[Greenie]

Not one with a reputation for reliability, I'm wary of Minis produced in China though I assume those produced in the country will be sold locally.

This came up in a recent article about BMW's talks with Great Wall Motor, a large auto manufacturer in China. Their venture is rumored to focus on electric vehicles in response to China's new quotas for zero-emission cars.

 

[Greenie]

Seems like the Mini EV is going to be produced in China, but they may be sold locally because initial production of the new Mini EV will start in Oxford (UK) in 2019 with the assembly plant in China to follow. Not sure if it's already set in stone, but the press release makes it look like BMW is set to move forward with this partnership.

BMW Group has signed a joint venture letter of intent with the China-based manufacturer Great Wall Motor that will likely see local production of future electric MINi brand offerings in China occur,

 

[Coops]

Mini sales have been steadily declining in the U.S, so this partnership in China makes sense. If BMW really wants to sell this vehicle in large volumes, then they are going to have to start in other markets. China is the perfect place to test the new Mini's platform and prove itself as a worthy electric for those in North America.

 

[Greenie]

Seems like the new joint venture will produce cars for the domestic market and if this graph from green car congress is accurate, then BMW may just launch most of their EVs in the Chinese market first before launching them globally. Everywhere else seems to be stagnating or moving backwards.

 

[Coops]

Looks like they have done their research and found that China is the main market where demand is actually growing. Probably a large reason for the increased adoption of electrics is the result of their high levels of air pollution. Apparently its so bad, that smog from China can reach as far as California.

 

[Greenie]

It may not be limited to production because Automotive News Europe says research and development of the new electric Mini will take place in China as well, not just production. This may actually benefit Mini because China battery tech seems to be ahead of the curve even though I've never heard of these brands before.

The NIO ES8 is said to have a range of 500 kilometers (311 miles) on a single charge.

 

[Coops]

Are there any sort of tax incentives/rebates for electrics in China? I wonder if that has had any impact in how well they are selling there. Technology is Asia has always been several years ahead of the rest of the world and I'm not surprised that they've created a vehicle that out performs everything currently on the market.

 

[Greenie]

Did a bit of research and the incentives apply to long range cars with over 400 km (249 miles) of range. Those get RMB 50,000 (~$7,800 USD) subsidies, which is a 13% increase from last year. This is a huge driving force considering how other countries are reducing incentives are completely doing away with them.

 

[Coops]

Thanks for finding that. China seems to be one of the only countries that's increasing incentives to buy an EV. They must have a bunch of Chinese made EV's because that 249 mile requirement would eliminate most of the models we have in North America.

 

[MiniFootPrint]

Sounds fair enough because these incentives always follow what gets the most results and keep moving the goal post.
Too bad it means for those that can only afford lower end EV's get less of an incentive.

 

[Coops]

Wonder if that's the same direction that North America will take, with incentives only offered on longer range EV's. Might be a good way for them to slowly transition towards less tax incentives and rebates, instead of just removing them completely.