Hasta La Ideas

As of this morning, the folks at Munich’s Bavarian Motor Works—a.k.a. BMW—have unveiled the new all-electric BMW i3, the first in their ‘i’ sub-brand. We first caught wind of their efforts at the 2012 NY Auto Show, and while the production model doesn’t look that far off from previously-seen prototypes, rest assured that the design and engineering teams at BMW have spent some five years bringing the new vehicle to market.

The vehicle concept behind the BMW i3 was designed from the outset to incorporate an all-electric drive system. This has numerous advantages over “conversion” vehicles, in which the original combustion engine is swapped for an electric motor. The engineers can design whatever works best, in terms of construction, dimensions and configuration of the electric drive system’s components. The car’s development is dictated by the characteristics designed into the car by the development team and not by the constraints imposed by a pre-existing vehicle design. For example, the space in a conversion vehicle set aside for the fuel tank or exhaust system cannot be used. In the BMW i3 there is no need for this kind of compromise.

The new automobile offers a veritable carload of talking points, but here’s the nitty-gritty:
– The BMW i3 will be available in Q2 2014 with a sticker price of $41,350 before federal and local incentives; a range extender option costs about 10% more
– The range of 80–100 miles on a single charge is consistent with data from BMW Project i, in which 1,000 drivers logged over 12 million miles to yield the finding that the average distance traveled per day is 30 miles
– The 170-hp engine is electronically limited to a top speed of 93mph
– Preliminary acceleration testing yields results of 0–30mph in 3.5 seconds and zero to sixty in approximately seven seconds
– The 22 kWh lithium ion battery weighs 450lbs (204kg) and takes three hours to charge via 220V power supply; an SAE DC quick charge option takes only half an hour
– Total weight is about 2,700lbs (1,225kg)
– Aluminum chassis with carbon fiber panels; thermoplastic exterior acts as an extended bumper for added durability in urban settings
– The dashboard is made from sustainably-harvested eucalyptus

That’s right, BMW has elected to develop their own carbon fiber production, right here in the U.S. of A. Even so, I was interested to learn that this process takes place across three-quarters of the globe: the precursor polyacrilonitrile (PAN) comes from Japan; it’s transformed into CFRP—carbon fiber reinforced plastic—in Moses Lake, WA, and assembled in Leipzig, Germany (additionally, about 10% of the CF is recycled). Thus, the fact that carbon fiber is extremely lightweight surely saves cost on transportation of raw materials as well; the New York Times has a nice overview of the process.

Why Washington State? Well, besides the fact that its a hotbed for aerospace engineering, it so happens that a renewable energy source was paramount, and access to hydroelectricity, which offers a 24/7 solution over solar or wind power, was a major selling point for the lakeside locale. State Governor Jay Inslee described it as a case of “using carbon to build cars instead of to fuel them,” going so far as to suggest that the “more carbon goes into the car, the less goes into the environment.” (Mayor Michael Bloomberg also made a few brief remarks, acknowledging his city’s abiding car culture and the fact that he used to own a Bimmer.)

A panel discussion on infrastructure during this morning’s global debut, simulcast from New York City, London and Beijing

I was also interested to hear an offhand comment from BMW Head of Design Adrian van Hooydonk to effect that the relatively nimble manufacturing process could eventually occur in local markets. He clarified that this was a possibility (but not planned for the time being):

[In terms of production, the primary issue is] the amount of energy that it takes to build to these cars. So we came up with this new process that uses far less energy than [what is required] to bend metal. The means the machines are not as heavy, and you end up with a factory that you can [conceivably] build more quickly, one that is smaller—one that you could even build up and take down again.

Whereas a conventional factory, you have to do a significant amount of investment and groundwork before you can even put those machines there. So it could be an added benefit, one day, that this type of production is far more flexible and could be set up in different places.

We last spoke to van Hooydonk during NAIAS 2011, so we were glad to have the chance to catch up with him on the occasion of the launch of the i3—he shared the trajectory of BMW’s efforts to develop an electric vehicle and what’s on the horizon for the storied automaker…

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