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Earlier this month, British media reported that BMW would no longer update its flagship electric car model i3, marking the completion of the final mission of BMW's first all-electric model.

Robert Elinger, head of BMW's I department, denied the report, saying that the i3 would be further upgraded and put into production, and that an entry-level electric hatchback based on the 1-series was also planned, or named i1. it will be on the market as early as 2021.

It is understood that the BMW Pure Electric i3 was launched in 2013, and BMW said it would promote electrification. However, after the launch of the first pure electric, it has devoted itself to the research and development of batteries, software and electric vehicles, and has not yet launched a new pure electric model.

The i3, currently in its fifth iteration, has sold more than 150000 units so far, and demand is increasing every year as the emerging electric vehicle market booms. In the first half of this year, i3 sales rose 21 per cent from a year earlier.

BMW is one of the major automakers that are adopting electric plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions on a large scale and sell them in markets such as Europe and China.

In June, BMW announced that it would launch 25 new energy vehicle models by 2023, more than half of which are pure electric vehicles. BMW predicts that electric vehicles will grow sharply by 2025, with sales growing at an average annual rate of 30%. By 2021, sales of electric vehicles will double that of 2019.

According to people familiar with the matter, the pure electric version of the BMW 1-Series is currently under development and will continue the appearance of the current BMW 1-Series, but changes will be made to the front grille and body details to highlight the identification of pure electric vehicles. The new generation 1 series is based on the FAAR technology platform derived from the UKL platform, which is designed to be used in Hybrid gas-electric hybrids and all-electric models, plus a small five-door hatchback.

According to the naming rules of BMW's pure electric products, the pure electric version of the BMW 1-series or named BMW i1, as the first pure electric of the BMW 1-series, will drive down the price of new energy vehicles on the market. Therefore, the pure electric version of the BMW 1-Series or the most affordable pure electric model under BMW will launch both single-motor and dual-motor versions in the future, of which the dual-motor version is a full-drive version, while other configurations of the product will have to be officially announced.

At present, BMW has registered 18 trademarks from i1 to i9, iX1 to iX9, and is expected to launch at least 25 new energy vehicle products by 2025, of which BMW MINI Cooper SE has launched, a domestic version of pure electric SUV iX3 will be launched in 2020, and i4, iNEXT and i1 will be released in 2021.

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