Diana Kurylko:

ago, BMW’s odd-looking i3 has become the No. 3-selling electric vehicle in the U.S. But BMW executives and analysts say the car could be a tough sell in coming months.
 
 Low gasoline prices, which hurt EV sales in general, are a major reason. But the i3, as the initial vehicle in BMW’s grand plan to become the most sustainable luxury brand in the world, is showing that pioneering in the green space can be tough.
 
 With the i3, BMW pumped billions into development of a car that not only is emissions-free but assembled using wind power, constructed of carbon fiber that is produced in a plant using hydropower, and has an interior made with recycled materials. The i3 is the smallest of BMW’s family of sustainable cars, with the $140,000-plus i8 plug-in hybrid sports car at the other end. An autonomous car, iNext, is to launch “early in the next decade,” BMW CEO Harald Krueger said last week.

The i3 long bet.