BMW takes 'great leap forward' into electric car market

BMW on Monday took the bold strategic step of revealing its first all-electric car, and said it plans to clinch a significant share of a market still in its infancy. Launching its BMW i3 model, the German group compared the prospects of the electric car market to the technical revolution of the mobile telephone, but declined to give any sales or production targets. "What the mobile phone did for communication, electric mobility will do for individual mobility," chief executive Norbert Reithofer said as the car debuted in London, Beijing and New York. "The BMW i3 is more than an evolutionary step -- it is a great leap forward," he said. The series-produced model will go on sale in Europe in November to be followed in the United States, China, Japan and several other markets in the first half of 2014. It will hit the German market at a price of 34,950 euros ($46,438) and has a range of 130 to 160 kilometres (about 80 to 100 miles). Commercial director Ian Robertson told reporters that the market for electric cars remained young but said BMW was not seeking to be a niche player. "We're entering the market to be a significant player," he said. The Munich-based company trumpeted technological features of the model, which can seat four, including a carbon fibre passenger cell to help offset the weight of the batteries and an aluminium chassis. Ian Henry, director of research company AutoAnalysis, said it was too early to say how well the model would do. "There is still some reluctance from the part of the customers for full electric vehicles," he told AFP, but added: "BMW doesn't make many mistakes". BMW said the global market for electric vehicles was showing "positive development". "After almost 93,000 electric vehicles were registered worldwide last year, a total of 150,000 units is already forecast for the current year," a statement said. Germany set a target in 2008 of having one million electric cars on its roads in 2020 and said it wanted to be a pilot market in the field. But Chancellor Angela Merkel has acknowledged that the country would struggle to reach the target while insisting the goal should not be dropped. The government offers tax incentives to electric car drivers but campaigners say much more needs to be done to encourage people to switch from petrol or diesel to electric vehicles.