The premium space for electric vehicles in India is exploding . Tesla is on the horizon, while Mercedes-Benz has the EQC on sale, Audi has the eTron and the eTron GT and Porsche’s Taycan also making headway recently. Not one to miss out on the competition, BMW India has announced the start of their electric vehicle campaign, with 3 new electric vehicles set to go on sale in India over the course of the next 6 months. The onslaught of electric vehicles will be led by their electric flagship the iX electric SUV which is slated to launch in the next 30 days. This will be followed by the Mini electric which will launch in the next three months, and finally the i4 sedan will make its way to India in the first half of 2022.

All three of the vehicles will — at least for the immediate future — will come to India via the CBU route.

The first launch, the iX, the group’s new technology flagship, is an AWD electric SUV with 425km of range. The iX will also have a comprehensive use of either natural materials or recycled materials and will be produced with 100 per cent “green electricity” and use zero rare earth metals and zero raw materials from deep sea mining. That said, it will also run two electric motors in tandem and get from 0-100 in 6.1 seconds. While the iX is sold globally in two power trims the iX 30 and the iX 50, it remains to be seen whether BMW will bring both or only one version of the iX to India. Some sources suggest that BMW could launch the iX as early as the first week of December.

The Mini electric will be the second product and should be on sale by the end of the financial year.

This will be followed by the launch of the Mini electric which gets a range of 235km on the WLTP cycle. Lastly, the i4 sedan will launch in the first half of 2022 completing the first set of electric vehicles from BMW that will go on sale in India.

Earlier this week while announcing the launch, BMW India ‘s president and CEO asked the government for better taxation policies for completely built up (CBU) electric vehicles in India. Echoing the sentiment of other players like Tesla and Hyundai, who have appealed for similar relief for their electric campaigns. The relief, if provided, will help manufacturers invest in creating the expansive ecosystem required for the successful adoption of electric cars in India.

Finally the i4 will launch in the first six months of 2022 as the first electric sedan from the brand.

For the initial stages, BMW will provide 11kW AC fast chargers along with the iX that will allow for a full charge in 7 hours and 100km of range in 2 and a half hours. BMW will also instal 50kW DC fast chargers in all their dealerships across 35 cities.