Sales of the BMW i3 are approaching “a sustainable rate” of 12,000 i3s annually, Ludwig Willisch, CEO of BMW of North America, told Automotive News. This figure seems roughly in line with that of auto consultant Sandy Munro, who has estimated that the i3 could be profitable for the company at a global volume of 20,000 per year.

BMW sold 6,092 i3s in the US in 2014, and 2,681 in the first three months of 2015.

Willisch noted that most sales are coming not from the Northeast, but from more southerly EV hotspots. “The strongholds in this country are parts of California, Texas and southern Florida.”

In the San Francisco area, dealers are selling between 15 and 30 i3s per month, and two California dealerships – Crevier BMW in Santa Ana and Stevens Creek BMW in Santa Clara – are moving so many that they have opened the first two stand-alone i showrooms.

The more exotic i8 PHEV is also in high demand – BMW’s entire US-bound inventory of 555 units sold out last year, and the company expects to shift 1,000 in 2015.

Source: Automotive News, InsideEVs