The day when conventional vehicles will be replaced by alternative power ones seems to be drawing closer. Bob Lutz, the ex-vice chairman of GM expressed an interesting thought in a recent press release.

He said that the vision of electric cars replacing diesel or gasoline ones is now closer than ever. And the one to open this road might be the BMW i3.

While not going into details, a recent announcement said that GM and BMW managed to overcome, or at least drastically improve one of the biggest drawbacks of electric vehicles, and that is the infrastructure. It seems that a certain milestone has been reached in developing a reliable and fast recharge station that can be used worldwide.

Could this recent breakthrough be the result of all these years that electric vehicles have spent refining or is it the effort BMW and GM put in? It is probably a bit of both, but one thing it seems more certain is that the BMW i3 will be a real trend setter and it is expected to spark a real revolution in motoring.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post The BMW i3 will kill conventional cars appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

BMW is a very old an cunning car making industry giant. And over the years it has shown that it has what it takes to be one of the leaders in its field.

Keeping BMW in top shape are scores of engineers, constantly searching new ways of making the cars go faster, run cheaper and offer more luxury.

Yet sometimes even the big companies like BMW can benefit from outside help. To this end a Hackathlon was sponsored. Set to take place this weekend in Mountain View California, this will basically be a brainstorming session trying to tackle some of the problems BMW is facing.

The main issues they will tackle are the electric vehicles and their charging and also app development. To motivate all the participants, BMW will be hosting competitions on various categories, with judges making their decisions based on originality, the details of the application, the technologies used and the level of completion. Winners will be rewarded with prizes and should any brilliant idea stand out, we might just see it on the next BMW products.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW funds a Hackathlon appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

With the new BMW i3 well under way, it seems that the German car maker might be considering making a Coupe and MPV version.

Although a Coupe might be a next logical step for the BMW i3, fact remains that the normal version of the vehicle hasn’t even shed all of its camo yet.

But should the little electric vehicle prove to be a success, the i range might welcome many more models. For now, the BMW i3 small city car and the powerful BMW i8 sports car are two extremes the German car maker uses to test the waters.

Besides the Coupe version of the BMW i3, the source that leaked the information also suggested an i3 MPV is considered by BMW. Something similar to the Concept Active Tourer. And there are plenty more models that could benefit from going all electric. The only exception would be an electric crossover, arguing that the LifeDrive architecture just isn’t suited for such platforms.

Although I am a big fan of the alternative fuels, I believe that all this talk about new models is purely speculative, as only time will tell if the new i series will be a succes.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW i3 Coupe and MPV might make an appearance appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

The Germans at BMW officially announced that 40 years have passed since the first electric vehicle bearing BMW’s badge left the factory.

We talk about the BMW 1602 electric vehicles, two prototypes prepared for the Olympic Games in 1972. This model was equipped with a 32 kW electric motor and a lead-acid battery pack providing a driving range of 30 kilometers.

Next up was the BMW LS electric, a vehicle which was fitted with a 17 kW electric motor and several 12V batteries for a similar driving range of 30 kilometers.

Probably the most important of all, the BMW 325iX Electric, a model introduced in 1980, benefited from a 22 kW electric motor and an extended driving range of 150 kilometers thanks to a sodium-sulphur battery pack.

Back in our days, the new BMW i3 will be the first to exit the factory gates as a production model, exactly after 40 years since the first electric model.

“When the first production version of the BMW i3 rolls off the assembly line in Leipzig in late 2013, it will mark the provisional culmination of 40 years of development work at BMW,” adds BMW.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW Group celebrates 40 years of electric mobility appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.