Charged with Electric Vehicle News and Views
BMW has orders for nearly 10,000 of its i3 electric cars, the first of which were delivered in Germany last week, the company's global sales chief, Ian Robertson, said at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Robertson also said the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car due to be introduced in mid-2014 has sold out for its first year of availability. He did not say how many the company will sell in that first year.
The BMW i3 will go on sale in the U.S. market in the second quarter of 2014.
It's been nearly two years since Toyota and BMW announced an agreement to work together to develop sports cars using state-of-the-art hybrid technologies, and now a source close to the two companies says the pair has decided on its first joint-venture.
Motoring.com.au recently spotted a BMW i8 at Toyota’s proving ground near Mt. Fuji, reportedly undergoing emissions and durability testing. It claims this is a prelude to a joint supercar development program.
Such a program would give Toyota – the carmaker that popularized hybrids in the first place – a hybrid successor to the Lexus LFA. Toyota wouldn’t just have a new halo model, it would have one with hybrid technology that could be more easily connected to its mainstream models. The marketing department will be happy, at least.
BMW could potentially leverage the platform to build a car that slots above the i8 in its lineup, offering true supercar performance. While the i8 was designed to balance performance and economy, BMW has toyed with the idea of building a more performance-oriented car.
Supercar makers are more conscious of CO2 emissions than ever before while at the same time delivering more power and performance. Powertrain electrification is the key to meeting these goals in the same vehicle.
Take, for example, the electrically assisted Ferrari La Ferrari and McLaren P1, or the purely battery-powered Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive – the most powerful AMG ever made.
Porsche has its Panamera plug-in hybrid too, as well as the million-dollar 918 Spyder super-hybrid that recently set a new production-car lap record of 6:57 at the Nurburgring.
Source: Motoring.com.au
BMW has announced an SUV will not be added to the recently introduced "i" range of frugal models.
The Bavarian marque has already started work on future "i" models but none of these include an SUV.
BMW introduced it's first EV earlier this year with the launch of the i3 available as a full electric car or with a range-extending engine. At IAA in Frankfurt this past September the lineup was expanded with the unveiling of a sportier i8 plug-in hybrid which reaches 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.4 sec.
BMW has already trademarked all nameplates from i1 to i9 and even if each designation will be covered, none of the added cars will include an SUV. These are the words of i3's project manager Roland Kowalski who added the BMW i philosophy is "about an urban concept for megacities." The third "i" model could be an i5 sedan or a crossover providing more room compared to the i3 and go up against the Tesla Model S.
BMW are are also planning to have a plug-in hybrid version of their entire model range.
BMW backed the German government’s goal to have 1 million electric cars by 2020 on the country’s roads, a week after Volkswagen said the target is achievable under broader terms for alternative drives.
Developing the European Union’s electric-vehicle market will need the backing of authorities, though official support in the bloc is lagging behind initiatives in the U.S. and China, BMW Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said today in a speech at an industry conference in Munich.
“I hope the ongoing discussions between national governments, the European Parliament and the European Commission lead to a package that’s viable,” Reithofer said at the conference sponsored by Handelsblatt newspaper. “At the moment, the commission’s proposals don’t offer incentives to speed up introduction of alternative drives.”
Carmakers are promoting electric-powered models to comply with tightening regulations that apply to their fleets’ emissions across the globe. Munich-based BMW, the world’s biggest maker of luxury vehicles, is putting the 34,950-euro ($48,200) all-electric i3 city car into showrooms in Germany next month.
VW CEO Martin Winterkorn said last week that the Wolfsburg, Germany-based manufacturer, Europe’s largest volume carmaker, will “contribute” to the German goal for electric vehicles to play a larger role in the market by 2020. Authorities’ plans are feasible as long as they include plug-in hybrids, which can switch between rechargeable battery power and conventional combustion engines, as the models offer the biggest market potential, he said.
