated compressed natural gas (CNG) or hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCV). There is no limit on the number of stickers that can be issued. As of September 1, 2013, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) had issued 32,764 white stickers; the recent run rate has been about 1,500 decals per month. This program was set to expire on January 1, 2015, but has recently been extended until 2019 via Assembly Bill 266.

Green Sticker

And finally, there is the green sticker program, which came into life on January 1, 2012. The stickers will be issued to the first 40,000 applicants, who purchase or lease cars meeting California’s Enhanced Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (Enhanced AT PZEV) or Transitional Zero-Emission Vehicle (TZEV) requirements. Examples of qualifying vehicles include Ford C-Max Energi, Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid and Chevrolet Volt. As of November 8, 2013, 24,452 green stickers have been issued; the recent run rate has been about 1,000 decals per month. At this pace, the sticker allocation could be exhausted in approximately 14 months. If the program is not extended, the green stickers will expire in 2019, just like the white decals mentioned above.
It’s worth noting that the HOV decal program is administered by the California DMV following guidelines set forth by the Air Resources Board, which maintains a comprehensive list of all eligible vehicles. This list does not mention or include the BMW i3 yet. That’s understandable, since the first i3 is not supposed to be sold in California until May 2014. While it would seem only natural that the pure electric version will qualify for the white stickers, some thought that the range-extended version would get them too.

What is the big deal then, aren’t the stickers interchangeable? At first blush, it would appear so. The green stickers, which the BMW i3 REx trim might end up getting, are limited in number. If BMW and the Air Resources Board cannot come to an agreement on this issue, it could start affecting i3 buyers as soon as late 2014 or early 2015. However, this problem would not be unique to the range-extended variant of the i3; it would affect other vehicles, such as Chevy Volt, Plug In Prius or Ford Fusion Energi, as well.

Additionally, although both sticker types are slated to expire on January 1, 2019, some believe that the white decals had a better shot at getting an extension. All that said, this should be a non-issue for current BMW i3 buyers, so long as the i3 will qualify for some kind of HOV decal. Green or white. It doesn’t really matter. Although some might prefer one over the other, the practical difference is likely zero as of this writing. Should the green stickers run out in about a year, and an additional allocation is not approved, then early i3s with REx could have a better resale value. Much like a Prius with the yellow sticker would command a premium in the years past.
That leaves us with the clean vehicle rebate project. This project is a voluntary incentive program introduced in by Assembly Bill 118 in 2007. The program is administered by the Air Resources Board (CARB) to fund clean vehicle and equipment projects. It is managed by the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) in San Diego, and has expanded its funding considerably over the past few years to keep up with the increased volume of new clean-fuel vehicle registrations.

There are two types of cars, which qualify under the program: zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Light-duty zero emission cars and trucks are eligible for up to a $2,500 incentive, while motorcycles and neighborhood vehicles are eligible for up to $900.

PHEVs are eligible for up to a $1,500 incentive. To qualify, PHEVs must:

• Meet California’s most stringent tailpipe emission standard
• Have zero evaporative emissions
• Have a 15 year / 150K mile warranty on the emissions system and
• Have a 10 year / 150K warranty on the zero emission energy storage system.

While the pure electric version of the i3 would clearly qualify for the $2,500 incentive as a light-duty ZEV, the range-extended version of the i3 should get $1,500. Right? Well, not quite. The California Air Resources Board has recently established a new category: the range-extended battery electric vehicle (BEVx). It’s a new regulatory category initially approved as a zero-emission vehicle type in the clean vehicle rebate project in June 2012. In the current fiscal year, the BEVx continues to be an approved eligible vehicle category.

How does a plugin vehicle get classified as a BEVx? According to the 2012 amendments to zero vehicle program regulations, it comes down to four criteria:

• The APU range is equal to or less than the all-electric range
• Engine operation cannot occur until the battery charge has been depleted to the charge-sustaining lower limit
• A minimum 80 75 miles electric range
• Super ultra low emission vehicle (SULEV) and zero evaporative emissions compliant and TZEV warranty requirements on the battery system.

