It's been about four years since BMW started manufacturing the i3. And in that span of time, it's produced 100,000 of them.
The milestone was celebrated at the plant in Leipzig, Germany, where the Bavarian automaker assembles its dedicated range of electric vehicles.
The plant churns out i3s at a rate of over 120 units each day, totaling 26,631 last year alone. It also handles production of the i8 at a rate of eight to ten per day, for a total of 2,783 in 2016. The next addition to the range will be the i8 Roadster, set for release next year.
BMW also produces the 1 Series and 2 Series at the plant in Leipzig. Porsche also assembles the Panamera, Cayenne, and Macan at its own plant in the same city, the largest in the federal state of Saxony and the tenth largest city in Germany.
“We are proud of the 100,000th BMW i3 built by our plant in Leipzig. The BMW i3 is the original, a true technological pioneer,” said BMW chairman Harald Krüger. “In the interests of sustainability, today we are also presenting a concept for the second use of BMW i3 high-voltage batteries. With our Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT, we are looking far beyond the car itself and driving change in our industry with totally new approaches and business models.”
The battery storage farm in Leipzig uses the decommissioned power packs from as many as 700 i3s to absorb surplus power from the local grid and supply it back when electricity production is low.
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