BMW i3 Rendering Review

I have heard from various sources that BMW is going to publicly unveil their pre-production version of the 2013 i3 at a press gathering on July 28th. I have had a few journalists that have been invited reach out to me and ask if I would be attending also. I will not, but I'm sure it won't be long after that I get the details of what whs announced and even some nice photo's of the i3.

Since we'll finally get to see what the BMW designers have come up with, I thought I'd post some of the artist renderings we have has to look at since the i3 was first announced last year. Back then, BMW would only refer to it as the MegaCity vehicle. I'll start it off with the spy photograph that was taken of the car during cold weather testing is Sweden earlier this year.  You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

As you can see there are common themes that hold up through most of the renderings. In less than a month I think we'll know who was closest to the mark. Stay tuned...

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BMW i3: The Intersection of Policy, Business, & Carbon

I recently came across this interesting report. It's titled "BMW: i3 Electric Vehicle. The Intersection of Policy, Business, & Carbon" and was written by Lauren Blasch, Jeremy Pomp, Marla Stancil, Shyam Vijayaraghavan.







The report focuses on electric vehicles and their carbon footprint in general, as opposed to being i3 specific. It demonstrates that depending on the source of the electricity used for charging the car, EV's can range from better to worse than a Toyota Prius in carbon emissions. It's interesting that they used the most efficient hybrid currently available to compare electric vehicle emissions to. I think it might have been more useful to use the Pruis and also show on the graph the average internal combustion engine cars carbon emissions also. They even go as far as to detail which states are better suited for electric cars based on their electricity generation mix. The good news is that New York and California, the target markets for the i3 since they both have "megacities" were two of the states that were "EV favorable" The report is only 28 pages long and many of the pages are graphs so it doesn't take long to read. There are some interesting fact in there so I recommend reading it if you are interested in electric vehicles and their impact on the environment.

One thing to consider though, the report is strictly focused on the carbon emissions of vehicles and I advocate electric cars for more reasons than just their carbon footprint. Even if you live in a state that produces 100% of it's electricity from burning coal, and by using an EV you are producing more carbon than if you owned a Toyota Prius, you are still spending your energy dollars on a DOMESTIC product. You are not contributing to the crushing trade imbalance, much of which is created from importing foreign oil and you are not sending some your money to radical Middle Eastern regimes, many of which hate us. Electricity is produced and distributed by local and regional companies, and 100% of the money you spend on it stays local. If you ask me, that's reason enough to drive an electric car.

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BMW i3 To be Officially Introduced in July!

 

According to BMWCOOP and some of my other sources, the BMW i3 as well as the i8 may be formally introduced as early as late July. This goes against most reports that the i3 will be seen for the very first time at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. 

While BMW has shown pre-production i8's in videos, they have never shown the public an i3 in the flesh and have only provided vague sketches of the car that is hoped to revolutionize the electric car market, setting new standards for efficiency as well as being the first-ever mass produced car that is made entirely of lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic and aluminum. This car may very well pave the way for BMW as well as other major OEM's to offer dramatically lighter, more efficient cars that require less energy to operate.

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BMW i3 To Be Introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show!

 

Although it hasn't been officially announced by BMW, there have been numerous reports that the BMW i3 will be introduced at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show this September, albeit in pre-production form.

Will we finally get to see how the car will look without all the blue and white swirly camouflage? It would appear so. We'll also get to see how the actual tail lights look since the circular, protruding lights in the above photo are most certainly there just to hide the real look of the rear of the vehicle, automakers do this stuff all the time to hide how the car looks until they are ready to show it off. Fortunately, it looks like they will be doing just that in a few months at the Frankfurt International Motor Show. 

I believe it will be a pre-production model so while most of the vehicle will be close to production, some things will change. It has been long rumored that the official production version of the i3 will make it's world debut at the 2012 London Olympics and that plan is probably still in effect. Still, it's exciting that we will get to see the general form and lines of the car in about three months. This car has a lot of hype to live up to, I hope the BMW designers don't let us down!

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2013 BMW i3 to cost $35,000? That's what Car & Driver says

 

According to this report from Car & Driver, the 2013 BMW i3 is going to cost $35,000, have a 150 hp motor and have a driving range of 160 miles.

If true, this is great news. I have been following the i3 since it was first revealed and everything that I have read and heard pointed to less impressive stats. I have been figuring it would cost at least $40,000, have a range of 100 miles and have a 135 hp motor. Obviously if Car and Drivers "deep inside source in München" is correct, than BMW has been playing us a bit with the information they have been occasionally releasing to the media. I hope C&D is right with this info, it would really put the i3 at the top of the list of available electric cars options in 2013 if it's so. 