*CARB then decided to once again amend the criteria with this key alteration:

“The minimum range qualification has been corrected from 80 miles range to 75 miles range for range extended battery electric vehicles (BEVx) to match the minimum requirements for BEVxs in 2012 through 2017.”

This means that the new BMW i3 with range extender should qualify for the $2,500 incentive, just like a pure battery electric vehicle would. It does not automatically imply that the i3 REx will qualify for the white HOV stickers, although it would seem logical that it should. It’s also worth noting that the HOV decal and the CVRP are two separate programs, even though the CARB establishes guidelines for both.

I have recently contacted the California Center for Sustainable Energy and the Air Resources Board, and I’m led to believe that the i3 with REx will qualify for $2,500 CVRP and green HOV decals.  This belief aligns with BMW’s statement (courtesy of BMW Blog) on the matter:

“The i3 with Range Extender qualifies for the green sticker, which is limited in numbers and will run out in the eventual future (possibly late in 2014). This is technically to be expected since the car is equipped with an internal combustion engine which potentially emits fuel fumes, and thus makes it harder to qualify for the white sticker which typically can be obtained by full battery-electric vehicles (BEV) and Hydrogen vehicles. The white sticker is not limited in terms of numbers. There is a continued, constructive relationship between BMW and CARB executives, and there has been no reversal of position. It also bears mention that the i3 with Range Extender qualifies for the full CA incentive amount of $2,500.”

There is apparently still a chance that the i3 REx might get white stickers as well.
Finally, there has been some talk that the range-extended i3 might not qualify for the BEVx classification in its first year, but perhaps it would be best to table this type of speculation for a future post.

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BMW i3 Range Extender: How Robust Will It Be?

There are still many unanswered questions about the i3. What will the EPA range rating be? How will is fare in NHTSA and IICA crash tests, will it cost more to repair, and so on. However there is one particular feature of the i3 that continues to dominate the discussion boards and forums: What can and can't you do with the REx?

Back in June before the i3 was officially introduced, I did a blog post on this very topic which turned out to be very popular. In fact, it's one of my top viewed posts and has been viewed over 5,000 times so  far. We now know a few more details since then so I thought it was a good time to give an update here. While I have driven in REx i3's, unfortunately I haven't had the chance to thoroughly test on while it was in range extender mode. That wasn't a coincidence. BMW has still be fine tuning the software for the REx and hasn't allowed the press access to them for complete testing. However, somehow over in the UK The Telegraph got hold of one and was able to take to for a long drive and use the range extender. Overall the review was pretty favorable and the author gave the i3 four out of five stars. However that's not the whole story. The real "story" within this story is that the author reported this about the range extender and it's caused a but of a stir:

"I thrummed along at 70mph, but it soon became clear that at this kind of speed our comfortable range between fill-ups was more like 40-50 miles. Still, it was impressive how, even when it says it’s flat, the car maintains enough battery power to give an instant shove of torque. Only if you really run it down, which you’ll have to try pretty hard to do (or so I’d been told), would you compromise the performance. Which is what happened next. 

I’d just come through a heavy but localised rain storm on the M20 when the i3 started to slow. It was a gradual process, from motorway cruising speed all the way down to 44mph. By this time I was travelling up a slight incline and had effectively become a slow-moving obstacle. Lorries were catching me with quite frankly terrifying closing speeds. It was three or four minutes - which was long enough to make me consider pulling over - before the i3 recovered; just as slowly as it had lost speed, so it crept up. “It’s not a limp-home mode as such,” a BMW spokesman later told me, “but once the charge runs down to five or six per cent and the range extender cuts in, if you keep driving at 75-80mph it can’t maintain the charge.” Rather than damage the battery by running it completely flat, the i3 had restricted our performance."

