BMW set out to sell 100,000 electric cars this year globally, and it has managed to do that, the company revealed today. That includes fully electric cars, as well as electrified vehicles like its plug-in electric Active Tourer 2-Series, Reuters reports.
Its fully electric options include the i3 compact, which it debuted in 2013 but which saw strong demand in the U.S. and in Western Europe this year, vs. relatively low sales numbers previously. BMW sold just over 60,000 EVs last year, so it’s achieved 60 percent growth for the 2017 sales year. The company also said it expects to grow its EV sales in 2018 by a double-digit percentage again, though perhaps not as steep an increase.
BMW announced a partnership with battery startup Solid Power earlier this year to help commercialize its solid-state battery technology in a form suitable for use in consumer vehicles, which will help improve things including safety, range and long-term battery life vs. traditional lithium-ion packs used today.
The automaker also intends to offer a dozen fully electric vehicle options by 2025, and has a four-door sedan in the works with a target street date of 2021.