BMW launch EV series in Singapore
BMW i3 electric vehicle (EV) and the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car were unveiled last week as part of the company's move to expand its e-mobility footprint in Asia
The German automobile manufacturer BMW has launched its electric car series in Singapore as part of its move to expand the company’s e-mobility footprint in Asia.
The new BMW i3 electric vehicle (EV) and the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car were unveiled last week and BMW Group Asia managing director Sergio Solero said: “BMW i’s arrival in Singapore marks the beginning of a new mobility chapter for the island nation and will revolutionise the way people drive.”
The i3 model can travel up to 160 kilometres on a single charge, while the i8 has a fuel economy of 2.1 litres per kilometre - about a quarter of the fuel consumed by conventional BMW sports models.
The company also announced an ambitious target to reduce carbon emissions from its vehicles to 50 per cent below 1995 levels by 2050.
BMW has citied a host of factors that are helping to boost EV adoption including financial incentives to reduce the cost of buying new electric vehicles; car sharing schemes; charging stations; preferential parking; access to bus lanes; and exemption from road tolls.
Sethipong Anutarasoti, director of corporate affairs at BMW Group Asia, said: “In Asia’s increasingly dense cities, you have pedestrians and motorists sharing the same space in densely populated cities, so these cleaner, quieter vehicles create social value.”
Following last years launches in Japan and Korea, BMW announced that it plans to launch the i vehicles in China in September.