BMW and the green car race – is it too late to join?

The German car manufacturer BMW seemed to be the “it” car company this Friday afternoon. Not only did it unveil that it will invest $746 million to set up production for the electric vehicle Megacity and put $560 million into expanding its Leipzig factory where the new car will be produced. BWM also announced that it would begin selling its first hybrid supercar by 2013.

All in all it looks like a pretty good day for luxury car fans and fanatics. But before everyone gets too exited I think it’s worth thinking about the time perspective in this green wave from BMW. The Megacity car, which is the first battery-powered vehicle from the Germans, will not hit the showrooms before 2013 the company said. That’s only two years before the European Union’s new emissions targets of 4.6 ounce of CO2 per kilometer is to be met.

In comparison to competitors as Japanese Nissan, which is launching its first electric car Leaf in December, BMW is lagging behind in the green car race. That fact was actually pointed out yesterday by the European Federation for Transport and Environment that accused BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen for not trying hard enough to meet the CO2 emissions targets.

But I guess that overall, even if it is a little late, that this new major investment in the Megacity is a good thing for a greener car industry and shows that BMW is changing.

What I don’t get though, is that BMW waited until now, or more precise 2013, to introduce their first hybrid car. The hybrid autos were supposed to be a transition vehicle before going all in on the all-electric cars and BMW will be 13 years behind Toyota’s Prius that in 2000 the was the first to introduce a hybrid four-door sedan to the US market.

I know that if I’d already made a decision to skip the fossil-fuel consuming car in favor of a greener alternative I would go for the electric car and not “just” the hybrid. I guess we’ll see how both cars do in three years.