At today’s media luncheon, BMW Group Malaysia announced its broader plans for the coming year, one of which includes the expansion of its “Story of Visionary Mobility” (i.e. the greater BMW Group’s future-forward technologies) in line with the upcoming National Automotive Policy (NAP).
While the details of the policy have yet to be announced, a source at the company said that it will cover various areas of future mobility, including electrification and autonomous driving – exactly the areas BMW is pushing globally. As such, it has big plans to bring in new electrified models, he said.
The outgoing F30 330e has been a huge success here in Malaysia, and even in its final year of production in 2019, more than 1,000 units managed to find homes. Now that the car has officially been discontinued, our attention has shifted to the next-generation G20 model, and while the source was coy when asked about the car, he did mention that BMW was keen on bringing in a 3 Series plug-in hybrid variant this year.
Specifically, he said that the car has already been revealed globally, which rules out the rumoured entry-level 320e – leaving only the 330e as the possible model. He added that the MINI Cooper SE, the all-electric version of the regular three-door MINI Hatch, is also being considered for a launch this year. If indeed this comes into fruition, it will join the BMW i3s in the local EV lineup.
In case you need a refresher, the G20 330e uses an updated version of the F30’s powertrain, consisting of a 184 PS B48 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a 50 kW (68 PS) electric motor and a ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox. All in all, the car produces 252 PS and 420 Nm of torque, but there’s also an XtraBoost feature that adds an extra 40 PS under acceleration, bringing the total power up to 292 PS. A larger 12 kWh lithium-ion battery has nearly doubled the all-electric range, which now sits at up to 60 km.
The MINI Cooper SE, meanwhile, gets its power from a 184 PS/270 Nm electric motor, juiced by a 28.9 kWh lithium-ion battery. The bald figures include a zero-to-100 km/h sprint time of 7.3 seconds and a range of up to 270 km. A full charge takes 4.2 hours with a 7.2 kW AC wallbox, 3.5 hours with an 11 kW wallbox or 1.4 hours using DC fast charging at 50 kW.
Of course, having plans to bring these cars in is not quite the same as confirming them, and that will all hinge on the NAP, which is slated to be revealed this quarter after numerous delays.
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