BMW builds its 2-millionth electric car

The 2-millionth battery electric BMW has rolled off the Dingolfing plant in Germany — a BMW i5 M60 xDrive sedan in Tansanit Blue. The anniversary vehicle is going to a customer in Spain.

Plant Dingolfing is the BMW Group’s largest European vehicle plant, producing about 280,000 cars annually. It builds the widest range of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the current product portfolio including the BMW 4 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series and the BMW iX.

The company says more than 320,000 BEVs, accounting for almost a sixth of the BMW Group’s total, come from Dingolfing, with more than a quarter of the vehicles produced at the same plant in 2025 being all-electric.

The company’s plant strategy to produce multiple drivetrains including petrol, diesel, electric and hydrogen on a single production line continues, though.

Plant Leipzig in Germany pioneered the company’s first all-electric model in 2013, assembling the i3 BEV. Other plants that contribute to the 2-millionth electric car tally include plants in:

• Oxford, UK (MINI electrics);
• Goodwood, UK (Rolls Royce Spectre);
• Munich;
• Dadong, China (Neue Klasse i3); and
• Debrecen in Hungary (iX3).

The first BMW 5 Series with electrification was launched in 2012 as the ActiveHybrid 5, combining an electric motor with the in-line petrol six-cylinder to enhance efficiency and performance.

The current i5, which had its global debut late in 2023 and was introduced in South Africa in Q1 2024, is the first full-electric 5 Series in the model’s 54-year-old history.

Only two BMW i5 models are sold in South Africa:

• the BMW i5 eDrive40 M Sport costing R1,812,000; and
• the BMW i5 M60 xDrive for R2,080,000.