This Telegraph video above doesn't mention the difficulty they experienced with the car slowing down at all even though they show it driving along on the M20 while it was raining like they printed version said. That's strange to me since the article seemed to make a big deal out of it. I would have like to have seen video of the car during the explained "slow down" event.

The i3 REx Engine

I've had quite a few conversations with the engineers and product managers at BMW about the range extender and while they are cautious no to over sell it's capabilities, everyone I have talked to promises it's not anything like a "limp mode", and in fact you can do just about anything with it as long as you understand how it works and drive accordingly - I take that as monitoring your speed and if you know you'll be driving up a long steep incline and take it easy for a few minutes before you begin your ascent so the REx can build up a little extra reserve power for the climb. There has been a lot of talk around the fact that in the US, you can't manually engage the range extender once the state of charge is below 75% as you can in Europe. The concern is with the range extender coming on at such a low state of charge (at ~5% SOC) that there may not be a large enough buffer for those instances when the car needs continuous supply of a lot of energy for high speed driving or to climb long, uphill grades at highway speeds.

I don't have the exact answers as to what exactly is possible and what isn't. In fact, I'm not even sure it's possible to offer such a definitive explanation. Sure, the engineers can offer a formula based on total passenger and cargo weight, vehicle speed, head or tail winds, percent of grade you are climbing, etc but who will even understand that let alone be able to transfer that to an actual real world driving situation? There are so many different situations and roads it's just not possible to give a clear black and white definition of what it can and what it can't do and I believe BMW will likely struggle with how to explain this to their customers - maybe that's why they haven't even tried to explain it yet! I have made a request to the program managers to let me drive an i3 REx for a day once one is available. I'll test it in every possible situation I can come up with in the time frame I have including a 220 mile trip to Vermont. Hopefully my request will be accommodated because I believe I can clear the air on this as much as possible, however as I mentioned above there are endless specific driving circumstances so no test will completely satisfy everyone. My advice: Drive one in REx mode to satisfy your concerns before you plunk down your money. I'm sure you can leave a deposit on one and have it refunded if you are not satisfied with the performance once you get the test drive opportunity.

i3 Product manager Oliver Walter

I can say I have spoken with program managers that have driven the i3 REx extensively, and they have assured me that on flat ground, you really have to purposely try to defeat it in order to use more energy than it produces and that it can easily drive along at 70 mph for as long as you need to and still have enough energy for short bursts of power to climb hills along the way. BMW i3 product manager Oliver Walter in particular has assured me the range extender is robust and will be able to power the car in just about any circumstance without the driver even noticing any difference than when it's in pure EV mode. The question becomes how fast can you drive and for how long, up how steep a grade, and right now, we just don't have definitive answers.

So why can't the i3's in the US have the same ability the European i3's have to manually turn on the REx ahead of time, when you know you'll need a lot of energy for demanding driving conditions like climbing a mountain later in your trip? The answer is in the CARB certification of the i3. BMW needs the i3 to be certified as a zero emission vehicle in order to claim the most ZEV credits they can for each i3 sold. However the benefits aren't only for BMW. BMW has been working behind the scenes to make sure that i3 buyers get the same tax credits, tax exemptions and benefits like HOV access that zero emission vehicles get, which in many cases is better than what is offered to PHEV buyers. For example here in NJ, if I buy a zero emission car like a Tesla Model S, I am not required to pay sales tax, but if I buy a Chevy Volt which has a range extender, it's classified as a PHEV and I have to pay sales tax. So if BMW by getting the i3 REx certification approved, manages to get New Jersey to classify the i3 REx as a zero emission vehicle, then I will save about $3,500 in sales tax. To me, that's worth losing the ability to manually turn on the REx early because there will be so few instances that I would ever need to; it's just simply not worth it. This isn't just for NJ though, there are quite a few other States that offer different incentives for ZEV's as compared to PHEV's. However as far as I know, BMW is still working out these details State by State and they haven't announced exactly what the certification will mean in each particular State just yet. As soon as there is more to report on the certification and State benefits I'll have it up here, and hopefully I'll get to report first hand on how the REx performs sometime soon. Happy Holidays everyone!

