BMW Wants EV Sales to Match Gas Cars in Just Four Years

While many automakers rushed to set an end date for the combustion engine, only to back away from their EV-only agenda a few years later, BMW remains committed to ICEs. Munich supports a wide range of powertrains because they know that there is no solution that can be implemented globally.

Despite still using petrol and diesel engines, BMW has spent more than €10 billion on the Neue Klasse. This is the largest investment in the company’s history, although not all of the funds went into electric vehicles. Some of that is reserved for the new iDrive infotainment system, but electric cars take up the lion’s share. As seen in the 2026 iX3, there’s a next-generation motor and battery, not to mention a completely new factory in Debrecen, Hungary.

At the same time, BMW is expanding its infrastructure for high-voltage battery assembly plants. The goal? Achieving sales parity between combustion engine cars and electric vehicles by 2030. This is an ambitious target, considering that fully electric vehicles accounted for 17.9 percent of total deliveries last year. Called a “strategic target”, the 50 percent target covers the Group’s three automotive brands: BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce.

Photo by: BMW

While there is still a long way to go, the progress made so far, even without the Neue Klasse, is impressive. In 2021, electric vehicles accounted for only 4.1 percent of total volume, increasing to 9 percent in 2022, 14.7 percent in 2023, 17.4 percent in 2024, and 17.9 percent in 2025. It remains to be seen whether BMW can meet these targets and reach 50 percent by 2030, although the company believes that this is a realistic goal.

Six months after order books opened, the new iX3 has received more than 50,000 orders. The luxury crossover kicks off an onslaught of electric products that continues this week with the i3 sedan. The iX5 will follow later this year, and the larger iX7 will be released in 2027. BMW has promised to build at least six electric SUVs in Spartanburg by the end of the decade, and one of them could be the iX6. There are also reports of a powerful SUV that would rival the Mercedes G-Class, and could also receive the electric treatment.

More importantly, from a volume perspective, BMW may launch a more affordable model under the iX1 compact crossover. Sources close to Munich claim the i1 hatchback and i2 sedan will arrive before the end of the decade. In addition to new additions to the lineup, existing electric vehicles will definitely receive the Neue Klasse treatment, including the aforementioned iX1 and the current Mini electric model.

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Source: BMW

Motorcycle Pickup1: Along with Toyota, BMW has taken one of the most realistic approaches to electric vehicle adoption so far. However, even with the introduction of new models, the 2030 target still feels too ambitious. The company added an asterisk to its goals, stating that “the dynamic nature of external factors can cause substantial volatility in the drivetrain mix.”

BMW still has a long way to climb, especially in the United States. According to Kelley Blue Book estimates that electric vehicles only accounted for 7.8 percent of total sales there last year. This figure is far different from Europe, where sales of cars without combustion engines reached 19.5 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. But even ACEA analysis suggests that reaching 50 percent worldwide by 2030 will be very difficult.