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After increasing production of the i3 in 2020 to meet growing demand, BMW has finally decided to discontinue its first battery-powered model. The Bavarian company has officially confirmed for Drive the last examples of electric vehicles will be launched off the assembly line in July this year, marking the end of a nine-year run and approximately 250,000 examples shipped worldwide.
BMW stopped production of the i3 for the US market last year and the same is true for customers in Australia at the end of 2021. This means the BEV will remain available only in Europe and some Asian countries until a complete shutdown in the summer. This move somehow contradicts previous reports claiming the i3 will last until 2024, even though the EV sector is growing so rapidly that not every decision has to be final.
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The i3 is currently assembled in Leipzig and after its discontinuation, BMW will work to prepare the plant for production of the next-generation Mini Countryman. The funky crossover will hit the assembly line in the second half of the year. As for the i3, it will be indirectly replaced by the iX1, an all-electric crossover based on the third generation X1. The zero-emissions SUV will initially be assembled at BMW’s Regensburg plant until 2024, and will then move to Debrecen, Hungary.
The i3 was launched in 2013, two years after the concept showcased the final design. The car has a carbon fiber construction and is available with three battery options and a range of between 81 miles (130 kilometers) and 153 miles (246 km). The range-extender version was available between 2014 and 2018 in some European markets but was later cancelled.
As a final note, in December last year, BMW launched the new i3 in China, although it has nothing to do with the oddly shaped BEV for the US and European markets. For whatever reason, the manufacturer decided to reuse the name for the electric version of the Series 3, which was planned to be sold exclusively in the People’s Republic.
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