Of course a robust network of DC quick chargers like the one pictured here would render the range extender irrelevant. But are they coming?

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How CARB May Make The i3's Range Extender Less Attractive

The range extender engine for the i3 is seen here to the left of the electric motor

According to the UK price list for the i3 the range extender will automatically come on when the state of charge falls to 18%. I've been guessing that will happen at about 20% so I was pretty close. It will then attempt to maintain the battery SOC at 18%, while allowing the car to continue to drive along relatively uninhibited. The only time there will be a problem is if your driving is demanding a high level of energy output for a prolonged period of time.

For instance, driving along at 60 mph on a flat surface you may only need 10 or 11 kW's to sustain the charge because that's about all you'll be consuming. That's no problem for the REx because it can provide up to 25kW's of constant supply. However if you need to drive up a steep grade at highway speeds for 10 continuous miles or so you may have a problem because the car will likely draw more than 25kW's under these strenuous conditions. The 18% buffer combined with the REx pumping out it's maximum output will allow the drive to continue for quite some time, but after a while of using more energy then it is capable of replacing, it will eventually need to reduce power output. What happens then is unclear but I would imagine the car would slow down to a speed it can maintain power for. Again, this should not happen on flat land, as the energy consumption should be able to be replace by the REx. It will also have plenty of power for most hills and bursts of speed when needed. I'm talking about long, extended drives up steep inclines that happen at the end of your journey after you've already depleated the battery and the range extender has come on. Personally I have a situation where this could come into play myself. My in laws live in Vermont and the last 10 to 15 miles to their house is mostly uphill. I'd already have the range extender on by the time I get to this final leg of the journey so I'm curious if I'll have a problem making it. I could stop along the way and charge for a while if necessary but I'd prefer just driving nonstop. After all, that's why I'd get the range extender; so I don't have to stop to charge along the way of a trip.

So what can be done to alleviate this? The Chevy Volt has a "Hold Mode" that the driver can initiate at any time. This manually turns on the range extender without waiting for it to automatically turn on when the battery is depleted and holds the battery state of charge at the level it was when you turned it on. Sounds like a great idea, so is BMW going to do the same thing? Yes, and maybe no. If you look at page 8 of the UK price list that I provided the link to above, you'll see it says: "Manually activated when the vehicle is below 80%". Brilliant! So if you buy an i3 in the UK, you can turn on the range extender once the state of charge drops below 80%. Therefore if you know you'll be driving up a long, steep hill or mountain at the end of your journey, you can turn on the range extender and "hold" the charge so when you arrive at the mountain you'll have plenty of charge to complete the journey. Perfect, so US customers will get this feature also, right? Unfortunately, maybe not.

CARB's restrictions may hinder the REx

California is the #1 market for electric vehicles in the US and one of the reasons they sell so well there is zero emission vehicles are allowed carpool lane access regardless of the amount of passengers. This is a highly sought after perk in California and cars that qualify for it usually sell very well. The all electric i3 will definitely qualify, but the under the new more strict rules for PHEV's, an EV with a range extender will only qualify for the valuable HOV access sticker if it operates this way: "engine operation cannot occur until the battery charge has been depleted to the charge-sustaining lower limit". So that means the range extender cannot be manually turned on at 80% and still qualify for HOV access in California.

