EV sales are doing so well in Europe that it’s become the fastest growing car segment in the Old World, and in America sales of plug-in cars are picking up as well. BMW has taken note, and is earmarking extra supplies of the i3 and i8 for American dealers, reports Automotive News.
Worldwide, BMW i3 sales have crossed the 10,000 unit mark even though it only went on sale this summer in the U.S. (it’s been available in Europe since late last year). This has exceeded BMW’s expectations, and in August, i3 sales actually crossed the 1,000 unit threshold in the U.S., and BMW is ready to send more cars to dealers who have seen plenty of interest worldwide in the electric Bimmer.
BMW makes the i3 electric vehicle and i8 plug-in hybrid in Germany, and has sold about 10,000 units of the former and 280 of the latter worldwide. Since August, BMW has been selling about 1,000 i3s a month in the US (it sold just 58 i8s in September). The bigger story, though, may be that Bimmer has sold out of its US allocation of i8s through the end of next year. Pretty heady stuff for a car that starts at around $137,000.
Currently, BMW builds around 100 i-series vehicles a day in Germany, and may speed up production of the i8 for the aforementioned reason. As for the i3, which comes with an option of a gas-powered range extender, that the waitlist for that model had grown to about six months.