BMW: An EV-only future means only the rich can drive, does not believe in phasing out ICE

Governments and lobby groups pushing to ban internal combustion engine (ICE) in favour of battery electric vehicles (battery EVs or BEVs) will end up pushing their country’s economy down a path where only the rich can afford to buy cars, said BMW Group’s CEO Oliver Zipse.

Speaking to Reuters at the sidelines of his visit to South Carolina, USA to announce a USD 1.7 billion investment into BMW’s Spartanburg to build at least 6 EV models by 2030, Zipse said "We do not want cars to be taken away out of the base segment, politically that is super dangerous."

"If you all of a sudden make car ownership only for rich people, it's a dangerous thing."

Zipse was answering a question on BMW Group’s opinion regarding plans by some governments to ban ICEs between 2030 to 2035.

Zipse said that setting a firm date to end ICE sales could also result in people continuing "to drive their old cars - and that is not what we want."

Echoing the company’s hydrogen fuel cell technology development partner Toyota, Zipse said BMW believes in offering choices and that it is the customer, not government regulations that will determine how the EV revolution will develop.

"As a politician I would be mega-careful... because you are taking away cars by regulation," Zipse said.

"It's a free nation -- we offer choice and not limitations," he added.

Also read: BMW says in some countries, building hydrogen stations is easier than EV chargers

Zipse’s comments came in the same week Renault CEO Luca de Meo said that previous projections pushed by EV experts predicting EVs reducing in price and reaching price parity with combustion engine cars have proven to be wrong.

“I do not see this parity getting close,” said de Meo at the Paris Auto Show.

"I can come up with better battery chemistry and better power electronics, but these gains would be erased when the price of cobalt doubles in just six months," said de Meo, who also called high-end EVs with large capacity batteries marketed as green products ‘environmental nonsense.’

On the banning of combustion engine cars, de Meo said a similar opinion to Zipse, that consumers will determine whether the decisions by some governments to ban combustion engines will be followed through.

“I am taking the company there, but ultimately it will be the market, the customers, who will decide if they want to be electric-only,” he said.

Also read: Renault: Prediction of cheaper EV batteries were wrong, calls high-end models environmental nonsense

Automotive News Europe reports that Ford will end production of the Ford Fiesta by the middle of 2023, one year earlier than initially planned. The Fiesta is one of Europe’s most popular budget car but Ford had to kill the model because it is no longer economical to invest in expensive technology to reduce the car’s carbon emissions further.

Production of the Fiesta at Ford’s Cologne plant in Germany will be replaced by a VW-based EV model.

Ford and Volkswagen have since agreed to collaborate on EVs. The first outcome of the collaboration will be an SUV based on VW’s MEB platform, likely to be the VW ID.4 with Ford styling.

Also read: BMW says betting everything on batteries is a bad idea, echoes Toyota's believe in hydrogen fuel cells

If you are wondering why can't cheap Chinese EVs like the Wuling Mini EV be a solution - there's a good reason why the Wuling isn't sold anywhere else. It doesn't meet international UNECE safety standards, and without the incentives it enjoys in China, these EVs are not that cheap.

The two-seater Wuling Air is sold in Indonesia at a higher price the Daihatsu Sirion, better known to us as the Perodua Myvi - despite being locally-assembled there with generous tax incentives.

Thus explains the comments from CEOs of BMW and Renault, and why Ford can't provide an EV replacement to the Fiesta.

Also read: Pricier than the Myvi's Indo twin, could the Wuling Air EV kickstart Indonesia's EV revolution?