German automaker BMW is stepping away from its electric car commitments after being unable to deliver enough batteries on time.
The car brand has canceled its £2.5billion electric vehicle battery cells order with Northvolt.
The partnership with Northvolt has been in the works 2020, but the Swedish brand said it was unable to deliver on its lithium battery contract.
The battery cells were supposed to have been produced in Europe at the Northvolt gigafactory which was hoped to be functioning by 2024.
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BMW aimed to have 25 electrified models on the roads by 2023
BMWA BMW spokesperson told German media Handelsblatt: “Northvolt and the BMW Group have jointly decided to focusNorthvolt’s activities on the goal of developing next-generation battery cells.
“The BMW Group continues to have a strong interest in establishing a high-performance manufacturer of circular and sustainable battery cells in Europe.”
Andreas Wendt, member of the board at BMW said at the time that the group hoped to have 25 electrified models on the roads by 2023.
However, Bernd Körber, product boss at BMW, revealed that the brand plans on keeping petrol and diesel cars on the roads in the coming years.
He confirmed that BMW will retail front-wheel and rear-wheel-drive platforms, as well as all powertrain options, as it moves towards the Neue Klasse platform next year.
It is said that this will allow the brand to deal with fluctuations in the market when it comes to electric vehicles, which have suffered from changing attitudes in recent years.
The group had planned to have electrified vehicles make up a quarter of the new vehicle fleet by 2021, a third in 2025 and half of sales in 2030.
The company delivered 82,700 fully electric BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles to customers worldwide in the first three months of the year.
The backtrack on electric vehicles comes as data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association found that registrations of electric vehicles dropped to 114,308 units.
Germany a huge market for BMW, saw a 30.6 per cent decline in EV sales, with the Netherlands also experiencing an 11.7 per cent fall.
Overall new car sales in the European Union also fell by three per cent in May compared to the previous year.
A further 2.6 per cent drop was found when looking at a wider region including the EU, the UK and the European Free Trade Association.
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Registrations of electric vehicles dropped to 114,308 units across Europe
REUTERSExperts are warning of plummeting electric car sales after new data found that registrations of new EVs in the European Union dropped by 12 per cent last month.
Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) found that registrations of electric vehicles dropped to 114,308 units.
According to Transport and Environment, the EV sales slump has been anticipated for a long time, but experts predict that registrations will increase from next year when EU car emissions targets are introduced.