It's clear to me BMW will make the i3 conform with CARB's rules so it will have HOV access is California, but will they do this to all the US cars, or just for the ones shipped to California? I don't have the answer. I tried to get clarity on this at the i3 Premier but nobody wanted to confirm it one way or the other. Hopefully that means a decision hasn't been made on this yet and there is hope for the rest of us. If so and the powers to be at BMW find their way to read this blog post, please consider offering the same ability to manually turn on the REx for US customers outside of California. The vast majority of customers in the US don't need carpool access, why should they have their range extender neutered so people in California can have it? This is a simple software change. It's available in the UK and probably for the rest of Europe so it's not like it will cost BMW anything to develop. Let's hope BMW does the right thing and makes this feature available to US customers outside of California. It really makes the range extender a more useful asset, this shouldn't be a hard decision to make.

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BMW CEO Reithofer Shows Strong Support For Electric Vehicles

Dr. Norbert Reithofer, CEO of BMW AG stands beside the concept i3

It's common today for people to question the legitimacy of the commitment major OEM's have today in regards to their electric vehicle programs. Most are in one way or the other developing or have already brought to market a car that plugs in. Some are pure EV's like the Nissan LEAF and others are plug in hybrids like the Chevy Volt.

While both Nissan and Chevy are clearly committed to plug in vehicles by offering volume production cars and will make as many as they can sell, some other manufacturers haven't been so supportive of them. These manufacturers have begrudgingly made a few thousand copies with the sole purpose of complying with the California Air Resource Boards mandate which requires the top six auto manufacturers to lease or sell a minimal amount of zero emission cars. These low volume "compliance cars" generally get very little support from the manufacturer and even less support from the dealerships, many of which don't even stock them in regular inventory.

Over the past couple years many people and even a few journalists have commented on blogs and EV websites that they believe BMW is also just developing the i3 for CARB compliance and they have questioned BMW's commitment to plug in vehicles. Being in the MINI-E and now ActiveE programs and having the opportunity to talk to program managers and engineers working in the electric vehicle team I have never doubted that BMW was serious about electric vehicles but I understand why others may. Many people wanted an electric BMW they could buy and the trial lease programs of the MINI-E and ActiveE didn't offer that. However their wait will soon be over as the i3 will be available for sale before the end of the year. It will be a full scale production car, available all over the world and BMW will make as many of them as there is demand for. It's not a limited run compliance car and BMW is going to do what they can to support their dealership network and assist them in selling them.

Even though everything I've seen points to BMW taking electric vehicles very seriously, it's still great to see the CEO comes out as supportive of their plug in vehicle program as Dr. Reithofer did this week at BMW's Annual General Meeting. Other than Nissan's Carlos Ghosn, I haven't seen a CEO of any other major automobile company come out as strongly in support of their companies venture into making electric vehicles. He even calls for Germans to get over their "angst" with electric cars. Well done Dr. Reithofer!

The following is an excerpt from the Statement by Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, 93rd Annual General Meeting of BMW AG in Munich on 14th May 2013:

"But  2013 is also about revolution for us, as we launch series production of our electric vehicles.

At last year’s Annual General Meeting, we showed you the BMW i8 concept car: a plug-in hybrid; a genuine sports car with the fuel consumption of a small car. Today, you can view the pure-electric BMW i3 concept car. We believe in electro-mobility – and are putting it on the road. Germany is respected and admired the world over for its engineering expertise and powers of innovation. But “German Angst” is also a concept the rest of the world is familiar with. “German Angst” refers to how, when it comes to making radical changes, we in this country like to engage in long and fearful discussions: because we Germans tend to see more problems than opportunities. And it is no different with electro-mobility.

Being the spearhead of change means taking a calculated risk.
There is no guarantee of success – not even on the road to sustainable mobility.
Progress has to be imagined, earned and paid for.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The future belongs to those who dare to take bold actions. We cannot ignore the need for new approaches – especially when circumstances are changing. Because the market certainly punishes latecomers.

Shaping change also means overcoming resistance.

As Machiavelli wrote, 500 years ago: “…the innovator has for enemies all those who derived advantages from the old order of things, whilst those who expect to be benefited by the new institutions will be but lukewarm defenders”.

Or, quite simply: The innovator stands alone.

