BMW announced that it is expanding its flagship 7-Series with an all-electric sedan, called the i7, reports CNBC. This makes it the third all-electric offering from the company as it seeks to compete with Tesla as the demand for electric vehicles grows.
The i7 will have a beginning sticker price of $119,300 and will begin shipping out to U.S. dealerships in Q4 of 2022, with preorders starting Wednesday, April 20.
The sedan will have all the bells and whistles of the rest of the 7-Series. This includes two screens in the front; luxury interior; the signature “BMW Interaction Bar” for climate control, ventilation, and various functions; and a “BMW Theater Screen” for the rear which is a 31.3” 8K touchscreen with Amazon Fire TV.
BMWs continued expansion into electric offerings marks the general pivot that is occurring in the automotive industry. Many of the big fossil fuel-driven manufacturers have begun to push into electric vehicles. With a goal of half of all new vehicles sold by 2030 being electric within the U.S., the EV industry is set to kick into high gear with demand increasingly growing.
Investing in the Growth of the EV Industry
Despite supply constraints, demand continues to pour in for these new electric offerings. Recently, Ford had to cut off pre-orders for its F-150 Lightning truck. For investors looking for exposure to the EV industry, the KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility ETF (NYSE: KARS) offers a good solution.
KARS invests in many familiar car companies such as BMW, Tesla, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, GM, and others, as well as major Chinese EV manufacturers such as Xpeng, Nio, and BYD. These are some of the biggest companies in the global electric vehicle industry.
KARS measures the performance of the Bloomberg Electric Vehicles Index, which tracks the industry holistically, including exposure to electric vehicle manufacturers, electric vehicle components, batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, and the raw materials utilized in the synthesis of producing parts for electric vehicles.
The index has strict qualification criteria. Companies must be part of the Bloomberg World Equity Aggregate Index, have a minimum free-float market cap of $500 million, and have a 90-day average daily traded value of $5 million.
The ETF has an expense ratio of 0.70%.
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