BMW offers use of 'spare' car to ease EV range anxiety

To avoid the fate of other slow-selling electric vehicles, BMW AG will offer the new i3 with a unique option: the use of a spare, conventionally powered auto.

Customers of BMW's first electric model can book a conventional auto like the X5 SUV for several weeks a year for family trips or as a backup. The "add-on mobility" feature, for which BMW hasn't yet revealed pricing, is part of the manufacturer's effort to overcome a major concern about electric vehicles, namely getting stuck on the side of the road with a dead battery.

Other efforts to ease so-called range anxiety include an optional combustion engine to generate electricity on board, roadside assistance if the battery does lose charge during a trip, and a navigation system that shows charging stations.

Those offerings are flanked by special training for dealers and a sales force that makes house calls for test drives. The point is to avoid a high-profile flop as the company today unveils the i3 at events on three continents.

The prestige project has cost BMW more than 2 billion euros ($2.65 billion), according to the Center of Automotive Management in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany.