The BMWi brand will launch in 2013 and usher not only in an era of all new electric mobility but a new method of sales. At the launch of the first BMWi dealership in London, BMW AG board member Ian Robertson discusses how BMWi will enter the market. Sales will continue to be primarily at dealers but for the first time, BMW will sell vehicles through an online system.

The first BMWi model the i3 is said to cost around $40,000 dollars and is expected to sell upwards of 40,000 units in its first year. According to analysts, BMW has invested over 3 billion dollars into the project, the same cost as a Formula One team. BMWi will showcase new technologies that have not been in a mass market automobile before like a passenger cell from carbon fiber reinforced plastic, cutting edge technology that is not too far away.