While standing at a stoplight this morning listening to the rather low rumble of my idle V8, I noticed an i4 in front of me waiting for the light to turn green.
While Im glancing at this nicely speced M sport i4, i certainly realize that I havent seen an ICE 4 series on the street for a while. I drive for another 30 mins of S Florida streets and to my surprise, was able to count about 8 more i4s during that time and 1 older generation 440.
As I reach my destination and am parking my car, i go to myself … Damn… BMW played it slick… the transition to all electric has been going on for a while but how they started with the 4 series and now the ICE version is gradually disappearing hit me pretty hard.
BMW’s strategy has been selling EV’s that for the most part sans iX look like their normal cars.
They’re looking for that piece of the market that is okay with an EV if it looks normal, has the features/range they expect, is at a relatively competitive price point to the consumer after subsidies, and has a decent support network.
Let’s be honest if you can have an i5 for an effective of 400-500/m instead of 700-800 on a lease, a huge subsect of consumers will be swayed by that, hardcore ICE / M enthusiasts aside.
They have a wide variety of models that appeal to a variety of consumer points (though not all are in the US market) from the i3 G28 in China to the large i7 and iX range monsters.
Mercedes EVs don’t look like what a legacy Mercedes client is expecting - it lacks their design language for efficiency - newer companies like BYD and Xiaomi don’t have a legacy design language to work around - if they hit their proportions right and listen to the expensive foreign design talent they hire they’ll hit their audience.
Adoption is bolstered due to the number of ICE 4er allocations pretty much gutted with the production of the i4, not to mention the manufacturer support was also slanted heavily toward BEV variant.
Yes this is what Im talking about. Thanks for confirming. I had a very strong feeling that BMW has been lowering allocations for its ICE version of the 4. On the 7 series it looks like its pretty stable as they probably dont want to mess with that client segment yet. But i do feel the 5 series is headed that way.
Im really eager to see how the 550E plays out in the next year or two.
@HersheySweet yes you are right about BMW not messing with the seperate design concept of “just cause its electric, has to look weird”. I personally think the success of the i7 is largely due to the fact that its a clone of its ICE version.
Relative success I guess? It’s not in 400/month territory just yet, like with Benz USA dumping port MY24 EQS that dealers didn’t take from across the states in March.
The i4 was an easy pickup with the insane incentives recently. It’s currently my daily driver. A 75k loaded i4 for $5xx per month with nothing down… twist my arm. The technology and quality is beautiful inside as well.
I think tariffs were largely targeting BMW specifically because Tesla couldn’t compete on RV, thus not leasing well.
I suspect it’s because BMW took the approach to match the aesthetics of their ICE cars to their EV counterparts. When most of the MB and other EV’s look like egg-shaped eyesores, BMW didn’t necessitate their consumers to choose between a nice looking ICE or an ugly looking EV.
MB EV’s do look awful. Maintenance isn’t friendly either. I don’t know what Tesla does because saying you’re better than a BMW isn’t a compelling reason.
They need to figure out how to sell cars CHEAP or license their tech.
If gas goes to $2 why would anyone go ev? Market dynamics are always changing we’lll see. I like EVs but from a commute standpoint there will be breakeven and insurance is crazy on them
I doubt it goes to $2 but many who are now used to not visiting a gas station and enjoy the convenience of home charging will still continue to buy EVs.
I don’t pay attention to gas pricing personally. If the car I want leases better in an EV, I’ll go that route. If ICE leases better, I’ll take that instead. I have the level 2 at home, but it all comes down to payment. I don’t drive EV because I’m in love with it, I drive EV because I get what I want for less in a luxury vehicle at the moment.
That would be wild. I don’t see it, but you never know. Best guess is folks took off their 21-22” wheels and put something smaller on for ride quality or something, which would cause the same issue.
