Global car companies are accelerating the transformation of electrification, and BMW can't stay out of it.
/kloc-In March of 0/7, BMW Group announced a "three-step" transformation plan at the annual financial report conference, with the key words of electrification, digitalization and sustainable development.
In order to prove the transformation determination and technical strength, the BMW i4 was officially launched at the press conference. Qi Puce, Chairman of BMW Group, introduced in detail the lineup and rhythm of BMW's future electric products, and announced that BMW Group plans to deliver about 654.38+0 billion pure electric vehicles worldwide in the next decade. By 2030, pure electric vehicles will account for at least 50% of the total global sales of BMW Group.
According to BMW's plan, electrification technology will be applied to product array through Project i in the first stage.
In the second stage, based on the smart car architecture, products with different drive technologies were launched on the same model, and the product array was continuously expanded.
By 2023, BMW will provide 65,438+02 pure electric vehicles in 90% market segments.
In addition to the existing BMW i3, MINI SE and BMW iX3, BMW will also launch BMW i4 and BMW iX this year, and will also launch pure electric BMW 5 Series and BMW X 1 in the next few years, as well as pure electric BMW 7 Series and MINI COUNTRYMAN successor models.
BMW hopes that by 2025, the sales volume of the Group's pure electric vehicles will be more than 65,438+00 times that of 2020, and the delivery of the world's 2 millionth pure electric vehicle will be completed by the end of 2025.
The third stage will begin in 2025, when BMW will launch a "new generation" vehicle series, which has three characteristics: completely redefined IT and software architecture, newly developed high-performance electric drive system and battery pack, and a new sustainable concept throughout the vehicle life cycle.
If BMW i3 is the representative of the first stage transformation of BMW, then BMW i4 is the embodiment of the second stage transformation.
From the appearance, the fuel versions of BMW i4 and BMW 4 Series are exactly the same.
There is no refrigeration demand, but the controversial large pig nose air intake grille is retained. In addition to the differences in details such as front and rear baffles and door handles, the main feature is the same as BMW iX3, that is, there are some blue design elements on the body.
There will be multiple versions of the BMW i4, and the most powerful version (probably the M-performance model) has 530 horsepower and can run for 4 seconds at an acceleration of 100 kilometers.
The version with the longest cruising range, WLTP cruising range is 590 kilometers, and EPA cruising range is 482 kilometers.
Like the BMW iX3, the BMW i4 is also an "oil-to-electricity" model, and "oil-to-electricity" is the key to BMW's second-stage transformation before 2025.
However, the BMW i4 is not a simple "oil to electricity" because its interior is very different from the fuel version of the 4 Series.
Although the interior of the BMW i4 has not been announced this time, it has been confirmed that it will be equipped with iDrive 8.0, the latest generation of man-machine interaction system of BMW. The biggest feature of this system is a huge arc touch screen, which is seamlessly integrated by a 12.3-inch all-digital dashboard and a 14.9-inch central touch screen. Human-computer interaction mainly depends on voice and touch screen.
In fact, i4' s biggest highlight may be its software and infotainment interactive platform iDrive.
BMW iDrive 8.0 just appeared in March 15, only two days before the new BMW i4 car was released.
IDrive 8.0 system adopts the dual-screen design of 12.3-inch digital dashboard and 14.9-inch central touch screen, and the resolution of each screen reaches 200ppi. When sitting in the driver's seat, the two screens blend seamlessly, showing a certain radian. The suspension bracket makes the screen look more sci-fi and more conducive to the driver's touch operation.
The position of traditional car gear only keeps the knob with crystal texture, and the physical buttons are almost completely replaced by the touch panel.
IDrive 8.0 system also supports 5G mobile network. The computing power of on-board computer is more than twice that of the previous generation. It supports voice operation and can wake up personal assistant.
BMW said that the personal intelligent assistant based on Microsoft Azure cloud is the main channel for human-computer interaction in the future. It not only supports the multi-semantic recognition function, but also can recognize the driver's body language from the camera, judge the driver's state and needs, and even "naturally chat" with the driver and front passengers.
Navigation, parking lot, charging station and other information. Also integrated in iDrive 8.0 system. Navigation has a learning function. Vehicles will judge possible destinations through the login ID of different drivers and plan the route in advance.
IDrive 8.0 system also supports some ritual functions.
