BMW i3: Light Weight Means Less Energy Storage Needed

The Power Electronics & Battery System of the i3's Drive SystemThe previous post here showed a video about CFRP, the material that will be used in the "Life Cell" of the 2013 BMW i3. The picture above is part of the other component of the cars unique LifeDrive architecture, the drive system. This is the energy storage and power electronics the car will employ. Suprisingly, it may only use a 16 kWh battery pack, exactly half the size of the pack...

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BMW i3 & CFRP, Perfect Together

One of the main goals BMW had with the development of the Megacity car now known as the i3, was to reduce the weight as much as possible while providing a strong, safe passenger cell. The extensive use of carbon fiber reinforced plastics or CFRP, has allowed them to do just that. While the use of CFRP isn't a new idea in the automotive industry, using it as extensively as BMW is on the i3 is groundbreaking. It's been written that by using CFRP as extensively as they are, it has cut the weight of the vehicle by as much as 700lbs. This will allow...

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BMW Website now has i3 Information

BMW now has an i3 section on their website. While it doesn't have any new information that hasn't been available here and on the internet for a while now, at least they have begun to post information about it. While it's still over two years away from production, there are a lot of people following it and waiting for every bit of information as it's releas...

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Video of the i3 in Cold Weather Testing Shows up on Youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9GDztzJEvo&feature=player_embed...

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First Spy Images of the i3 Surface!

For over a year now BMW has been talking about the 2013 "Megacity" vehicle. It will be the first all electric BMW sold ever. Since it was first announced, we have never actually seen a picture or a clear rendering of what the car will look like, just vague sketches until now. The photos to the left show the actual i3(albeit in camouflage) during cold weather testing.A couple things that stand out immediately are the circular tail lights that extend...

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