ALPINA Sees No Demand yet For their Own Electric Cars

Everyone would obviously wonder if ALPINA will follow the futuristic plan of the BMW Group. It is already a fact for everyone how the BMW Group is already gearing fast towards a fully electric future. But the idea is also not new for ALPINA. In fact, ALPINA CEO Andreas Bovensiepen exclusively disclosed to BMWBLOG a few years ago that the company once developed an ALPINA i8 PHEV. However, the demand from ALPINA customers and many other reasons resulted in a closed or canceled project.

Bovensiepen was in an interview with BimmerToday a few years ago. He stated that there is still very little interest from ALPINA customers in fully electric vehicles. According to him, “ALPINA customers, particularly in Germany, want to drive fast and accelerate strongly.” Evidently, the range will become an issue. Most of their customers use their cars as their first vehicle. While some of them drive 30,000 to 50,000 kilometers per year, according to Bovensiepen.

Bovenspien further stated that the ranges will likely be limited to 200 kilometres. This is if you transfer eight-cylinder driving behavior to a BEV. It just doesn’t work, especially when you want to go fast. Since the market is not yet ready for their clients, the ALPINA CEO is purposely delaying this plan.

The ALPINA CEO further mentions that this decision is through their own findings. It became possible with the customer survey they did regarding hybrid and BEV technology three quarters of a year ago. At the moment, there is no demand for battery-electric models among their customers.

ALPINA, however, is getting some electrification in the form of 48-volt generators. The ALPINA D3 S is the first model to receive the new technology, followed by the XB7 and other models.