BMW AG says it may lease out its Megacity Vehicle on a short-term basis, rather than offering it for sale, the first indication of its marketing plan for the electric car.

"We're looking for an alternative to traditional purchase or leasing of a vehicle," sales chief Ian Robertson said. ''We don't want to sell the car, but rather the use of the car," he said. The 'Car to Go' concept "is an interesting approach," Robertson told Automobilwoche, the sister publication of Automotive News Europe.

"More and more people in large cities are looking for an alternative to the ownership of a vehicle," Robertson said. Car-sharing concepts are considered one way to keep these people mobile and avoid the restrictions associated with car ownership.

Daimler AG currently runs the 'Car2Go' scheme in Ulm, Germany, and in Austin, Texas, leasing out Smart cars on a short-term basis.

High costs

BMW would find it hard to recoup the high development and production costs of the Megacity Vehicle through sales. The final cost of the vehicle could prove too expensive for buyers. Falling residual values may also prove a problem to sales as the cost of battery capacity dropping over time is difficult to calculate.

BMW is expected to test the short-term leasing concept later this year using the ActiveE model based on the BMW 1 series.

The Megacity Vehicle is the result of BMW's project i, a six-year rethinking of all aspects of the automobile and is the first high-volume car with electric drive and a passenger compartment made of super light carbon fiber.

In its development BMW re-examined vehicle structure, materials, manufacturing and recyclability.

BMW development chief Klaus Draeger said the scope of the project has been challenging. "This is not like a normal car project," he said in an interview last year. "Every day you experience something new.'' Unlike most other small cars, the Megacity Vehicle will not be a unibody vehicle. Its structure will resemble that of a body-on-frame vehicle. BMW describes the design as "two horizontally separated independent modules."

The lower half is the "drive" module -- an aluminum chassis that holds the battery, electric drive system and crash structure. A high-strength, lightweight, carbon fiber passenger compartment is attached on top.

The key benefit is weight reduction, a prime consideration in reducing the weight and cost of the battery, while providing sufficient range, Draeger said.

He added that the carbon fiber-reinforced plastic parts will be impregnated with color to remove the need for a paint shop and reduce energy use and emissions.

The car's exact model name is expected to be announced by BMW on Feb. 21.

BMW has an ambitious plan to sell up to 30,000 units of its upcoming i3 electric city-car in its first full year of sales in 2014, a number matching current volume sales of the MINI Clubman model.

The i3, formerly referred to the MegaCity, will be introduced in 2013 along with the i8 hybrid supercar as part of BMW's new 'i' sub-brand for electric-powered vehicles.

"We are targeting volume production for the i3," Ian Robertson, head of global sales and marketing at BMW, told Automotive News Europe in an interview.

Robertson spoke of a volume figure "comparable to one of the lower-volume MINI derivatives." MINI sold about 30,000 units of the Clubman model in 2010.

But volumes will be affected by the price of the i3 and Robertson also said in the interview that, "As with all BMW Group products, the BMW i3 will be a premium car." BMW sources pegged the price for the i3 in Europe at over €40,000, according to Automotive News.

However, Robertson added that tax-credits and other incentives will be a big factor in terms of sales volume, even locally, where some cities have programs to promote the use of EV (electric vehicles). Countries such as France and Ireland offer a €5,000 subsidy to buyers of an electric car.

Robertson also mentioned fleet sales to rental companies and car-sharing firms as possibilities for the i3.

According to Robertson, the i3 will be aimed at a "new group of customers such as city dwellers who are more interested in electronic devices such as an iPhone than owning a car."

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