Australia to get electric BMW hatch

Munich maker has grand plans for its fully-electric city car
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The competition among electric cars is hotting up – even though there is little infrastructure, limited government support and, as yet, no tax incentives.

Now German maker BMW wants a slice of the action, preparing to introduce its i3 city hatch locally from 2014, priced in excess of $50,000. BMW Australia has ambitious plans to sell its first ever fully-electric car “in the hundreds” annually – a tally that would likely challenge if not overtake the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Nissan LEAF electric cars.

“We hope to have the i3 [BMW electric city hatch] here in the first half of 2014,” the boss of BMW Australia, Phil Horton, told Motoring.com.au.

“In terms of volume … unless something very significant happens to the market in Australia, I think we’re talking in the low hundreds for the i3 in a year.”

Horton admitted that was an “ambitious” sales target but said BMW would be working closely with infrastructure company Siemens — a firm already with one oar in the water. Horton also believed that tax incentives would be in place by 2014, making the cars more affordable for private and fleet customers alike.

“I think we will get some sort of breaks somewhere along the line from Victoria and New South Wales. I think there is a willingness to do something.”

However, he conceded there was no news on how much of a tax break or rebate might be offered to buyers of fully electric cars. In Europe and North America the tax incentives on electric cars range from $2500 to $10,000.

BMW spokesman Piers Scott said: “There are no real tangible proposals on the table as to what sort of financial benefit might be given to fully electric vehicles.”

Meanwhile, BMW agreed that all car makers in Australia should at least adopt a common plug so the vehicles can be recharged at as many paces as possible. To date, however, a common socket has not been decided on — and it's been a long time coming.

“Whether it’s the European plug or the North American plug or whatever, you’ve got to go that way,” Horton said.

As background, the first electric car on sale in Australia in the modern era, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, has notched up 112 sales since August 2010, when it was initially offered to government and business fleets as a $63,000 lease over three years. In August, its first month on sale — as opposed to lease — it sold 11 units.

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