BMW Project i
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| Sub-brand of BMW | |
| Industry | Automotive industry |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Products | Plug-in electric vehicles |
| Owner | BMW |
| Parent | BMW |
| Website | BMW i |
The BMW i is a sub-brand of BMW founded in 2011 to design and manufacture plug-in electric vehicles. The company's initial plans call for the release of two vehicles; the i3 all-electric car and the i8 plug-in hybrid. Concept versions of both these vehicles were shown at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Series production of the BMW i3 destined for retail customers began in September 2013, and the European market launch took place in November 2013 with the first retail deliveries in Germany. The BMW i8 was launched in Germany in June 2014. The United States, Norway, Germany, and the UK are the main markets for both models.
In February 2016, BMW announced the introduction of the "iPerformance" model designation, which is being given to all BMW plug-in hybrid vehicles from July 2016. The aim is to provide a visible indicator of the transfer of technology from BMW i to the BMW core brand. As of November 2016[update], four BMW electrified models have been released using BMW i technology, the BMW X5 xDrive40e, released in 2015, and the BMW 225xe Active Tourer, BMW 330e iPerformance, and BMW 740e iPerformance, released in 2016.
BMW i sales reached the 50,000 unit milestone in January 2016. Global i3 sales achieved the 50,000 unit milestone in July 2016. Combined global sales of BMW i and iPerformance plug-in hybrid models achieved the 100,000 unit milestone in early November 2016, three years after the inception of the i3. BMW's leading electrified model is the i3 with more than 60,000 units sold globally. Two years after its introduction, the BMW i3 became the world's all-time third best selling all-electric car, and remained as such as of December 2016[update].
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