A fully electric Mini and more electric BMWs are coming soon

Electrification seems ever so likely to be the direction of future automobiles. BMW Group has recently confirmed that an all-electric Mini will be coming in 2019. The group also stated that Mini's first ever all-electric vehicle will be a Mini 3-door hatch. It is set to be assembled in Oxford, England. Currently, the only 'green' vehicle that Mini sells is the Cooper S E Countryman ALL4, a plug-in hybrid that has a battery range of 19 kilometers.

Apart from the Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 plug-in hybrid, the rest of the Mini model line up are use gasoline and diesel engines. Mini did however build an electric 3-door hatch before, dubbed the Mini E as pictured above. However it was only developed for field trials and was not actually sold in dealerships.

The introduction of the upcoming all-electric Mini is said to give customers more choice on Mini powertrains. Development and production of the electric Mini's drivetrain will be handled by BMW Group’s e-mobility centre at Plants Dingolfing and Landshut in Bavaria before being integrated into the car in Oxford.

Electric Mini confirmed, BMW to electrify model line up

Along with confirmation of the first fully-electric Mini, BMW Group has announced that more electrified BMW models are on the way. The decision is part of a strategy planned by the BMW Group to develop a flexible vehicle structure that would enable all brands and models to use electrification. In short, BMW is planning to offer all models with an all-electric or a plug-in hybrid variant along side their internal combustion engine counterpart.

Currently, BMW already offers nine models of electric vehicles in the market most being the under BMW's i-division. In 2018, BMW will be launching the i8 Roadster to add to their electric lineup. By 2020, the all-electric BMW X3 is expected to join the mix with the iNEXT due for 2021. Do expect more electric BMW models as they expand their line up in the future.