For example, ultra-wideband (UWB) technology can sense the owner's smartphone or car key, and automatically unlock it when the owner approaches the vehicle 1.5 meters. At the same time, the atmosphere light inside the vehicle lights up, which is called "wonderful boarding time" by BMW.
Generally speaking, the BMW i4 is not only "oil to electricity", but also much smarter than the fuel version of the 4 Series.
However, while BMW announced the "three steps", it did not give a specific timetable for giving up the internal combustion engine like other car companies.
Tsipce said that BMW will continue to develop, manufacture and sell internal combustion engines. "We won't stop production until there are no customers in our 65,438+040 market."
Instead of giving up the internal combustion engine and using "oil to electricity" until 2025, such a transformation seems a bit slow.
After all, GM has planned to sell only zero-emission vehicles after 2035, Volvo has announced that it will become an all-electric vehicle brand by 2030, and Audi has just confirmed that it will not develop new internal combustion engines.
These car companies have no choice. Many countries have made it clear that they will ban the sale of fuel vehicles in the near future. Norway hopes that all new cars sold will achieve zero emissions by 2025, and both Britain and California plan to ban the sale of fuel vehicles including hybrid vehicles in 2035.
But BMW actually has no choice.
Since last year, the MEB platform and PPE platform of Volkswagen Group have begun to exert their strength. Volkswagen and Audi are launching new pure electric vehicles at an amazing speed, which further proves the advantages and potential of pure electric platforms.
Compared with the "oil to electricity" scheme, the pure electric platform is not only superior in electronic and electrical architecture, safety and endurance, but also can quickly launch new cars to seize the market at a lower cost.
However, BMW's choice of "changing oil to electricity" is also a last resort, because they took the lead in the road of electrification transformation, but took a big detour.
As early as 20 13, BMW introduced two new energy vehicles, i3 and i8. Both vehicles were built on exclusive platforms, but one was made into an expensive car and the other was made into a supercar, which was not for the public, and the final sales volume was not ideal.
After a short test of water, BMW has repeatedly reiterated that it will not build a dedicated platform for pure electric vehicles, but will take the road of taking into account various different power systems such as fuel vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and pure electric vehicles.
However, with the sudden emergence of Tesla and the firm transformation of Volkswagen, the electrification trend of the global automobile industry has suddenly accelerated. In July last year, BMW finally set up a separate department and began to develop a brand-new pure electric platform, but the new platform will be put into production in a new factory in Hungary after 2025, which happens to be the time node at which the third phase of BMW's "three-step walk" begins.
Zipzer once stressed that BMW will launch a dedicated platform in 2025, because it is expected that this time will be the time when the demand for pure electric vehicles really begins to break out. However, it is obvious that BMW misjudged the time when the market broke out and underestimated the determination of its competitors, so the speed of transformation naturally slowed down by half a beat.
So can BMW achieve the goal of delivering 2 million pure electric vehicles by the end of 2025 only by relying on the "oil to electricity" strategy?
At present, it's hard to say, at least judging from the decline in sales and official sales of BMW iX3 and BMW's move to launch i4 three months ahead of schedule, even BMW itself is quite anxious.
Last year 165438+ 10, BMW also launched the all-electric SUV BMW iX, which is BMW's first model based on a pure electric platform and will also be unveiled during the Shanghai Auto Show in April this year.
However, it seems difficult for BMW owners to accept such a BMW. Some people worry that the heavy battery pack will deprive BMW of driving pleasure, and more people simply can't accept the appearance of new BMW cars, such as BMW iX. Many people feel like beavers.
On YouTube, when BMW released a BMW iX promo titled "Why don't you choose to change", fans replied simply, "Because I want to drive a car, not a metal squirrel."
References:
Carwow: The new 530 HP BMW i4 reveals a range of up to 300 miles: price, specifications and release date.
Auto Express: The new 202 1 BMW i4 electric car shows a mileage of 367 miles.
Car and Driver: 530 HP 2022 BMW i4 revealed that it offers a range of 300 miles.
Cnet: BMW has increased its electric vehicle plan, and it is estimated that the sales of all-electric vehicles will reach 50% by 2030.
Car Week: BMW i4 will compete with Tesla Model 3.
The Verge: BMW unveiled the appearance of its first electric car i4.
The Verge: BMW's new curved iDrive display is an "important step" towards autonomous driving.