UPDATE: After contacting Car & Driver and challenging the 160 mile range claim, they admitted they were wrong and that the i3 will have a 100 mile range as I expected. Car and Driver should just check with me next time, don't you think? :)

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BMW Carbon Fibers Factory in Moses Lake, WA is Completed and Ready To Begin Production

 

It may not be much to look at in the above picture, but this newly constructed factory in Moses Lake, Washington will play a big role in the BMW i3 and probably many other future BMW vehicles.

BMW, along with the SGL Group built this facility in Moses Lake primarily because they will be able to take advantage of the inexpensive electricity which is mostly all generated by hydro power. Besides the cheap electric rates, this renewable way of generating electricity is in line with BMW's commitment to sustainability, and allows them to make the energy-intensive carbon fiber material without producing nearly as much pollution as they would if they were using electricity from a coal burning power plant. 

This facility will employ 80 workers by the end of this year and up to 200 once all six buildings on the campus are completed and operational. With these plans, it's obvious that BMW intends on using CFRP in many more vehicles than only the i3. This is more evidence the i3 may just be the "revolutionary" vehicle that BMW has been touting it as. The combination of the highly efficient electric drivetrain, the newly developed lithium-ion battery cells that are nickel-manganese-cobalt chemistry and the extensive use of advanced materials sounds like the engineers have been busy at work. 

Hopefully the designers do as good a job on the vehicles appearance. It's hard to tell what's under all the camouflage in the spy photo's we have seen, but the overall shape doesn't really capture the sleek, streamlined look that the BMW-released rendering appeared to have. However we'll have to wait until we see an actual pre-production i3 without all the camouflage to really critique the design. Rumor has it we'll only have to wait until the Frankfurt Auto Show in September...

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BMW Recruiting Engineers to Focus on Lightweight, Carbon-Fiber Composites

According to this report BMW is recruiting 40 engineers that specialize in carbon fiber to join the i3 and i8 development teams.

The photo above is the frame of the i3 during crash testing simulations. This further proves BMW's commitment to the extensive use of CFRP in their future models, particularly vehicles in the new i line.

The i3 will eventually have three variations. The initial i3, the one we have been focusing on here will be a three door hatchback that seats four and is scheduled to be release in 2013. Rumors have it that this version will be then offered with an onboard range extending, gasoline powered generator. A few years later, there will be a smaller two seat hatchback with a smaller range for inner city driving, and then a five seat, four door version that is larger then the original i3 and will have a larger battery with a range at least as great as the original i3.

BMW may be joining the EV party a bit later than some competitors, but they certainly have some grand plans for the next three to five years. This recent news about hiring more engineers that specialize in CFRP only adds credibility to their commitment to light weight, highly efficient electric and plug in hybrid vehicles. That's good news in my book.

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The Latest BMW i3 Illustration Appears

 

BMW Blog posted a new i3 rendering. today. It may not seem like big news, but BMW is doing their best to keep details and photos of the i3 under wraps so even drawings become news on the i3. 

It seems that ever since the spy shots were captured, the illustrations are able to really capture the cars general lines. I'm still a little concerned about the apparent bump in the short stubby nose, but this illustration makes it look OK. I trust the BMW designers will make the i3 look good. However the spy shots with all the camouflage don't leave an image of a great looking vehicle. I know that BMW probably has deliberately modified the body a bit under the swirly white & blue body cover so you really can't believe everything you see until the car is officially revealed. Rumor has it that BMW will show a pre production version of the i3 for the first time at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show in September.

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BMW Hires Frank Weber, Former Lead Engineer for the Chevy Volt

In a move that further solidifies BMW's commitment to electric cars, they have just hires Frank Weber, former head engineer for the Chevy Volt. Frank will report to Klaus Draeger, BMW's head of R&D

This move is a little surprising because in the past, BMW has rarely hired top people from other auto makers, electing instead to train and promote from within. In my opinion, this is an example of how important BMW feels it is to accelerate their electric car line and not fall behind in the race to bring a wide range of electric cars and plug in hybrids to their showrooms.

What I find particularly interesting is that there have been a lot of rumors around that BMW will be offering a range extender for the i3 shortly after the original BEV version is released in 2013. I'm hearing a lot of talk about a three cylinder, turbo charged engine as being the suspected powerplant for such a set up. This would make the i3 very similar to the Volt so in that regard Mr. Weber's experience can make an immediate impact on the development of the i3.

