5 years in the past, BMW seemed out of contact. Whereas rivals raced to declare the loss of life of the combustion engine and promised all-electric futures, Munich refused to commit. It sounded timid, even old style. However right this moment, that hesitation appears to be like extra like foresight — as a result of BMW will be the solely premium carmaker that truly learn the market accurately.
BMW’s Wager on Each Drivetrain Would possibly Be the Smartest Transfer within the Trade
Automakers love certainty. It makes for daring headlines, assured roadmaps, and the form of PR statements that get repeated for years. During the last half decade, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and GM all declared that the longer term was battery-electric and nothing else. Inner combustion was over, hybrids had been irrelevant, and hydrogen was a distraction.
BMW by no means performed alongside. As an alternative of declaring the loss of life of combustion or promising an all-electric lineup, it doubled down on complexity which is so not German. Gasoline and diesel would stay within the portfolio. Plug-in hybrids would keep. EVs would are available a number of flavors and architectures. Hydrogen would dwell on. Vary extenders weren’t dominated out. Critics mentioned BMW lacked path. And we had been a few of these critics. In actuality, Munich was getting ready for the one certainty that mattered: uncertainty.
The Structure of Flexibility
BMW’s technique isn’t nearly protecting a number of drivetrains alive — it’s about constructing the platforms to help them. That is an method we’ve seen for the reason that inception of the BMW i sub-brand.
At one finish, you have got CLAR, the rear-wheel-drive-based platform that underpins the three Collection, 5 Collection, 7 Collection, and their SUV counterparts. CLAR is versatile sufficient to help combustion, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric drivetrains. And even hydrogen. It’s the spine of BMW’s present lineup, and it isn’t going anyplace. At the same time as Neue Klasse arrives, CLAR will proceed to evolve, mixing in expertise from Toyota partnerships for hydrogen and learnings from EV growth. Crucially, it would additionally function the idea for BMW’s hydrogen mission beginning in 2028, giving the corporate yet one more drivetrain to supply with out reinventing the wheel.
Then there’s FAAR, the front-wheel-drive structure that carries smaller fashions just like the X1, 1 Collection, and a pair of Collection Energetic Tourer. Right here too, BMW retains all choices on the desk: environment friendly gasoline and diesel engines, hybrids, and even entry-level EVs, just like the MINI Countryman SE.
Wanting ahead, the Neue Klasse (NCAR) represents BMW’s devoted EV future. Launching in 2025, it’s constructed from the bottom up for electrification, utilizing sixth-generation batteries with 30% extra vary, 30% sooner charging, and vital effectivity positive factors. Neue Klasse is the place the model’s clean-sheet EVs will dwell — smooth sedans and crossovers that outline the subsequent decade of BMW design and expertise.
Neue Klasse Is Extra Than EVs Although
However Neue Klasse isn’t restricted to battery-electric drivetrains. BMW is allegedly investigating vary extenders constructed on NCAR, notably for China the place the components has discovered stunning success. In truth, BMW isn’t a stranger to the idea. The BMW i3 with Vary Extender (REx) was a intelligent answer for a world not but able to rely solely on charging networks. Talking personally, because the editor-in-chief of BMWBLOG, I owned 4 i3s with REx. It was a product that merely made sense on the time — the pure electrical i3 didn’t have the vary for lengthy journeys, and the REx gave it flexibility that clients valued. right this moment’s market in China, it’s straightforward to see why BMW would think about dusting off that concept and making use of it to the Neue Klasse.
Collectively, these platforms type an interlocking technique: CLAR and FAAR for flexibility throughout combustion and hybrids, Neue Klasse for pure EVs and possibly vary extenders, and hydrogen programs layered on prime. It’s a sophisticated puzzle — and that’s the purpose.
From Skepticism to Vindication
I’ll be trustworthy: just a few years in the past, even we at BMWBLOG had been skeptical. Like many, we thought the business’s EV-only narrative made sense. Electrical automobiles felt inevitable, and BMW’s refusal to commit seemed cautious, even timid.
However BMW’s management clearly had a special imaginative and prescient — one which balanced electrification with realism. And right this moment, that imaginative and prescient has paid off. Stroll right into a BMW buyer’s storage and also you’re extra prone to see a mixture of ICE and EVs reasonably than a one-size-fits-all answer. Households run an X5 plug-in hybrid alongside an i4. Fanatics maintain onto an M3 whereas including an iX (I used to be one among them) Clients are selecting expertise that matches their way of life, not what the business advised them they need to need.
BMW anticipated this actuality higher than most.
Why Hedging Issues
Whereas BMW was constructing flexibility, its rivals had been constructing partitions. Volkswagen went all-in on the ID household, solely to reduce manufacturing as demand lagged. Mercedes-Benz pledged to go all-electric by the early 2030s, then quietly admitted that hybrids and combustion would stick round “so long as clients need them.” GM deserted hybrids to chase Tesla, then sheepishly reintroduced them.
The auto business wished a single answer. Clients wished selections.
One other piece of this puzzle is regulation. Over a decade in the past, governments in Europe, the U.S., and Asia have all introduced aggressive EV targets. However deadlines hold shifting, incentives come and go, and political winds change shortly.
BMW’s multi-path technique insulates it a bit extra from these swings. If regulators push tougher for EVs, Neue Klasse can carry the load. If markets drag their toes, CLAR and FAAR can hold combustion and hybrids flowing. If hydrogen subsidies ramp up — as they’re in Japan, Korea, and components of Europe — BMW already has manufacturing lined up. This flexibility is much less glamorous than a daring headline, however it’s much more resilient in follow.
Defending the Soul of the Model
This method additionally safeguards BMW’s DNA. For lovers, it means M automobiles with inline-sixes and V8s received’t vanish in a single day. We’ll see a first-ever M3 electrical, however that might be adopted by a gasoline model as properly. For Rolls-Royce, it means the electrical Spectre and future EVs can exist alongside the timeless V12. BMW isn’t forcing heritage apart, however reasonably providing a alternative. And that’s one thing to applaud at this stage.
That steadiness issues. Mercedes-AMG with out V8 thunder is a tricky promote. Volkswagen GTI with out gasoline appears like an identification disaster. BMW, in contrast, doesn’t should apologize to purists whereas nonetheless pushing forward with EVs, hydrogen, and hybrids.
By 2028, BMW could have combustion automobiles on CLAR and FAAR, clean-sheet EVs on Neue Klasse, hydrogen gasoline cells driving on confirmed structure, and vary extenders for markets that demand them. It’s a portfolio that no different premium automaker can match.
