All Future BMW i Models to Include “eDrive” Badging to Signify Electric-y-ness

BMW has announced that moving forward, all of its i electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles—meaning the i3 and i8— will wear “eDrive” badging, which the company says will represent the cars’ electric bona fides. The eDrive moniker made its debut at the Beijing auto show, where it was affixed to the rear bumper of the i8 Concept Spyder.

The new nomenclature of eDrive is similar to the automaker’s xDrive descriptor for its all-wheel-drive models. All-wheel-drive BMW SUVs get a separate xDrive badge in addition to the model badge, such as X3 or X5. However, the model names technically include the xDrive nomenclature. Take the X3—the four-cylinder and six-cylinder models are labeled X3 xDrive28i and X3 xDrive35i, respectively. Alternatively, all-wheel-drive BMW sedans simply get “xDrive” appended to the tail end of the model name, as is the case with the 328i xDrive.

BMW hasn’t revealed yet whether the i3 and i8 would follow a naming style similar to the SUVs and be named eDrivei3 or eDrivei8, or if they would use i3 or i8 eDrive, or something else entirely. We’ll have to wait until closer to the production i3′s arrival sometime next year to find out. The i8 coupe and spyder should arrive about two years later for the 2015 model year.

Car and Driver