It was arguably the world's most successful electric vehicle in the premium compact segment. The BMW 13, the Group's first large-series production automobile with fully electric drive since its debut in 2013, has officially been ended its run.
BMW has announced that it is ending production of the i3 at its Leipzig plant in Germany. But as a final hurrah to a successful run, the carmaker has come up final edition called the i3 HomeRun. Just limited to 10 vehicles, this very exclusive i3 is offered in two BMW Individual Frozen exterior finishes: Frozen Dark Grey and Frozen Red II. The HomeRun Edition also has special 20-inch wheels and a clutch of optional items as standard, including adaptive headlights, an electric glass roof, and solar control glazing. It also gets a snazzy Suite interior with leather galore, navigation, and the Harman Kardon stereo.
An iconic car in many ways
The BMW i3 was launched as an exotic, outlandish offering in the nascent stages of electric vehicles market. But by the time, the final whistle has been blown on it, BMW i3 has become a certified icon of sorts.
In many markets, it achieved a significantly higher market share in the electric vehicle segment than the BMW brand in the area of conventionally powered cars. In all, a total of 250,000 units of the multiple awards-winning compact e-vehicle was produced for various global markets --- The BMW i3 has been sold in more than 74 countries around the world. But all the vehicles were rolled out of BMW's Leipzig plant. As Milan Nedeljković, Member of the Board of Management for Production at BMW AG, said, "Thanks to the BMW i3, the Leipzig plant became the birthplace of e-mobility at BMW."
The future of Leipzig plant
Now, in a seamless transition, the Leipzig plant will manufacture e-drive components with immediate effect in addition to producing high-voltage battery modules, which is already being done since May 2021. Also, next year, the next generation of the MINI Countryman will be manufactured at the same location - with a fully electric drive, among other things.
The BMW Group Plant at Leipzig will be the first location in the company's global production network where BMW and MINI models are manufactured together. It will become the hub for electric mobility and supply to the group's production network worldwide with components.
The production of the ten special HomeRun models was a final highlight not only for the employees involved in its production at the BMW Group Plant Leipzig, as customers of the special models were able to witness the completion of the vehicles in the assembly hall for themselves.
