FRANKFURT — BMW plans to step up its manufacturing of electrified autos, CEO Oliver Zipse instructed a German newspaper.

“We already had ambitions development plans and need to additional develop our market place,” Zipse stated in an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper printed on Sunday.

Between 2021 and 2023, BMW will construct 250,000 extra electrical vehicles than initially deliberate,” Zipse stated.

Electrified autos will account for a couple of fifth of BMW’s gross sales by 2023, up from about 8 % now, he added.

Zipse denied that BMW and different German automakers had underestimated electric-car maker Tesla, which is constructing its first European manufacturing unit close to Berlin.

Tesla’s development and market share beneficial properties, from a low base, have been “a formidable entrepreneurial achievement,” Zipse stated.

Zipse stated his “greatest concern” is that Germany’s transition to electrical vehicles will probably be hampered by an absence of charging infrastructure, with Europe’s greatest financial system anticipated to have as many as 10 million of the autos on the highway by 2030.

To deal with this quantity, 15,000 personal and about 1,300 public charging factors must be put into operation each week beginning now, Zipse instructed the paper.

“Sadly we’re removed from that,” Zipse stated. “Subsequently, the subsequent massive joint undertaking in Europe should be to develop charging infrastructure.”

Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report