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In an interview with a German newspaper, BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has confirmed that a small city car is being developed to cope with future European and American regulations for fuel economy and pollution. But we're talking about more than just an electric Mini here. This will be an entirely new vehicle which will come with either a "very efficient combustion engine" or a pure electric powertrain. Of the standards it will meet will be a California regulation which mandates fuel cell or battery-powered vehicles to have a range of over 200 miles by the year 2012. But the burning question is, what will the car be called? The first thing that pops into our head when we hear talk of a small BMW city car that's completely different from the rest of the range is "Isetta," and that's said to still be a possibility. It would certainly be a more appealing name than 0-Series. BMW has had plenty of retro small car experience with the Mini brand, but a more forward...
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Automotive News is reporting that exactly 500 electric Minis will be built for California, with 490 to be sold to celbutards the public and 10 to be reserved as show cars. It's part of BMWs attempt to meet California's new requirement for all automakers to offer zero-emissions vehicles. No word yet on specs or pricing. The gas-free Minis will be built in Oxford, England, without engines, gearboxes or fuel tanks. They will then be shipped to Munich, Germany, and fitted with electric powertrains. For now it seems that California will be the only market for these battery-powered Minis, but if gas hits ten bucks per gallon, we're gonna smuggle one over to Jalopnik HQ. [ Automotive News ]
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Now we don't know for sure if the lack of spotted owls in these photos is the direct result of engineers blasting the A/C in their 2010 BMW X6 ActiveHybrid , but we're going to go out on a limb and say that it is. Expect a rapid decline in spotted owl population levels in LA, New York and other major cities where people like to pay lip service to being green as a fashion statement when the big-ass SUV hybrid rolls out. galleryPost('bmwx6hybridspy', 17, '2010 BMW X6 ActiveHybrid'); In addition to barely reduced fuel consumption, expect the production ActiveHybrid to share the concept's bizarre hood bulge, as evidenced in these photos. While we don't know exactly when it will be released, this will be BMW's first hybrid and we're putting our money on a 2010 on-sale date. While it's tempting to mock BMW for selling such a blatantly hypocritical vehicle, the rest of the BMW EfficientDynamics range actually does accomplish reasonable fuel efficiency...
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There's apparently some competition for the Frozen Chevy Nova installation in our ongoing quest for the best piece of ice-based conceptual automotive art pieces. The latest entry comes from Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Elliasson, who has been one of our favorite artists since his The Weather Project at the Tate, which is maybe our favorite contemporary installation (take that FelixGonzalez-Torres). This one involved removing the shell of a BMW H2 racer and replacing it with reflective metal and then covering it with a fragile layer of ice. Said Elliasson "How do we give a tangible dimension to the fact that our engagement in the world has global consequences? How can we as consumers and creators of reality change the trajectory of transportation? Of moving? How can we put pressure on the car as an object?" We got to see Elliasson speak before an exhibit at the Menil in Houston and we can attest to him not being a completely insane foreign artist. Larger photo and press release...
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We've been saying for years the only efficient hybrid with current technology is one mated to a diesel engine, and now it looks like another automaker is jumping into the conceptual fray. Our little news yesterday on the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics X5 -- translated from Bruce, that appears to be an X5 outfitted with a 2.0-liter twin turbo common rail diesel mild hybrid (wow, that's a mouthful, ain't it?) -- appears to be wholly true. BMW will be revealing this little concept in environmentally friendly CUV-ing at the Geneva Motor Show next month and they've now seen fit to reveal the rest of their press shots and the full press release, which we've got below the jump. Feel free to read through it if you're suffering from a strong desire to fall back into bed. For now, here's the gist of it -- hybrid + diesel + BMW = Over 100 HP per liter (total of 204 HP), 295 lb-ft of torque between 2000 and 2500 RPM. Exciting, isn't it? galleryPost('BMWVisionX5Geneva'...
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It looks like BMW is going to offer its first hybrid powertrain in the new X6 Sport Activity Vehicle. It's likely that sales of the X6 hybrid will begin in 2009. The new X-Drive system should come in handy distributing the massive torque the electric motors are sure to develop to whichever wheel has the most grip. [ Via eGM CarTech ]
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