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BMW to Focus on Electricity from Now On - Report

With the new CO2 emission laws passed in the European Parliament, manufacturers from the old continent are facing the worst and tightest regulations in the world, at the moment, having to seriously cut down their fleet’s overall emissions by 2020.
BMW i8 1 photo
Photo: BMW
Taking a look at what laws are currently saying, you’ll notice that it doesn’t get any worse anywhere else in the world. For example, the target set for EU is 95 g/km by 2020, whilst in China it’s 119 g/km, in Japan is 117 g/km whilst the US will go with 102 g/km by 2025.

Seeing things are bound to go so downhill, BMW’s Director of Development, Dr. Hebert Diess, talked to Autocar about the future of the German company how it’s going to get over these regulations. His conclusion? Electricity will be key!

“Electricification will be a central thread in what we do, be it plug-in hybrid, hybrid or full electrification. The i8 shows what’s possible even below 50g/km, but we will also offer all standard models with entry-level electrification. We will try to use the modular kit developed for the i3 and i8 on a kit basis,” Diess said.

However, good news are also here. The focus of BMW will be to provide a good driving experience still, despite lacking internal combustion engines.

“The motivation is always sheer driving pleasure, whatever we do. Not everyone wants to take the bus or train. But that philosophy is under environmental pressure. Automotive is one of the most heavily regulated industries. What is coming in the future is not just a reaction to customer requests, but also regulation,” Herbert Diess added.
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