The BMW i3 incorporates several extremely innovative features (as we noted in our August 2013 cover story), from its carbon fiber “life module” to its bottom-mounted battery pack to its unique optional range extender. In a recent Forbes article and accompanying video, Sandy Munro calls it “the most advanced vehicle on the planet…as revolutionary as… Read more »
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PG&E and BMW team up to test V2G services
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and BMW are working together to test the ability of EV batteries to provide services to the electrical grid. PG&E selected BMW after a competitive solicitation to manage a minimum of 100 kilowatts of electric demand on PG&E’s system, as other large industrial and commercial customers do today as… Read more »
BMW stomps on rumors of cooperation with Tesla
Put the cork back in the Champagne bottle – it turns out that talk of a Tesla/BMW collaboration was just that. The German business magazine Wirtschafts Woche reports that BMW has no plans for cooperation with Tesla, and no interest in investing in the company. The putative partnership seems to have been pretty much an… Read more »
BMW unveils 3 Series PHEV prototype
BMW’s new 3 Series plug-in hybrid prototype combines a four-cylinder TwinPower Turbo gas engine from the new Efficient Dynamics engine family with an electric motor and power electronics based on the eDrive technology used in the i3 and i8. It’s designed to offer performance on a par with the legacy 3 Series six-cylinder model, with… Read more »
BMW i3 selling better in US than at home in Germany
The BMW i3 has proven pretty popular with US drivers since it went on sale here six months ago, selling over 4,000 units so far. At home in Germany however, sales have been less than wunderbar, according to the business newspaper kfz-betrieb. German sales total about 1,900 units after nine months, far short of the… Read more »
Tesla to collaborate with BMW on batteries and carbon fiber? (UPDATED)
[UPDATED 11/25/14 2:00 PM EST to correct mistranslated quotes and include Tesla’s response.] In an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel, Elon Musk said that the German auto industry should devote “much more energy to the development of batteries,” perhaps an allusion to Daimler’s recent decision to shut down Germany’s only cell manufacturing facility. He… Read more »
Lexus ad ridicules BMW i3
They’re at it again. As Toyota execs talk trash about electric powertrains, subsidiary Lexus has launched a second ad campaign (via Green Car Reports) that makes fun of EVs, touting pure hybrids as superior. In the latest five-minute video (perhaps an outtake from the new Dumb and Dumber movie), two groups of jokers set out on a… Read more »
BMW’s fast charging strategy: Clarifying some nuanced announcements
Range anxiety: we’re not sure whether it’s a serious disease or a psychosomatic ailment, but it’s one of the most commonly-cited objections heard from potential EV buyers, and automakers take it quite seriously. All of the top EV-makers are investing heavily in public charging infrastructure in an effort to eradicate this dreaded malady. At the… Read more »
BMW’s Light and Charge combines street lighting with EV charging
BMW has developed an energy-efficient street light that is also an EV charging station. The Light and Charge unit combines LED technology with a standard Level 2 charging connector that’s integrated into BMW’s ChargeNow network. “Light and Charge is a simple and innovative solution to naturally integrate a reliable network of charging stations in the… Read more »
October plug-in sales: LEAF, Volt still lead, BMW coming up strong
The US auto industry had a good month, as automakers reported their strongest October sales in a decade. Most of the action was in gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs – alas, plug-in sales were down compared to last October, for the first time in 46 months of EV sales. Annual sales are still on track to handily… Read more »