The new BMW i3 electric car is seen after it was unveiled at a ceremony in London, July 29, 2013. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

BERLIN (Reuters) - BMW BMWG.DE said on Monday it had hit its target of selling 100,000 electric cars this year around the world, benefiting from strong demand in western Europe and the United States for models such as the i3 and the 2-series plug-in hybrid Active Tourer.

This is more than 60 percent up from the 62,255 electric cars BMW sold last year. The German luxury carmaker has said it expects 2018 electric-vehicle (EV) sales to grow by a medium two-digit percentages.

A pioneer in electric cars, BMW launched the i3 hatchback in 2013 but sales have been relatively low and management has wrestled with whether to go all-out for electrification.

But that changed in September when the Munich-based group said it would gear up for mass production of electric cars and aimed to have 12 fully electric models by 2025 with a range of up to 700 kilometers.

“Electric mobility is the indicator where I measure our success,” Chief Executive Harald Krueger said.

Earlier on Monday, U.S. EV battery company Solid Power said it had partnered with BMW to develop the next-generation solid-state battery technology for use in electric cars.