BMW Brilliance's ZINORO charging into Shanghai

"The city today is at the forefront of e-mobility development across the country. The local government and the community here are open-minded and passionate about e-mobility. All concerned stakeholders such as the power company, our rental partner and dealer as well as charging site partners are very cooperative, all indispensable factors in the success of e-mobility."

BMW Brilliance is also offering a helping hand in building charging facilities, the lack of which has dampened the enthusiasm of electric vehicle fans.

"The charging infrastructure is no doubt a big challenge. There might be third parties to provide charging services in the future, but we won't wait," said Kastner.

He said BMW Brilliance will provide wall boxes and installation services that can satisfy most customer needs for charging at this stage.

In addition, charging facilities have been installed in all showrooms for BMW 4S and 5S in the city to serve BMW and ZINORO customers, said Kastner, adding that the company is also building charging poles in public areas such as shopping malls.

New-energy vehicles are gaining momentum in China, especially after the central government released a series of favorable policies to stimulate their development last year.

Statistics show that nearly 75,000 new-energy vehicles were sold in the country in 2014, more than triple the figure in the previous year.

Kastner said that BMW wants to be a pioneer in the market, which is why it established the ZINORO brand two years ago.

To maintain its leading position in the burgeoning market, he said the company has established a research and development team of 500 engineers dediWcated to newenergy vehicles that is now working on another ZINORO product.

"The ancient wisdom of China says that without taking each small step there is no way to complete a 1,000-mile journey," said Kastner.

"We believe with all the steps added, big or small, e-mobility will eventually become a popular new form of mobility."