"He Who Must Not Be Named"... was dropped a lot at BMW's NEXTGen event in Munich, showing off its electric car progress. The hugely profitable German carmaker's stock has been down on trade war worries and tough new emission regulations in Europe. So it's accelerating plans to cut emissions out altogether with Tesla-killing electric cars.
The lead engineer's name means "Happy" auf Deutsch... and Mr. Klaus Fröhlich was 110% himself when he made these updates:
- The Vision M Next. It's basically an electric batmobile. The concept car isn't for sale (it might never be), but it shows how BMW wants e-cars to be sexy.
- Vision DC Roadster. Also a concept vehicle, but a 2-wheeled electric motorcycle that looks like a Transformer.
- The big corporate update. BMW will meet its goal of 25 electric models by 2023, two years ahead of schedule. Next year we get an all-electric X3 SUV.
How valuable is Tesla's head start?... Back when Americans obsessed over Chevy Suburbans and other SUVs in the mid-2000s, Elon launched an electric car company. Now, German luxury brands on the short list for the affluent Tesla-buying demographic are catching up. Tesla's a purebred. BMW, Audi, and Mercedes have adapted, Darwin-style.