BMW News
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BMW today revealed concept versions of its first-ever production electric cars: the i3 battery electric minicar and i8 plug-in hybrid sports coupe. The designs and details of both cars were unveiled in a Frankfurt press conference that was broadcast globally on the Internet. That degree of promotion indicates the importance of the two cars, and their new electric-drive technology, to the future of the company known for “ultimate driving machines.” The BMW i3 and i8 will take BMW permanently into the market for zero-emission vehicles. The company promises, however, that both cars...
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BMW i3 Concept: Battery Electric Urban Minicar—Full Details
The concept version of the 2014 BMW i3 unveiled today in Frankfurt shows just how radical a change BMW has made from its legacy of gasoline-powered, front-engine, rear-drive sporty vehicles. For one, it’s entirely powered by electricity. The flat lithium-ion battery pack is built into the...
John Voelcker -
BMW i8 Concept: Plug-In Hybrid Sports Coupe—Full Details
While its sports coupes are more of a known entity, the i8 Concept shown in Frankfurt today may be the most radical coupe BMW has ever built. Its “stream flow” lines, characteristic of the new BMW ‘I’ sub-brand, include an adaptation of the BMW twin-kidney grille and...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Tops List Of Green Brands, VW & Honda Close Behind
Toyota has had a bumpy ride the past couple of years, thanks in no small part to a high-profile series of safety recalls. To make matters worse, its popular Prius was recently lost its #1 spot on the EPA's list of fuel-efficient cars. But not to worry: the automaker just landed atop a different...
Richard Read -
Official BMW i Preview Coming Tomorrow
BMW is holding a global press conference in Frankfurt, Germany tomorrow to promote its new i division aimed at sustainable motoring solutions for the future. Our own green car expert John Voelcker is on his way to Frankfurt as you read this and will be bringing us all the information direct from...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW ActiveE Electric Car Shown On Leipzig Assembly Line (Video)
You might call it pure propaganda, but confident young BMW worker Mirco Schwarze describes the process of assembling the BMW ActiveE electric car in a way that makes it all quite palatable. The short video below, barely longer than a minute, shows the BMW 1-Series assembly line at the carmaker's...
John Voelcker -
BMW has acquired the car-leasing unit of Dutch bank ING. The move will give BMW the ability to launch their i Series electric cars with leasing aimed at both consumers and fleet customers.
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2012 BMW X5 xDrive35d: Steering Recall For Clean-Diesel SUV
Almost 1,000 clean-diesel versions of the 2012 BMW X5 crossover will be recalled to replace a part that could cause the power steering to fail. Only the diesel model, known as the X5 xDrive35d, is affected. The X5 xDrive 35i and 50i versions with gasoline engines are not part of the recall...
John Voelcker -
How Mini Is Too Mini? Profit Tough For BMW On Tinier Minicar
When BMW launched the new MINI back in 2001, the U.S. market wondered if anyone could actually sell a car that small. The proof has been in the pudding--the new MINI sold quite well--but the company hasn't stopped there, adding models left and right. Now, leave it to the folks over at MINI Central...
Jonathan McGrew -
Many More Minis: BMW Plans Up To 10 Different High-MPG Models
We know that the Mini lineup will expand into several sizes, Now an executive at BMW (which owns the iconic British brand) has said there may be as many as 10 different Mini models in future. The Mini lineup for 2011 already includes four models: There's the Mini Cooper three-door hatchback and...
John Voelcker -
Adding Urea To Clean Diesel Cars: Can I Just Pee In The Tank?
We get punchy around High Gear Media occasionally, and sometimes we BS back and forth about topics less salubrious than, say, fuel efficiency and lowering our oil dependency. Which is how the following question came up: If the urea runs low in my new clean-diesel car, can I just pee in the tank to...
John Voelcker -
BMW i3 Electric Car Coming With 100-Mile Range And $35,000 Sticker: Report
The upcoming BMW i3, the car formerly known as the Megacity Vehicle and the first production all-electric car from BMW, is set to revolutionize the way mainstream cars are engineered and built, with most of its internal structure and body being composed of lightweight composite materials such as...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
For the last couple of decades, the electric car was something that most people saw as part of the automotive landscape of the future. With the introduction of the 2009 Tesla Roadster, we saw a high-end electric sports car come on the market that was viable. Now, with cars like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and 2011 Nissan Leaf, and soon the 2012 Ford Focus Electric and Mitsubishi i-MiEV (now just 2012 Mitsubishi i in the U.S.), we have vehicles that are starting to change the consumer perception of the electric vehicle. BMW is getting in on the market with the announcement of their all-electric...
