Strong Demand Has BMW Considering Increase in I3 EV Production as Carbon Fiber Problems Delay Builds

TTAC Staff
by TTAC Staff

With demand for its i3 EV surpassing BMW’s expectations, the company’s chief financial officer, Friedrich Eichiner, told Bloomberg that the company is considering increasing production of the electric car. Though retail deliveries will not start until next month, over 8,000 orders have been booked so far. Originally, BMW hoped to sell about 10,000 i3s in 2014, but if demand stays high, the company “will adjust capacity according to demand,” Eichiner said at an Amsterdam press conference yesterday. “If demand holds, which is what it’s looking like, we will soon have to invest more.”

At a cost of 34,950 euros in Germany and $41,350 in the United States, the i3 goes on sale in it home market on November 16th, and sometime in the first half of 2014 in the American, Chinese and Japanese markets. The rollout of the new EV will continue as planned, Eichiner said, and that the launch will not be affected by normal rollout issues, a reference to a report in Germany over the weekend that BMW is having production issues with the EV’s advanced carbon fiber structure.

The Wirtschaftswoche publication reported a 10 day production halt for the i3 due to problems bonding the composite material. BMW has a dedicated plant in North America for producing carbon fiber components for the i3 and the upcoming i8 electric sports car.

TTAC Staff
TTAC Staff

More by TTAC Staff

Comments
Join the conversation
6 of 20 comments
  • Cackalacka Cackalacka on Oct 15, 2013

    I'm having difficulty reconciling this article to the one about the Cadd-E yesterday.

  • E46M3_333 E46M3_333 on Oct 15, 2013

    10K units could just be pent up demand. . .

  • Noble713 Noble713 on Oct 15, 2013

    I'd really like to see more coverage about BMW's carbon fiber production methods and facilities.

  • Healthy skeptic Healthy skeptic on Oct 16, 2013

    This car probably makes way more sense with a range extender, which makes it compete with the Chevy Volt. Without the range extender, it's more of an overpriced Leaf. Personally, I would have preferred to see BMW produce a more sporty and stylish EV. It looked like they were headed that way with their lease-only Active-E program, which was an electrified 1-series that looked good and seemed to offer halfway decent performance. Then they go off to make this funky-looking science project. I'm a fan of BMW (I own one) and a fan of EVs, but the i3 just does not appeal to me. Tesla still has the right formula for pure EVs.

Next