13 March 2021

Bloomberg has reported that BMW’s Mini brand will go all-electric from 2030 as the automaker intensifies its transition to battery-powered vehicles, according to people familiar with the matter.

The iconic British brand will roll out its last combustion-engine variant in 2025, and around half of all Mini sales should be electric by 2027, one of the people said, declining to be named discussing confidential information.

Mini will only produce battery-electric vehicles from 2030, the people said.

BMW CEO Officer Oliver Zipse is set to announce the plan alongside its annual  report on March 17, the person said.

A spokesman for BMW declined to comment.

Mini follows brands including Ford, Bentley, Jaguar and Volvo in unveiling plans to fully electrify their offerings.

Soaring valuations achieved by EV-only companies led by Tesla and ever-more stringent emissions regulations have accelerated the worldwide shift to electric vehicles, with recent RAC research finding that private electric car (EV) ownership in the UK has jumped by more than 50% over the last year, as over 30,000 new EVs were recorded on the UK’s roads at the end of 2020.

Mini’s decision to go all-electric likely will appeal to its customer base in urban areas where combustion-engine cars have been targeted for restrictions or outright bans. The decision comes as BMW seeks to counter Tesla’s success with models such as the full-electric iX SUV and i4 sedan that go on sale this year.

Mini currently sells a full-electric car, the Mini Electric and has plans to introduce a compact electric SUV designed in cooperation with Great Wall and manufactured in China, reports said.

Source: Bloomberg and Autonews Europe