Volkswagen outlined plans in September to offer as many as 40 electric or hybrid models in the event that demand for low-emission cars takes off. The manufacturer will produce 14 vehicles with alternative drive through next year after introducing electric versions of the Golf hatchback and Up! city car at the Frankfurt auto show last month. VW also showed new plug-in hybrid versions of the Porsche brand’s Panamera four-door coupe and Audi’s A3 compact.
Purely or partly battery-powered vehicles accounted for 4,157 new car registrations in Germany in 2012, about twice as many as the year before, according to the VDA auto-industry association. Germany’s new car market amounts to about 3 million vehicles a year.
Volkswagen’s e-Up! went on sale in Germany this month for 26,900 euros. The model is “deliberately positioned” against BMW’s i3, Rudolf Krebs, head of electric-powertrain technology at VW, said on Sept. 4.
BMW presented the i3 at the Frankfurt show, as well as a plug-in hybrid version of the X5 sport-utility vehicle. Reithofer reiterated today that the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car will be added to BMW’s lineup in 2014.
BMW could build a large battery powered sedan to compete head on with Tesla's Model S.
Following the critical success being enjoyed by the Tesla Model S many within BMW's i project are already convinced that there is potential for a model larger than the i3.
The company is still deciding whether the new car – likely to be called i5 – would be a crossover or a conventional sedan.
'We are having these discussions right now,' said the senior BMW source, 'and no decision has been taken. In fact, there's still not an absolute decision that the car, if it is called i5, should even happen. Many, including myself, believe that there is potential. Then if we decide the car should happen, we need to decide if it is a regular sedan or something where the passengers are sitting slightly higher up.
'Then after that we need to decide whether a car of this size can be a fully electric edition, like the i3, or whether it needs to be a range-extender – or perhaps even a plug-in hybrid. That could ultimately be the best solution for that model; we don't know yet.'
BMW have already underestimated demand for their first fully electric i3 and have announced they are planning to have a plug-in hybrid in each and every model series. BMW have also already road tested an all electric X1 crossover, initially bound for Chinese production in a joint venture with Chinese partner Brilliance Auto, so perhaps an all electric 5 series or X5 is a logical next step.
Source: WHATCAR?
BMW will have to increase investment in electric-car production if demand for the new i3 model continues in line with initial orders.
Customers have reserved more than 8,000 of the battery-powered i3, which will cost $US41,350 ($43,500) in the US, even before the car hits showrooms in Europe next month, Chief Financial Officer Friedrich Eichiner said today in Amsterdam.
BMW expects to sell more than 10,000 of the four-person car next year and “will adjust capacity according to demand,” he said at a press conference. “If demand holds, which is what it's looking like, we will soon have to invest more.”
The maker of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce vehicles is upgrading its lineup with the i3, the new 4-Series coupe and a revamp of the X5 sport-utility vehicle to maintain its sales lead over Volkswagen AG's Audi and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz. Both competitors have vowed to surpass Munich-based BMW in deliveries by the end of the decade.
The i3 will go on sale in Germany for 34,950 euros ($50,100) on Nov. 16, followed by the US, China and Japan in the first half of next year. The model made its public debut July 29 at simultaneous events in New York, London and Beijing. The push to sell the electric car and recoup investments in the technology underpinning the vehicle include an international print, TV and Internet advertising campaign.
The spending on development of new models and expanding production capacity caused the operating profit margin at BMW's auto division to narrow to 9.6 per cent in the second quarter from 11.6 per cent a year earlier.
“We'll have to work very hard to keep profitability within our target corridor” of 8 per cent to 10 per cent in the coming years because of large investments required to meet stricter emissions regulations and the weak car market in Europe, Eichiner said today.
Sales gains in China and the US have helped BMW cushion the effects of the sovereign-debt crisis on Europe's car market, which is sliding to a 20-year low. BMW, which doesn't anticipate a recovery in demand in its home region before the second half of 2014, expects deliveries to rise this year for its third straight annual sales record.
“Demand in China and North America continues to be strong,” Eichiner said. “It makes sense for us to think about expanding production capacity in North America,” with the US and Mexico both options, he said.