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BMW i3: Light Weight Means Less Energy Storage Needed

The Power Electronics & Battery System of the i3's Drive System

The 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 in the upcoming BMW ActiveE, yet give the vehicle roughly the same range of the larger, heavier and less efficient ActiveE. However it is possible that the 16 kWh is the "usable" amount of energy which would mean the pack would be around 20 kWh. BMW hasn't announced the actual size, so this is really speculation at this point.

To put that accomplishment in even better perspective, the battery is only about 45% of the size of the battery pack currently in the MINI-E's yet the car is bigger, has two more seats, much more storage space and is expected to offer the same driving range.


The batteries used will be the same that are in the BMW ActiveE, which will launch as a trial lease program this fall. They are newly developed Lithium-ion cells which will be using a nickel-manganese-cobalt chemistry made by SB-Limotive. SB-Limotive is a joint venture of Korean conglomerate Samsung and German parts giant Bosch. The ActiveE will use 192 cells in 25 modules in three separate battery blocks as opposed the the picture above where the i3's batteries are all located in one enclosure, a result of the car being a purpose-built EV and not a retrofitted ICE platform like the ActiveE. It's been rumored the i3 may use only 96 cells, in 48 smaller modules(only 2 cells per module) packed in rows under the Life Cell driving compartment and be thermally conditioned.

The end result means two main things. The battery is usually the most expensive part of an EV, and since the battery pack will be half the size of the ActiveE, it will cost significantly less to manufacturer, helping to keep the selling price of the i3 to a reasonable point. Secondly, less batteries means less weight and helps to further increase efficiency.

Complete Battery & Drive System of the 2013 BMW i3

Of course, none of this information has been "officially" released by BMW so it is speculation on my part. However, since it has been "reported" and "rumored" by many different media outlets I think it's safe to assume it is mostly accurate. The only question I have is whether the 16 kWh is the total pack or the usable amount which is usually about 80% of the packs total energy storage capacity.

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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 BMW to use less of the expensive batteries and still hit their target 100 mile range. That will also reduce cost and further reduce weight since the batteries are also heavy. The above video talks about how BMW is using CFRP and references the i3 a couple times.

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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 released.

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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_embedded

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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 out from the car. They look cool but I do wonder if they will be prone to breakage. Also note the tall, thin tires. I have heard about these but had not seen any pictures or drawings before these photos. Evidentlly, BMW has been working on a special tire that has very low rolling resistance for the i3. This cars main purpose is to be efficient, and the rolling resistance of tires play a bigger role than you might expect. For example, when BMW puts the winter snow tires on my MINI-E, I immediately see a reduction in range of about 3%. Now if they could design a tire that alone increases the range by 5 to 8%, think of how that helps the overall efficiency of the car. Hopefully this wheel/tire combo will not sacrifice much handling or ride comfort though, because after all, it still needs to feel like a BMW.

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Report: BMW Aims to Make 30,000 i3's a Year!

Good news! Various reports are circulating that claim BMW is planning on producing as many as 30,000 i3's per year. Many have questioned the level of commitment BMW really has in the EV market. Were they making the i3 as a low production "halo car", or were they really going to try to make this car a real player in the electric car market? This news also gives a little insight into the cost BMW plans to sell the car at. If they really plan on selling this many units per year, the planned price cannot be extraordinarily high and that's good news. While 30,000 isn't a huge number in comparison to other BMW models, it would represent more units than both the Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF are making in the first year of production.

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BMW/SGL New Carbon Fiber Plant on Schedule

BMW, in a joint venture with SGL is building a new plant in Moses Lake, Washington to manufacture the carbon fiber body panels for the new i3 and other BMW models.

When completed, the plant will be 154,250 square-foot and take advantage of the use of hydro-generated electricity the area has to offer. This allows the plant to drastically reduce it's electricity costs (carbon fiber production requires a lot of electricity) while using an environmentally friendly source of generation. This keeps in line with the BMW groups philosophy of being the most sustainable auto manufacturer, an award they have won an amazing six years in a row now.


http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/news/article_9367ffe8-32f3-11e0-b815-001cc4c002e0.html

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Join the BMW i3 Facebook Group!

On Facebook? Do you want to get the latest BMW i3 info and join discussions about the car? I've created a BMW i3 Facebook group for anyone interested. Here's the link:

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_127721967301673#!/home.php?sk=group_127721967301673

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BMW Megacity is officially called the i3

This blog will detail the development and intimately the real life experience of the BMW i3, BMW's first production electric vehicle.

Feel free to ask questions and contribute. We are about 2 1/2 years from the car being in showrooms and there will be a lot to discuss between now and then.

For starters, go to this link to learn about the car.

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