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BMW Turns “i” EV Unit into Autonomous Car Center
BMW AG tells Reuters it has restructured its “i” division, originally set up to promote electric and hybrid models, to develop technologies for self-driving cars instead.
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BMW AG tells Reuters it has restructured its “i” division, originally set up to promote electric and hybrid models, to develop technologies for self-driving cars instead.
Product development chief Klaus Froehlich tells the news service the unit, which he revamped in April, is being referred to internally as Project i Next. BMW has not publicly announced the reorganization or new name.
Demand for BMW’s only all-electric car, the i3, has been disappointing since its introduction in 2013. Reuters says the company doesn’t plan to add a second EV until 2021.
The “i” unit recently lost its heads of powertrain, product management, engineering and the i8 hybrid supercar program to a Chinese EV startup called Future Mobility Corp., which is backed by Shenzhen-based Tencent Holdings Ltd. Former i8 program chief Carsten Breitfeld is now CEO of Future Mobility.
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