2024 isn’t quite over yet, but BMW is already celebrating an achievement. This iX1, finished in Blue Bay Lagoon, marks the 100,000th electric vehicle assembled this year at the Regensburg plant. It’s heading to a customer from La Réunion. Before shipping the EV to the island in the Indian Ocean, BMW took a few photos of the milestone vehicle.
At the factory in eastern Bavaria, BMW assembles more than 1,400 X1 and X2 crossovers every day. The total production run for 2024 will exceed 330,000 units, a huge jump from last year. In 2023, precisely 238,301 vehicles were produced, up 65.9% from the previous year. The luxury brand says more than a third of cars produced this year were either plug-in hybrids or EVs. Only the X1 combines a gas engine with an electric motor. The swoopy X2 comes strictly as an ICE or EV.
At least one more electric car will enter production in Regensburg. BMW has already said it’s investing in the site to accommodate a Neue Klasse model, but it didn’t disclose the model’s identity. However, it won’t be the iX3 since the crossover will be made at the new factory in Debrecen, Hungary. We’re also ruling out the i3 sedan, considering it will be built in Munich.
It remains to be seen whether the models will be additions to the lineup or replacements for the current iX1 and iX2. The two crossovers share their UKL2 platform with the conventionally powered X1 and X2. If the next-gen models switch to Neue Klasse, they will benefit from a dedicated electric car platform.
Reports state that BMW is also planning a true entry-level EV, either an i1 and/or an i2. However, they’re not part of the first wave of NK-based models coming by 2028. The cheaper EVs are likely to be built at one of the factories in Germany.
Source: BMW
