Now auto makers have fully worked out how to game governments” Carbon dioxide based taxation thresholds – and the official economy tests – we’re starting to see plug-in hybrids arriving from “Premium’ vehicle makers to entice business owners, in particular, in to cars that can drive, some of the time, on electric power.
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The 2017 BMW 330e i Performance may be a plug-in hybrid rather than an all-electric vehicle, but BMW hopes to snag some customers who don’t want to wait for the Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] Model 3.
Over the weekend, BMW launched a new commercial advertising the new 330e, a sleek-looking hybrid sedan that is far more stylish than the funky looking BMW i3 and much more affordable than the jaw-dropping BMW i8.
Energy independence is creeping into the U.S. passenger vehicle market more and more, led by Tesla Motors but also by ZEV mandates in 9 states and resulting EV efforts from a few auto companies. Sure, some 7 Series models were crap, but there has NEVER been a bad 3 Series.
Accordingly, the two ads have been named “Waiting” and “Wait or Drive”, underscoring the options that prospective buyers have at the moment.
The EPA rates it at 14 miles of electric range, 31 mpg combined when operating as a conventional hybrid after the battery depletes, and a middling 72 MPGe running electrically. The voiceover then goes on to say: “But the BMW 330e is here now”. That sounds obvious enough, but if you watch the video you’ll see somebody walking past unbranded Tesla superchargers before walking over to a BMW hybrid. So BMW are using their latest advert for the 330e (below) to give the Model 3 a bit of a poke.
But it’s probably worth remembering that electric-car advocates tend to view plug-in hybrids as the gateway drug to all-electric vehicles.
Based on my estimates of Tesla deliveries (which are based on several statements from Elon Musk and Tesla official reports as well as slight regional variation assumptions from month to month), Model S deliveries remained stable, but Model X deliveries (which were nonexistent in July 2015) surged following a production ramp at the end of quarter 2.
CNET suggests that the ads would have been more interesting if BMW depicted a future like one in which President Trump has banned electric cars, insisting that all cars must be coal-powered and colored in gold.
To be fair, BMW doesn’t ever explicitly call out Tesla.
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