All-New BMW i2 EV Will Be Built On Joint Platform With Daimler

BMW is already planning a smaller electric vehicle called the i2 which may be built on a platform shared with Daimler.

The report on the new BMW i2 EV comes from German publication Manager Magazin through Automotive News Europe. Early information suggest it would slot beneath the BMW i3 and BMW i4 as the most affordable all-electric vehicle in the BMW lineup.

It would have around 300 kilometers of range and be about the same size as the current i3. It could arrive by 2024. The BMW i2 would be joined by a Daimler product that we currently don’t know anything about. Could it be a Mercedes-Benz EQA? Maybe. Together with the i2, expected sales of the new entry-level EV are expected to reach 500,000 units a year.

Earlier this month, a report in Auto Bild said that Daimler and BMW expected to save roughly 7 billion euros by using a joint platform. Discussions had begun to form a partnership to share engineering costs in the development of a new line of compact and mid-size cars that would be both electric and traditional. The collaboration could also include joint autonomous driving technology development.

BMW is really pushing its EV strategy and is catching up to Audi’s e-tron lineup and Mercedes-Benz. BMW’s iNEXT, i4 and iX3 are still a year to two years away. All three were caught testing in northern Sweden recently as development continues.