[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by antzcrashing

Not necessarily. 186 miles is still great range that more than covers most people's commute.

It isn't about commuting distance. We know that a mere 100 miles of range would cover most commutes, yet no company would dare release an EV to the US market in 2019 with such a low range. People are expecting 200+ miles today, which is why nearly every new and upcoming EV provides that.

Sure, on most days we only drive to and from work, maybe stopping on the way in or the way home to run errands. However, the vast majority of the population participates in some leisure activity that requires traveling longer distances on some occasions. So how much more range is necessary? Figure eight hours is spent sleeping and eight hours working, so that leaves eight more hours in a day for additional activity (including the commute). We can further assume that most people would limit drive time to half of their leisure time, which would be roughly four hours. At an average speed of, for the sake or argument, 50mph, we get 200 miles of range. Add in a fudge factor to allow for higher average speeds and allow for a ratio than 50/50 for drive/activity, and 300 miles will probably cover the vast majority of use cases. You charge up at home at night so you never have to waste anywhere from 15 to 60+ minutes of your already-in-short-supply, week-day leisure time waiting for the vehicle to recharge.

So, no, BMW will not release an EV in the US in 2024 with a battery option under 200 miles of range. In fact, the MINI Cooper S E coming later this year is probably the last one with under 200 miles of range we'll see in the states from BMW.

BMW just needs a good charging network, which they can build or buy.

Just as they don't own gas stations today, automakers do not need to own their own charging networks. There are plenty of charging networks already, and more chargers are being added on a consistent basis. BMW partnered with ChargeNow for the i3, and in the future will likely partner with others. I have been driving an EV for six months now and have used a Level 3 charger exactly twice, and Level 2 chargers perhaps half a dozen times. And my vehicle has only 115 miles of range (I currently use an ICE vehicle when I need more range, but my next EV purchase - whatever it is - will eliminate that vehicle from my garage).

Originally Posted by clee1982

This can sell in Europe and Asia where small city car is makes sense, the US, probably not

This platform is the future of BMW and Mercedes small vehicles, so it is intended to spawn global models. Just like today, not every form factor will be available in every region, but here in the US, today's 2 Series will be supplemented, and eventually supplanted, by tomorrow's i2.

Originally Posted by AMB

Let's be honest, the current i3 should have been named the i2 but BMW of course wanted to charge more money, thus killing the connection to the 3 series brand, requiring an i4 which will be akin to a 3 series but breaking their now ignored naming scheme of even numbers for coupes, odd numbers for saloons.

This is a wildly inaccurate analysis. If increasing the model number was the key to charging more money, they would not have stopped at "i3".

The i4 is an electric 4 Series. That's why it is called the i4. In the not-so-distant future, once the current i3 has run its course, that nameplate will be repurposed for an electric 3 Series model.