For BMW CEO Oliver Zipse, cars with combustion engines remain important. The executive points out some limitations of electric vehicles.
The electric car is on everyone’s lips. Most brands are working for its implementation at the end of this decade or the beginning of the next, which condemns traditional vehicles to a death foretold. However, there are some senior positions among carmakers, such as the CEO of BMW, for whom combustion engine cars remain important.
Oliver Zipse is the CEO of BMW, a company that is making major advances in electric technology, building a range of zero-emission vehicles that are already part of its product portfolio. However, for Zipse the traditional heat engine is still important and in a recent interview in New York, he said so.
For the CEO of BMW, cars with combustion engines are still important
According to Reuters, the executive highlighted the limited materials available for use in electric cars: “When you look at the technology that comes out, the push for electric vehicles, we have to be careful because at the same time you increase dependency in very few countries,” noting that the supply of raw materials for batteries is mainly controlled by China.
Zipse argues that not everyone can afford an electric car, either for economic reasons or because they do not fit their needs. At the same time, the CEO of BMW states that vehicles with a thermal engine continue to be a great option in the market, especially for those buyers who have not yet upgraded to an electric car.
“If someone can’t buy an electric car for some reason, but needs a car, would you rather propose that they keep driving their old car forever? If you no longer sell combustion engines, someone else will”, explains the director of the German firm.
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Offering cars with more fuel-efficient combustion engines was key from both a profit and an environmental perspective, Zipse argued, pointing to gaps in charging infrastructure and the high price of electric cars.
For a potential buyer willing to purchase an electric car, living in a rental house or apartment is actually a handicap, as they may not have a way to charge their car at home.
On the other hand, despite the aid and incentives for the purchase of efficient vehicles, as in the current Plan Moves III, for many buyers it is still impossible to reach the prices of electric vehicles.
And it is at this point where cars with internal combustion engines come into play. If manufacturers continue to develop this technology, and improve its consumption and emissions, they will ensure that these potential buyers who can only aspire to a thermal vehicle, abandon their old cars and acquire more efficient and cleaner models.