http://www.electric-vehiclenews.com/2015/06/by-2020-all-bmws-will-be-awd-range.html
According to that article, by 2022 all BMW models from the 3-series on up will be AWD with dual electric motors and an ICE that will be used primarily to recharge the battery but will also be capable of driving the front wheels, similar to the Chevy Volt. The article states that BMW will be making their car bodies lighter to compensate for the battery weight, which I assume means building on what they have learned from the i3 and i8 body designs.
So if that report is accurate, while BMW seems unwilling to make the leap to 100% BEVs, the company is abandoning the ICE as the primary source of power to the wheels and relegating it to serving principally as an onboard battery charger and occasional power booster when battery power is low, I assume.
This is big news; while disappointing that BMW is not going "full BEV" (possibly the company does not want to build out a useful high-speed charging network as Tesla is doing) they will be close to it and it is a tacit admission that the days of ICE cars are numbered. I believe that the success of the Model S was a major factor in this change by BMW. Of course I do not expect any current BMW manager or corporate exec to admit that.
According to that article, by 2022 all BMW models from the 3-series on up will be AWD with dual electric motors and an ICE that will be used primarily to recharge the battery but will also be capable of driving the front wheels, similar to the Chevy Volt. The article states that BMW will be making their car bodies lighter to compensate for the battery weight, which I assume means building on what they have learned from the i3 and i8 body designs.
So if that report is accurate, while BMW seems unwilling to make the leap to 100% BEVs, the company is abandoning the ICE as the primary source of power to the wheels and relegating it to serving principally as an onboard battery charger and occasional power booster when battery power is low, I assume.
This is big news; while disappointing that BMW is not going "full BEV" (possibly the company does not want to build out a useful high-speed charging network as Tesla is doing) they will be close to it and it is a tacit admission that the days of ICE cars are numbered. I believe that the success of the Model S was a major factor in this change by BMW. Of course I do not expect any current BMW manager or corporate exec to admit that.