By Andreas Cremer and Deepa Seetharaman
LONDON/NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - BMW aims to win a meaningful segment of
the electric car market with its i-series battery-powered models by offering
luxurious styling and packages designed to help owners overcome the traditional
hurdles to electric car ownership.Among the incentives offered by the world's
biggest luxury carmaker is what it calls BMW add-on mobility, which gives
owners access to a pool of traditional gas-powered BMW vehicles to use on
longer journeys when an electric car might not be practical.The option aims to
allay a common concern among potential buyers of electric cars -- so-called
range anxiety, or the fear of being stranded when the battery runs out of
electricity. This is part of BMW's broader push to broaden the appeal of its i3
electric car, which was unveiled by executives in three cities worldwide on
Monday.The company said the projected range for its i3 standard model would be
about 80-100 miles (130-160 km) on a
single charge.We're not entering to be a niche player, BMW sales chief Ian
Robertson told reporters at the i3's launch event in London, staged to coincide
with others in New York and Beijing.We're targeting meaningful sales, he
said, in an electric-car market that BMW expects will grow to between 150,000
and 160,000 vehicles globally this year, from 7,000 in 2010.BMW has declined to
give sales or production goals for the four-seater i3, to be followed early
next year by a battery-powered i8 sports car. During an interview with Reuters
TV, BMW Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said he expects the vehicle
to make a positive contribution to earnings immediately.Limited driving
ranges, high prices and relatively spartan interiors have hobbled demand for
electric vehicles made the other car makers with including Nissan Motor Co Ltd,
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. Edmunds.com predicts electric cars will
account for 0.1 percent of the
U.S. market this year, 1.1 percent in 2017 and 2.3 percent by 2020.BMW joins
U.S. automaker Tesla Motors Inc in trying to change the stereotype of electric
cars through beautiful styling. Both companies are also taking steps to make
owning a battery powered car easier. BMW's Reithofer called Tesla an example
of how a premium car company could approach the electric car market.Tesla is
one of those brands which is trying to make this type of car premium and
emotionally involving, said Adrian van Hooydonk, senior vice president of
group design for BMW.Tesla has said it expects to deliver 21,000 Model S cars
worldwide. The strength of demand for the Model S has surprised industry
experts, investors and analysts.The upcoming i8 will rival Tesla's Model S
sedan, which starts at around $70,000 before a federal tax credit. Tesla is
working on a lower cost vehicle that would compete with the i3.BMW already sees
good sales potential for its first all-electric
vehicle in affluent urban regions of California, Europe and Asia, Robertson
said. Some 92,000 people have expressed an interest online in test-driving the
i3.Demand will rise as the number of people living in urban environments more
than doubles to 4-5 billion over the next 20-25 years, Robertson said, citing
United Nations projections.While the i3's 34,950 euro ($46,400) price tag is
well above the conventional BMW 3-Series sedans, it also qualifies for tax
breaks and generous upfront government incentives in markets such as Britain
and the United States.The company, which has trademarked its new i series
through to i9, does not yet have another i-branded model in development to
follow the i8, Robertson said.
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