Electricity used to fuel electric cars could be taxed in the same way the Government collects tax on petrol and diesel, according to BMW Group board member in charge of sales and marketing Ian Robertson.

He said: "How long do think it will be, for example, that governments realise that taxes raised from petrol and diesel are diminishing - they will start looking at ways to tax electricity for cars.

 

"We will no doubt see some sort of metering in the future which will probably require a whole infrastructure of its own."

Just one of many issues facing electric vehicles as more and more of them take to the road. BMW is currently conducting trials with its Mini E model in a number of countries around the world.

Robertson said: "The most important thing for EVs is standardisation, not just globally but locally as well. Things even vary in the state of California where we are running our electric Mini trials.

"Los Angeles and Pasadena have different standards while over in New Jersey they want different cables.

"We are a long way from standardisation but the momentum is building. We will see growth in electric vehicles but there is still a long way to go with conventional engines."

BMW will continue with its Efficient Dynamics programme as well as the introduction of hybrids across its ranges.

He said: "As far as conventional engines are concerned there is clearly a requirement still there, but customers will have to come to terms with the fact that these are changing.

"We will move away from emphasizing engine size and performance. We will see a move towards smaller engines in larger cars - but they will still be just as powerful but with better fuel consumption and improved CO2 emissions. This can be achieved thanks to the huge advances being made in turbo technology and engine electronics.

"Already our current V8 has more power than our old V12s and better fuel economy than the previous V8.

"We will also see an end to the increasing size of cars. Especially as roads in the world's major cities become more congested. Over the years vehicles in each segment have become bigger and bigger with each model replacement. I think this will start to reverse. They will get smaller but will be better packaged."