Quote:
Originally Posted by bailyhill
It probably depends on two things. One, are those batteries ready from the supplier. And does BMW think that another range increase will increase sales. I assume that they are not yet satisfied with the 2017 levels yet.
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All good points.
Alas, there is the third, and possibly the most critical one that needs to be considered, the cost.
As long as BMW continues to charge more for larger capacity batteries ($1.2K premium for 94Ah over 60Ah), the higher cost will deter some buyers.
Thus, any range gain customer pull will be offset, or negated, by higher vehicle costs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bailyhill
More range opens up the market, and with the Bolt and Model 3 as soon to be to market, they could use more.
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There is a big difference with "more" range and "enough" to be competitive.
Anther +25% range bump (from 94Ah to 120Ah Samsung batteries), to ~130 miles, will do nothing to pull customers away from either Bolt of Model 3.
To bring to market a meaningful increase in range, BMW needs to redesign and elongate the i3 frame to make room for more batteries. There is no indication that any such effort is underway, at last not in time for MY'18 refresh.
i3 has already got longer range than Leaf, yet it is trailing it badly in sales, roughly 2.5 : 1. Leaf is much cheaper, starting at $30K vs. i3's $42K. Evidently, that has a HUGE impact on sales.
Increasing the cost with marginally longer battery capacity risks making i3 that much less competitive in the marketplace!
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