BMW’s electric vehicles will target the premium segment, may or may not have radical design
BMW, as any respectable carmaker, is preparing to enter the electric vehicle market, largely through its Project i (or iSetta) program, which is currently trying on different ideas to see which will work best with BMW’s history.
Among these new plans, one is quite definitive, as BMW will generate only upmarket models, with a certain premium feeling attached to them, as it is currently doing with its conventional cars. By doing so, the company plans to establish itself right off the bat as the go-to manufacturer for exclusive models, which ares scheduled to hit around 2014 or 2015.
But one aspect that is still giving a lot of headaches and causing much debate among the engineers is the design of the future models, and where they will fit in the current lineup of vehicles and brands. “Whether Project i cars fit below Mini, between Mini and BMW or above BMW is one of the important things we’re still deciding,” said Marc Gerard, boss of BMW interiors.
The representative suggests that people currently interested in electric vehicles are quite open minded, and won’t necessarily be put off by a radical design. But the general direction amongst the team of the Bavarian manufacturer is that the design should be kept more conventional, as to not alienate the mainstream crowd only mildly interested in electric cars.
But besides the design choices, BMW is also working on quite a few gadgets and technologies for the interior of future Project i vehicles, including head-up displays, as seen on current BMW and future Mini models, or multi-function TFT screens.
We still have plenty of time to wait until a production-ready EV from BMW will appear though, meaning that plenty of other ideas might be adopted.
Source: Autocar
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