Customers are waiting for attractive options – options which we can deliver.
We will succeed in this. And I can give you seven reasons why:

First:

Our BMW i models have strong emotional appeal. Customers will buy an electric car if it appeals to them just as much as a conventional vehicle. I myself have test-driven both the BMW i3 and i8 several times. I can assure you that these cars’ step-less acceleration to top speed guarantees real “sheer driving pleasure”. The i3 and the i8 fit the brand perfectly. They are genuine BMWs.

Reason number two:

We take a holistic approach to future mobility. More than that, in fact: As an engineer I can promise you that we are revolutionising automotive construction.

The vehicle architecture of the BMW i3 is unique: with a Life module and a Drive module.

• The materials we use are unique: a passenger compartment built of carbon fiber and a Drive module made of aluminum.
• The production processes are unique: High-tech adhesives are now used for procedures that used to require welding, bolting and soldering.
• Our production times are unique: We use fewer parts, and modules are produced in parallel. As a result, production of the BMW i3 takes only half as long as that of a similar-sized vehicle from our regular portfolio.

 There are also benefits for our associates, whose work has been made easier.

• Workstations are more ergonomic.
• Assembly is quieter.
• Production halls use natural light.

None of this has been done before.

The third reason:

We monitor customer needs around the globe. Drivers in Shanghai and California are not particularly interested in how we get from Flensburg to Garmisch. They have different everyday mobility issues.
And they need different solutions. Companies who focus only on the German market as a measure of the success of electro-mobility will fall short. After all, megacities are already limiting conventional individual transportation.

In Beijing and Shanghai, for example, number plates are awarded by lottery, with considerably more applicants than plates. But electric vehicles are exempt from the lottery process and the associated fee. These local, and even national, decisions will boost demand for electric vehicles and other drive trains.

Customers around the world have tested our electric MINI E and BMW ActiveE cars, clocking up more than 20 million kilometres. Their experience has shown that:

A range of 150 km is perfectly adequate for the vast majority of drivers. Also, with a range extender, that distance can be increased to up to 300 km.

• Worldwide, the average distance driven daily is no more than 64 km. Most cars are not actually in use for more than 22 hours of the day – so the battery can easily be charged during that time.

Fourth reason:

Many customers have already told us they are interested in buying a BMW i3 – a car they have not yet seen as a series model, with a technology they are not familiar with. Customers trust in our expertise and powers of innovation. They trust that we can deliver “sheer driving pleasure” in our electric cars, too.

The fifth reason:

We have received a lot of encouraging feedback from media and analysts.

Even before 2013 had started, SPIEGEL magazine declared: “The BMW i3 is the car of the year.” Auto-BILD wrote – I quote: “This car is a revolution. The i3 does everything differently and many things better.” End of quote. Try it for yourselves, Ladies and Gentlemen: Google BMW i, and see which company people believe is capable of shaping the mobility of tomorrow.

The sixth reason:

Our mobility services are in step with the times.

Around 110,000 customers in Germany and the US are already using our DriveNow car sharing service – with more joining every day. Our ParkNow mobility service in San Francisco is also gaining momentum.  As well, more and more people are taking advantage of our practical apps such as “Park at my House” and “My City Way” for easier mobility in cities. In this way, we are also reaching out to younger target groups.

And the seventh reason why we will succeed:

When it comes to the future of mobility, BMW has very good instincts.
We lead the way.

• We focus on sustainability. Others follow.
• We focus on carbon fibre. Others follow.
• We focus on three-cylinder engines in the premium segment. Others follow.

Boldness and a pioneering spirit have made the BMW Group what it is today: the world’s leading manufacturer of premium automobiles.

BMW i will not decide our future success alone. But the fact of the matter is:
We need both: evolution and revolution; continuing development and radical change.

In Leipzig, the pre-series BMW i3 models are already rolling off the production line.

In case anyone is still in any doubt – this is a clear signal that the i3 is definitely coming to market. And we will earn money with it, too."

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