The luxury automaker BMW Group is going green in a big way, with plans to roll out purpose-built pure electric and hybrid-electric cars that will make heavy use of carbon fiber materials.
Two new BMWs -- the all-electric i3 and the hybrid-electric i8 -- will hit the streets in 2013 and 2014, respectively, BMW said at a recent sneak preview. They'll make their North American debuts November 16-17 at the Los Angeles Auto Show. They are the culmination of years of research by BMW engineers on concept electrics known as the Mini E and the ActiveE. The new vehicles have been designed from the ground up to use electric powertrains. Doing so assures that the vehicle's available volume is used more efficiently, BMW said.
Click the image of the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid below to view a slideshow of the two upcoming Beemers:
The doors of the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid swing upward like wings to provide a sporty feel. (Photo courtesy of BMW)
"If you can tell your designers that they have freedom from having to house this big engine that needs airflow around it, it opens up your ability to rethink what the automobile is," Tom Plucinsky, a BMW spokesman, said in a Design News interview. "That's why our engineers worked so closely with our designers. They rethought how to design a car that is purely electric."
Both vehicles are part of the BMW i "sub-brand." As a result, both will use a BMW system known as LifeDrive, which is composed of two functional units -- a Drive module and a Life module. The Drive module, made from aluminum, integrates the suspension, battery, drive system, and structural components. Its partner, the Life module, sits atop the Drive module. It is a high-strength passenger cell made from carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP), which is said to offer a huge weight reduction.
The i3 will take advantage of the lightweight body to travel long distances on a single charge. Using a lithium-ion battery of as-yet-unknown capacity, the i3 will have a range of about 90 miles. BMW engineers say they learned from their work on the Mini E and, based on that knowledge, were able to reduce the space requirements for the electric motor by about 40 percent. A 170HP electric motor is mounted in a small space above the rear axle, along with the power electronics, transmission, and differential. The battery, rechargeable in about six hours from a standard power socket, will offer the option of a "range extender," which consists of a small gasoline engine and a generator.
In contrast, the hybrid-electric i8 will use two distinct drive systems. The front axle will employ the i3's 170HP electric motor, while a 220HP three-cylinder internal combustion engine will drive the rear. Using that arrangement, all four wheels of the i8 will be driven at the same time, in a manner similar to an all-wheel-drive vehicle. The all-electric range for the i8 will be about 20 miles, and the battery will be fully rechargeable in about two hours using a standard power socket.
"You want as much range as possible, so you can drive in future inner cities, where you might only be able to drive electrically," Plucinsky said. "And a 20-mile range would probably satisfy that need."
The two vehicles differ significantly from BMW's ActiveE electric car, which will roll out this year. Based on the well-known BMW 1 Series, the ActiveE is essentially a converted gasoline-burning car.
To keep up with our Chevy Volt coverage, go to Drive for Innovation and follow the cross-country journey of EE Life editorial director Brian Fuller. On his trip, sponsored by Avnet Express, Fuller is driving a Volt across America to interview engineers.
These prototypes really seem to push the envelope in terms of space-age design, especially that flapping door design. Not sure how practical that is in a city parking lot, but we'll see.
I'll be really interested in see how these models look and are received once finally introduced. in many ways BMW is like Apple--if any one can pull off the design look and the seamless integration of all the systems, plus keep the performance, they can. Problem is and will always be affordability. These are not vehicles for the mainstream public.
As Chuck has previously written, we have yet to see consumer willingness to buy come anywhere near vendors' rush to field alt.energy vehicles. (I'm speaking more of EVs than hybrids, but even for the latter the point obtains, though to a lesser extent.) Now, if car manufacturers offered a battery replacement insurance policy, it might be a different story. But then of course they would end up losing money on every EV.
You do have to wonder about the rational for these upscale hybrid and EV models. Could be they are showcase vehicles designed to enhance the brand -- both as cool styling and for green-wash PR? Or maybe there is a sizable enough portion of the market that will buy these showcase cars and make them profitable.
I agree, Beth. These will not be mainstream vehicles, but it will be interesting to see the reaction to the prototypes. it will also be interesting to find out the price range of the vehicles.
One of the criticisms of the Chevy Volt is that people don't want to buy a $40,000 car with a Chevy badge on it. In that sense, maybe these vehicles have an advantage. Yes, the prices will be high, but they will have a BMW badge.
You're right, Alex. Consumer willingness to buy EVs is still low, In October, GM sold 1,108 Volts. Nissan sold 849 Leafs. In contrast, Chevy has averaged about 18,000 Chevy Cruze sales per month throughout the year, As of the end of October, Chevy has sold 187,524 Cruzes this year. The Cruze is a relevant point of comparison, since the Volt is built on the Cruze platform. Recently, Consumer Reports polled Americans and found that 96% support better fuel economy and 56% said they are considering an EV or hybrid, but sales are still only about 3% of the automotive market.
I didn't realize the numbers for pure EVs were so low. Has Prius done any better with its new pure EV offering? That would be somewhat telling since they don't have the same brand problem and they've done so well with the hybrid model.
Possibly the key to successful EV and hybrid sales is for car makers to not position the vehicles as such. A case in point is the Toyota Prius, which I think has been a hit precisely because it's not perceived so much as a hybrid as it is an efficient, high-mileage car. At the same time, this is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. That is, the Prius couldn't be thought of as just another car, albeit a high-mileage one, until enough of them were sold so that it became, in fact, just another car on the road. So the question becomes, will the Volt or Leaf build up enough of a head of steam to similarly come into the mainstream, as far as consumer perceptions are concerned. I think the Volt has a good shot at it, especially if the costs come down a bit in the second-gen version.
I believe the price of Li-Ion battery EVs will come down, and eventually the price of the vehicles. I am not sure if folks recall that when Chevy was getting ready to introduce the Volt, they did not have the battery system developed until 2 months before the car show. There were two avenues to go with batteries Li-ion being the choice Chevy committed to (we almost had a Beta vs. VHS platform issue starting). Chevy has proven the Li-ion technology works, and as more producers spring up to provide Li-ion batteries, as in any captialist market, price should come down.
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