The rollout of the i3 will go ahead as planned next month and won't be impacted by issues that typically affect the ramp up of a new model, he said. The executive was responding to a report by Wirtschaftswoche over the weekend that problems bonding carbon-fiber components for the car led to a 10-day production halt.
“We are planning to have a plug-in hybrid in each and every model series,” BMW’s head of production for large vehicles, Peter Wolf, told motoring.com.au this week. “So far we have the 3, 5 and 7 Series as full hybrids, and at the other end of the bookshelf the i3 and the i8. We are planning to work on that with the X5 eDrive, but at this stage, the plug-in is a completely new concept, and the battery is very specific [to the X5].”
BMW showed off the X5 eDrive concept at the recent Frankfurt motor show, and officially launched it this week. The large SAV (not an SUV, mind you) has an intelligent all-wheel-drive system, a four-cylinder gas engine, a 70 kW electric motor and a 19-mile electric range.
Wolf said that the X5 eDrive is close to production-ready, but wouldn’t give an actual date: “We can’t tell [you] anything about what is the start of production, but we are working on such a concept [and] we are very far [along]. But it’s not a part of next year.”
Source: motoring.com.au
At the recent launch of the BMW i3 lithium-ion battery-electric car, BMW board member Ian Robertson said that in the next three to four years there will be more progress in battery development than in the previous 100 years. He said electric cars will have batteries with twice the current power within four to five years, which will double the range.
We reported back in January that Toyota Motor Corp and BMW AG agreed to jointly research a lithium-air battery. Lithium-air battery has its anode filled with lithium, and cathode with air.
Lithium metal-air batteries can store more than 5,000 watt-hours per kilogram. (A123 M1 cells are around 120 wh/kg) That's more than forty-times as much as today's high-performance lithium-ion batteries, and more than another class of energy-storage devices: fuel cells.
The reduction in battery mass is achieved by eliminating the need for a second reactant inside the cell. Lithium metal batteries react with oxygen in the air that is pulled in through a 'breathing' casing, making them lightweight and compact.
The technology is being studied by researchers including IBM , which is working to develop a lithium-air battery that will let electric vehicles run 500 miles on one charge.
Given the recent new that General Motors is working on an EV that can go 200 miles (320 km) per charge at a cost of about $30,000 to compete with Tesla's as yet un-named 200 mile $30,000 EV due in approx three to four years, the 2016/17 model year promises to be a very exciting year for affordable, long range electric vehicles.
Assembly lines in Leipzig, Germany, today began turning out BMW AG’s new i3 electric car, which is scheduled to arrive in U.S. dealerships in the second quarter of 2014.
The i3 opens a new frontier for BMW, which has long been known for turning out big, powerful, gasoline-powered vehicles that while fairly efficient, did not rely on their “green” qualities as selling points.
The i3 also marks a departure in design and structure for BMW because the i3s body is made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic, or CFRP. The strong, light material allows the car to accommodate the weight of its batteries and electric-drive system without becoming excessively heavy. The company said the car will deliver the kind of sporty, fun-to-drive performance customers expect from BMW cars.
Faced with tougher European regulations on pollution, but a constant desire among affluent drivers for speed and panache, many carmakers have reached the same solution: luxury hybrids.
Pricy new models are heading for production from BMW, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and Tata Group's Land Rover, among others, - some with gasoline engines, some with diesels, but all with electric motors and battery packs.
They will slot into Europe's automotive landscape just below top-end hybrids such as LaFerrari, unveiled earlier this year by the Fiat-owned supercar maker, and a new 918 Spyder from Volkswagen's Porsche, on display in its final production trim at the Frankfurt auto show this week
While they may not have as much of an impact on energy consumption and clean air as smaller, more efficient hybrids and pure electric cars such as the BMW i3 and the Renault Zoe, the new high-performance hybrids could represent a clever compromise between the demands of regulators and speed junkies.
