The BMW i3's future has been in doubt for some time now and it's been reported that it's unlikely to get a successor.
BMW is heading towards cheaper manufacturing and flexible architecture that can support internal combustion-powered cars, electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrids.
And as such, it's thought that the current i3 could be the last, with BMW uncertain over the building of a direct successor.
“It is difficult to say if the i3 will have a straight successor as it [electrification] goes more into the mainstream like the upcoming iX3,” Board of Management member at BMW for sales Pieter Nota told AutoExpress recently.
“The i3 had a pioneering role - it was at the very beginning of BMW’s electrification plans but what we are seeing now is that electrification is moving more into the mainstream.”
The 2020 i3 will most probably not receive any significant upgrades, especially with the battery back, so will be interesting to see how far the German manufacturers will take the model, if anywhere at all.
Nota, though, added that BMW will continue using carbon fibre in some cars but on a smaller scale.
“We will continue to use carbon fibre but not exactly in the way that we see it in the i3 today,” he explained.
The automakers have confirmed that they will launch 25 new electrified vehicles by 2023 and more than half of that number will be fully electric. The electric iX3 is set for its debut in 2020 and will join the X3 range which will make it the company's first model range to come with a full selection of powertrain options.
The electric sedan, the i4, will drop the following year as BMW's rival for Tesla's Model S. As for the i3, BMW can't say, but it's probably safe to assume that they won't be releasing another.