Video: BMW ActiveE Production Begins

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted by PAMidge

Electric cars are fantastic concepts, but I truly don't see them as a useful option. A very general / blanket statement...the correct statement would be that they are not a useful option to YOU.

Sure the vehicle is clean, but the delivery of electricity to the vehicle still isn't (coal or nuclear power providing your electricity) - Green Fail; True, but the same hold true for the gasoline counterpart. i would say a draw green wise ??? Some even argue that the creation of those batteries do more harm for the environment - Questionable Green Fail. questionable indeed

Does anyone have a cell phone or laptop? Ever have the display say you have a little bit more charge than you think you do? do you actually think that your fuel gauge is acurate when displaying miles to empty Electronics always have a good way of failing when you least expect them to. true for both sides... I'm not taking a risk going to work with 20% charge left and chance making it home. you do already, ther is a very good chance that your HPFP will fail and leave you on the side of the road At least with a petrol engine, I know that I can fill up in 5 minutes on the way. Electricity Fail; true, but its a different use vehicle, hence fueling stops are planned for repeat shorter distance trips. no fail there


If you can afford a BMW, you can afford the gas that goes in it. I can afford alot of things, but that ability would have absolutly nothing to do with my decision to get a full electric vehicle. Considering how much more electric cars cost to produce, you'll need to keep it (once on sale instead of lease) more than 4-5 years for the savings in fuel to overcome the premium price tag of the vehicle. Economical Fail. if it was done for purely economic reasons..but sometimes things are not done for economics
170HP 1 series. Performance Fail.

Theory Win. relative Everything else Fail.


I think we're just not there yet. We will get there, but I would put money on it being after 2020.

I edited my responses in red above so it would be easy to follow.

and for the record, i am the absolute farthest from a tree hugging enviromentalist.. ill burn gasoline and polute till i die and love every minute of it, BUT i embrace new technology for paticular uses and dont shun them away just because it doesnt / or wont benefit me in paticular.

[Lex]

I stand corrected it the article said below 9.0 seconds, probably 8.9 though

[bavarian19]

eh

[Matski]

It will be interesting to see how the results of this compare to the Mini E

From Wiki

Field test experience
The main concerns reported by some of the users participating in the U.S. during the first year trial were range anxiety and lack of public charging infrastructure, as the country had only 734 public charging stations, and most of them were located in California.[6][12][28] Another concern reported is that the already restrictive 100-mile (160 km) range on a fully charged battery reduces to between 80 to 90 miles (140 km) during very cold weather.[6][28] In the UK, an abnormally harsh winter also showed how very low temperatures diminishes power output until the battery is ‘warmed-up’ once in use.[21] There was even one report of the range dropping below 40 miles (64 km) in sub-zero weather.[29] There have also been issues with exterior charging points as winter temperatures drop dramatically.[21]
Other complaints in the U.S. related to the lack of space in the car as the battery pack eliminates the Mini’s back seat and most of its cargo area,[28][30] and the difficulties found in practice to install the charging equipment in homes, which took longer than anticipated, as just getting the installation permit in the U.S., including site visits and inspections took up to a month.[30][31]

BMW
According to the BMW team of engineers responsible for the demonstration program, the following are facts and key lessons learned during the Mini E first year trial:[32]
Most of the Mini E applicants were well-educated and well-off males over 35, with an affinity for new technology, willing to experience a new and clean technology, and for them the lower vehicle running costs were not very important.
Most drivers used the Mini E as a second vehicle and for the daily commute.
Longest trip in a Mini E to date was 158 kilometres (98 mi)
In the Berlin trial, the average Mini E remained stationary for over five hours in 80 percent of the cases while being charged and most of the customers only charged their vehicles only two or three times a week. U.S. participants were more likely to charge up every night.
Before the test, drivers said they expected range and charging time limitations to be a problem, however, during the actual trials these issues were only felt to be limitations in very few specific cases.
In the Berlin test, BMW decided to compare how people drive an electric car to how they drive a more traditional model. For this purpose they identified willing applicants who had either a BMW 116i or a Mini Cooper and put data loggers in those vehicles. The results showed that vehicle usage of the Mini E only differs marginally from that of comparable Mini Cooper and BMW 116i trips.

UC Davis study
In May 2011 the Plug‐in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle (PH&EV) Research Center at the University of California, Davis published the results of a consumer study of the U.S. Mini E field trial. The study is based on surveys and interviews conducted with more than 120 families who leased the electric car for the period of June 2009 to June 2010.[1][33] Some of the key findings of the consumer study are the following:[1][33][34]
95% of the respondents drove fewer than 80 miles (130 km) a day; and 71% drove fewer than 40 miles (64 km).
The study shows that households adapted their driving around the capabilities of the electric car, and respondents said the MINI E met 90% of their daily driving needs.
Many drivers found that having limited cargo space and only two seats was more restrictive than the limited range.
Cold weather had a significant impact on drivers in the New York and New Jersey areas, which suffered a particularly harsh winter during the study period. These drivers discovered an unacceptable drop in the vehicles' range when using the heater.
In California, though infrequent, hot weather during August 2009 resulted in range loss and battery thermal management problems that required attention from BMW.
Most drivers reported initial difficulties in mastering the MINI E aggressive regenerative braking system which is integrated into the accelerator pedal. However, all drivers said that once they learned to like the system, they discovered that they could travel more smoothly, and learned to control almost all acceleration and braking events with one pedal. They also discovered, thanks to the display panel information, that they recovered energy proportional to their expertise with the single pedal.
99% of respondents found home charging easy to use.
71% of respondents said they were more likely now to purchase an electric vehicle than they were a year ago, and only 9% said they are less likely.
88% of respondents said they are interested in buying a battery electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in the next five years.