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BMW Exec Trashes Electric Cars, Tax Credits at Launch of ActiveE
In the rulebook of product promotion, remembering to not say horrible things about your product has to be number one. It’s a shame BMW North America President and CEO Jim O’Donnell seems to have forgotten that fact while taking part in a public event. Speaking on Monday at an event in...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
BMW ActiveE Lease Price: $499 A Month For Electric 4-Seater
The choices among electric cars just keep getting better, as BMW has now announced the lease details for the first stage of its evolution into BMW-branded electric cars. The ActiveE, an all-electric version of the 1-series, will be available for lease requests later this summer. It will be offered...
George Parrott -
BMW ActiveE Electric Car Priced At $499 Per Month, $2,250 Down
Electric cars, at the moment, cost more to buy than gasoline cars of similar size and with similar features, powertrain excepted. Leases on electric cars from mass-market brands like Nissan and Chevrolet are often a little more competitive. The 2011 Nissan Leaf is $349 a month, the 2011 Chevy Volt...
John Voelcker -
Siemens Inductive Charging Testing Begins In Berlin With BMW
German electronics company Siemens is set to begin field trials of an inductive charging system, in partnership with BMW. Inductive charging is a popular concept for charging away from home - it allows for charging without trailing cables and plugs around, and without requiring charging posts...
Antony Ingram -
BMW 5-Series Plug-In Hybrid Prototype: 2011 Shanghai Auto Show
BMW has taken the wraps off a new plug-in hybrid prototype based on its long-wheelbase 5-Series sedan, which it will be showcasing in just a few weeks at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show. Built in collaboration with its Chinese alliance partner Brilliance Auto, development of the new prototype is the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Oh, those wacky Germans and their car-sharing schemes. BMW said yesterday that it would launch a pilot car-sharing program, first in Munich and then in Berlin, starting next month. The cooperative venture with Sixt AG will be called DriveNow. BMW says DriveNow will be the "first-ever car-sharing scheme offering premium models," in this case its BMW 1-Series and Mini Cooper vehicles. The company also expects to introduce plug-in and battery electric vehicles, presumbly its i3 minicar, later on. All cars will have four or more seats, and luxury features like heated seats and automated parking...
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BMW Looking To Boost MPGs With TwinPower Turbo Three-Cylinder Engines
Expect to see smaller engines for BMW’s future models, as high fuel prices and greater environmental concerns push automakers towards engines with lower displacements. We’ve already seen this trend with the recent announcement of BMW’s new TwinPower Turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
I Spy: BMW’s i8 Hybrid Sports Coupe Caught On Video
The announcement of the all-new BMW sub-brand took the automotive industry by surprise earlier this year, but after check out the facts sounds like an interesting move to differentiate BMW’s offering in the hybrid and electric market. Our last report covered the car formerly known as the...
Jonathan McGrew -
Green-Car Faceoff: Who's The World's Fastest Plug-In Hybrid?
We don't spend much time covering single-seat speed machines like the Veritas RSIII Roadster here on Green Car Reports. But the previously gasoline-centric performance car crowd is quickly coming around to the remarkable acceleration benefits of stored electricity. The latest example? Veritas is...
John Voelcker -
BMW ActiveE Concept: 2011 Geneva Motor Show [Video]
BMW are developing some of the world's most anticipated electric cars at the moment with the i3 and i8 spearheading the launch of BMW's 'i' brand. The 1-Series based ActiveE is the first pure electric car to eminate from Bavaria since the MINI E, and the production car makes its world debut at the...
Antony Ingram -
eMission Impossible? BMW’s i8 Plug-in Hybrid Gets Hollywood Launch
What’s better for a new brand of car than a bunch of A-list celebrities choosing it as the vehicle of choice around Hollywood? For BMW, the answer is simple: A starring role in the next blockbuster. While it may look more like the futuristic car driven by Chief John Anderton in the 2002...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield