BMW's February 2011 launch of the "i" sub-brand with i3 and i8 concepts — the earliest premium-EV positioning move by a legacy German OEM, and what happened when the sub-brand met a decade of Tesla scaling.
Originally published November 2009 critiquing the Chevrolet Equinox "green car" PR pitch. Rebuilt June 2026 as EPR's reference on the seventeen-year evolution from greenwashing through Tesla Model S, Dieselgate, the Model 3, major OEM EV commitments, the Inflation Reduction Act, the BYD ascendance, and the contemporary EV transition communications discipline.
