One of a coming wave of low-volume luxury plug-in hybrid SUVs, the 2020 BMW X3 xDrive 30e offers 18 miles of electric range—and the ability to use it in the real world. The 2020 BMW X3 xDrive 30e is the first conventional plug-in hybrid model from BMW that’s actually worth plugging in. It’s one of… Read more »
The BMW Group has signed a long-term battery cell supply contract worth 2 billion euros with Swedish supplier Northvolt. The cells will be produced beginning in 2024 at the Northvolt Ett gigafactory, which is currently under construction in Skellefteå in northern Sweden. Northvolt Ett in Sweden is to go on line in 2021 with an… Read more »
For many years, Munro & Associates has been performing teardowns—taking cars apart to find out what their components are, where they come from and how much they cost—and selling enormous, highly technical reports to automakers for five-figure prices, mostly unnoticed by anyone outside the auto industry. More recently, because of the huge interest in the… Read more »
At its largest European manufacturing location in Dingolfing, Germany, BMW recently opened the Competence Centre for E-Drive Production. Having produced electric powertrain components in Dingolfing since 2013, the BMW Group is now expanding its capacity. Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder and Chairman of the Board Oliver Zipse symbolically launched the production of the new, highly integrated… Read more »
BMW recently revealed the 2021 330e plug-in hybrid, along with an all-wheel-drive variant, the 330e xDrive. The new sedan sports a 2.0-liter BMW TwinPower Turbo engine with 181 hp and 258 lb-ft (350 N·m) of torque, paired with an electric motor cranking out 107 hp and 77 lb-ft (104 N·m) of torque. A 12 kWh… Read more »
Different automakers have different visions of the low-emissions future, to say the least. Just a few days after the Volkswagen Group released an article explaining why it has abandoned hydrogen fuel cells in favor of battery-electric powertrains, BMW has “reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to hydrogen fuel cell powertrain system technology.” Unlike VW, BMW is leaving… Read more »
The long-awaited successor to the pioneering i3 is on the way. BMW has unveiled the i4 Gran Coupe, a four-door premium midsize coupe. The company is presenting it as a concept, but says it will enter production in 2021. The new EV features the fifth generation of BMW’s eDrive powertrain—the electric motor, power electronics, charging… Read more »
BMW i Ventures will invest in Software Motor Company (SMC), a Silicon Valley-based company with experience with HVAC retrofit motors. SMC will use the funding to expand its product line and bring to market its full-stack Building Operating System (BOS) platform, designed to optimize energy and maintenance through intelligent automation. SMC says it has developed… Read more »
BMW Group has signed a €540-million contract with China’s Ganfeng Lithium for the supply of raw lithium from mines in Australia. The carmaker has restructured its supply chains for its upcoming fifth generation of battery cells. From 2020 on, it will directly source both lithium and cobalt. The raw materials will then pass on to… Read more »
A consortium of companies led by the BMW Group has launched the Bidirectional Charging Management (BCM) research project to develop backfeeding power technology, which will allow vehicles to transfer energy back into the power grid or customers’ homes when plugged into a compatible charging station or wallbox. The goal is to allow EVs to operate… Read more »