[SCOTT26]

And What's next?

The most important BMW of this decade...

Find out more in August.

[James T. Kirk]

This is all good news and a great OPTION.
If the technology is going this direction, then who better to lead it than BMW.

[Dackelone]

We are getting this car because of Merkel (German Chanceler). She wants to have over one million electric cars on teh roads by 2020. And over six million by 2030. AND... the federal (Bundes)goverment is subsidising the ceed money to develop these cars. Even though there is a tiny market for them. Who wants an electric car that car only go 60 miles in one day? And then it takes over eight hours to recharge the sucker. Not me. Plus soon Germans will be importing their electricity from Russia bc the Germans are shutting down thier Nuke plants. lol The story just keeps getting worse. Soon the Bundes will raise taxes so they can pay for all of this BS.

It was the same story ten years ago with the last German Chanceler - Schroeder... his bright idea was those 3L cars. Cars that would get 85 mpg. The Bundes threw all this money at VW, Audi and MB. They came out with these 3L cars that no one wanted: Audi A1 3L, VW Lupo 3L and the MB Smart 3L cdi. Only the Smart is still in production today. And it still has not made a profit!! The reason is bc these "green" cars just plain cost way too much over their econobox counter parts. Why would someone pay 35% for a few more MPG? For the Germans it was a fad. Now you hardly see these 3L cars - bc they just cost too much for the upkeep and parts. Another bright idea from the Germs.

One day Electric cars will be ready for primetime... just not yet.

Nein Danke!

[Evice]

Originally Posted by Lex

Oh boy I'm so excited...boring....does anyone care to see this car out there on the road?

You are really narrow minded. Nothing came to today's excellence without going thru baby steps.

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

And What's next?

The most important BMW of this decade...

Find out more in August.

i3 will rock.

Originally Posted by Dackelone

We are getting this car because of Merkel (German Chanceler). She wants to have over one million electric cars on teh roads by 2020. And over six million by 2030. AND... the federal (Bundes)goverment is subsidising the ceed money to develop these cars. Even though there is a tiny market for them. Who wants an electric car that car only go 60 miles in one day? And then it takes over eight hours to recharge the sucker. Not me. Plus soon Germans will be importing their electricity from Russia bc the Germans are shutting down thier Nuke plants. lol The story just keeps getting worse. Soon the Bundes will raise taxes so they can pay for all of this BS.

It was the same story ten years ago with the last German Chanceler - Schroeder... his bright idea was those 3L cars. Cars that would get 85 mpg. The Bundes threw all this money at VW, Audi and MB. They came out with these 3L cars that no one wanted: Audi A1 3L, VW Lupo 3L and the MB Smart 3L cdi. Only the Smart is still in production today. And it still has not made a profit!! The reason is bc these "green" cars just plain cost way too much over their econobox counter parts. Why would someone pay 35% for a few more MPG? For the Germans it was a fad. Now you hardly see these 3L cars - bc they just cost too much for the upkeep and parts. Another bright idea from the Germs.

One day Electric cars will be ready for primetime... just not yet.

Nein Danke!

I am 100% sure those companies achieved great deal of know-how from that 3L movement. Sometimes, no investment has an immediate return, especially in R&D.

[Matski]

ActiveE, for people who see the bigger picture.

[antzcrashing]

Originally Posted by Matski

ActiveE, for people who see the bigger picture.

+1

[erikku80]

Yfcret

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Evice

I am 100% sure those companies achieved great deal of know-how from that 3L movement. Sometimes, no investment has an immediate return, especially in R&D.

Volkswagen had a 1L car (a car that only used 1L of fuel per 100kph) - back in the early 1990's. Why haven't they come out with a production version? A. because... it would cost too much moeny and no one would buy them.

You only have to look at the streets of Germany to see that these 3L (green) cars were a failure.

[TheDarkone]

0:51 in the first video....dirty rag used to wipe roundell...

[Dackelone]

I came across this video of the building of the active_e

(its in German but still interesting!)

[TX78666]

My wife has a very short commute - 3 miles. She makes equally short runs to the courthouse, the police dept, etc., at various times. she was using a scooter (90 mpg), but couldn't always carry what she needed, had to plan her outfits to be scooter-friendly, and had to deal with the weather.

She's thinking about getting a GEM electric car for all that. Would she get an electric BMW? Hell yes. I'd use it on weekend grocery runs, too.

She does more than her fair share of racing in the e46. WAY more than her fair share. This is a different car, for a different purpose. If you can only afford one car, it may not be suitable, but many of us can afford more than one car.

Wish they were going to test these in Texas.

[ciomas]

this bonnet will be a highly desireable part among current 1series owners, I persume even 1M didnt get the power dome - well, now youhave it

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by ciomas

this bonnet will be a highly desireable part among current 1series owners, I persume even 1M didnt get the power dome - well, now youhave it

The production cars don't get it either! At least the car I saw at the Welt a six months back did not get it.

[TX78666]

I could do without the Tron graphics, actually. Cool for a trade show, but they'd wear on me pretty quickly.

[BrokenVert]

Realization! It has the 135 6 pistons!

[ciomas]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

The production cars don't get it either! At least the car I saw at the Welt a six months back did not get it.

damn! It was its best feature

[SCOTT26]

The car shown above at the BMW Welt is the 2010 Concept Car. And not reflective of the changes to the 1er Coupe Life Cycle Impulse.

[Dackelone]

^^So... what else will the LCI for the Active_E get - besides LED headlight brows and tails?

Will it get that hood buldge afterall ???