Charged with Electric Vehicle News and Views
The risk is less that an Apple or Google car would destroy Mercedes-Benz or BMW, but rather that carmakers would become mere providers of hardware. 
The carmaker plans to double the number of models produced in China, for a total of six, and increase capacity in the country, its biggest market. 
The German automaker plans to double its work force at the Washington State plant and invest $200 million in the factory, which runs on hydropower. 
Although automakers are no longer overtly bullish about electric car sales, new models like the BMW i3 show potential for success in the segment. 
At the Frankfurt motor show last week, there was a palpable sense that technology for autonomous driving was moving quickly from laboratories to dealers. At the Frankfurt motor show last week, there was a palpable sense that technology for autonomous driving was moving quickly from laboratories to dealers. 
BMW will sell a motorcycle gasoline engine with the new i3 to double its range to 186 miles and will offer roadside battery charging to stranded owners. 
Norbert Reithofer, who became the BMW chief executive in 2006, has delivered consistent profit through two crises and is becoming something of an icon of the revival of German industry. 
Volkswagen, which has great sway in the auto industry, is focusing on plug-in hybrids while it plays down the immediate future for all-electric cars. 
BMW, one of the most visible champions of battery power, has been hedging its bets and trying new ways to get more out of conventional gasoline and diesel motors.