BMW believes a change to London congestion charge exemption rules would help secure sales for its BMW i8, the flagship of the company’s forthcoming i sub-brand.
Ian Robertson, head of BMW’s global sales and marketing, is reported as saying: “Our sales will strongly depend on legislation. Not only by big markets like the U.S. or China, but by local city authorities and their terms of taxation…If a city like Amsterdam or London decides that you get a tax reduction, then sales will boost.”
The development of cars like the BMWi8 are being driven by the threat of environmental legislation to curb emissions, which is forcing the major manufacturers to develop hybrid alternatives to their higher-performance models. However, whilst many high-performance cars are able to run solely on their electric motor for a few miles – principally to lower their overall emissions ad bypass city congestion charges – any environmental benefits can be quickly offset by vigorous driving when they are being powered by their powerful internal combustion engines.
| BMWi8 spy shots | |
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| Spy photographers are a fact of life for car makers, but pity the test driver of BMW i8 when he was recently snapped by website Bimmerpost as the car underwent secret cold weather testing; the driver’s stop to spend a penny will have made the photographer thousands. |
The BMWs that will always be exempt from London congestion charge
There is nothing new about bicycles being built by companies best known for high-performance cars and motorbikes; Harley Davidson started out making bicycles and Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and Mercedes are a few of the cars makers that currently put their names to bicycles. Even Hummer, the American manufacturer of military vehicle and SUVs makes an environmentally-friendly folding full-size mountain bike.
Whether or not the BMW i8 is ever exempt from the London congestion charge, the German car maker can rest assured that the bicycles it has built over the last 50 years are a mode of transport that is unlikely to be charged to enter a city.
The company’s 2011 line-up of bicycles includes the 7.4 kg M Bike Carbon Racer, pictured above.
Arfan Hussain
Is bmw i8 exempt from congestion charge?
Arfan Hussain
Do you have to pay for congestion charge for BMW i8?