The cars offer a "feel-good factor" to wealthy drivers, according to LMC Automotive analyst Jonathon Poskitt, giving them the social kudos of being "green" while also allowing them to still enjoy the buzz and status of a fast, powerful vehicle.
On top of existing rules aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions for all new cars in the European Union by 2015, the 28-country bloc is working on stricter targets for 2020.
That makes luxury hybrids of critical importance for premium carmakers.
"Manufacturers need to gently push them into the market, and doing this under the premise that it provides politically correct performance - in other words, green - is a nice way to market that," said Tom De Vleesschauwer, director of long-term planning and sustainability for consulting firm IHS Automotive.
But there are also risks. Carmakers will need to convince drivers that hybrid engines perform at least as well as the traditional gasoline and petrol varieties.
And they will still have to apply electrification to their larger luxury sedans and sports cars in order to meet the stricter emissions rules, De Vleesschauwer said.
But he was optimistic. BMW's new i Series of electrified cars "symbolizes the new acceptable face of performance - keeping performance relevant for the times," he said.
ALL ABOUT PERFORMANCE
In addition to the BMW i8, the latest production-based performance hybrids on display at the Frankfurt auto show include the Mercedes-Benz S 500 Plug-In Hybrid and Land Rover's Range Rover Hybrid and Range Rover Sport Hybrid.
But performance-tuned hybrid propulsion systems won't be exclusive to high-end luxury vehicles. Among the performance hybrid concepts on the Frankfurt show floor are VW's Audi Sport Quattro, Geely Automobile's Volvo Concept Coupe and Toyota Motor Corp's Yaris Hybrid-R.
Toyota, whose Prius remains the world's best-selling gasoline-electric vehicle, describes the Yaris Hybrid-R as a "showcase of ideas for the development of hybrid technology for maximum performance and increased driving pleasure."
While the standard Yaris is a modest hatchback aimed at entry-level buyers, the addition of all-wheel drive and a 420-horsepower powertrain inspired by the Toyota TS030 Hybrid Le Mans racecar injects some serious sizzle into the subcompact.
Volvo's Concept Coupe is the first effort from new design boss Thomas Ingenlath and is the first to use Volvo's new scalable product architecture, which will underpin a whole family of future compact vehicles.
The Concept Coupe's underlying architecture is flexible to accommodate completely autonomous driving - a goal that Volvo hopes to put on the road "before 2020." For now, the Frankfurt show car features a potent 400-horsepower hybrid powertrain.
While it sports a plug-in hybrid driveline, the Audi Sport Quattro concept is all about pure performance. With nearly 700 horsepower on tap, the all-wheel-drive coupe features a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 gasoline engine with cylinder deactivation and a start-stop system to improve efficiency.
On the production front, the new Mercedes-Benz S 500 Plug-In Hybrid is being prepared for an early 2014 introduction, when it will square off against such competitors as Porsche's recently launched Panamera S E-Hybrid.
The S 500 combines a 329-horsepower turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 gasoline engine with a 107-horsepower electric motor.
Also slated for delivery in early 2014 are the new Range Rover Hybrid and Range Rover Sport Hybrid, which British parent Land Rover, a unit of India's Tata Group, is billing as "the world's first premium diesel SUV hybrids."
Both utility vehicles share a common drivetrain, built around the company's turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 diesel mated with an electric motor, producing a combined output of just under 340 horsepower.
At the opposite end of the hybrid spectrum, in terms of size, shape, styling and sporting character, is BMW's i8, which has been seen previously in concept guise at various motor shows and debuts at Frankfurt in final production trim.
Ian Robertson, BMW's global sales and marketing boss, puts the i8 in "in the super-sports category ... it's all that you'd expect from a performance car."
Built on a lightweight chassis with a carbon-fiber passenger cell, the four-passenger coupe features futuristic styling to match its advanced technology. Under the skin is a hybrid propulsion system that marries a 129-horsepower electric motor at the front with a 228-horsepower turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder gasoline engine in the rear.
BMW plans a global launch of the i8 next May, initially targeting buyers in Europe, North America and China.
