BMW 3 Series

Tesla has the ambition to sell hundreds of thousands of Model 3s per year, which would make it one of the biggest vehicle programs in the world.

If they actually achieve that, it will inevitably have a strong impact on the market and especially the mid luxury sedan segment.

Facebook millionaire turned venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya thinks that BMW’s 3 Series will be most impacted. He even suggested that Model 3 could wipe out sales of the popular sedan.
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While BMW’s electric car plans have long been confusing, the German has been positioning itself for moving more seriously in the electric vehicle space lately. The company started holding meetings to warn employees that EVS are coming and here to stay and they announced production expansion for their upcoming electric vehicles.

Now a long-rumored all-electric (not its half hearted 330E) version of its popular BMW 3 Series is reportedly going to be unveiled in September.
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As we’ve often discussed before, the Chevy Bolt EV is often presented at the first real competitor to the Tesla Model 3 simply because they have a similar range – over 200 miles – and similar sticker prices – starting at $37,500 for the Bolt and $35,000 for the Model 3, but it’s really not that simple.

While priced like one, the Bolt EV is not a mid-sized luxury vehicle. If it wasn’t electric, it would be similar to Chevrolet’s Sonic, which is priced $15,000 cheaper. On the other hand, Tesla’s Model 3 is being marketed as a mid-sized sport/luxury vehicle and certainly looks more like one than the Bolt – which is more of a utility hatchback. Prior to its unveiling, Tesla CEO Elon Musk often talked about the BMW 3 Series as a reference for competition to the Model 3. That recently switched to the Audi A3.

Now it looks like the Model 3 will actually have to compete with an all-electric version of the BMW 3 Series. The vehicle could be introduced with the next generation 2018 models, but the all-electric version is expected later.
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