BMW’s New Vision: 155-MPH Plug-In Hybrid

[CowboyWay]

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/08/bmw-concept

****Click on the link for pics and video ***************

We were as shocked as anyone when BMW announced it was quitting Formula 1 to devote more resources to developing cleaner, greener automobiles. There was some skepticism, but BMW wasn’t blowing green smoke. It’s serious about building eco-friendlier pavement-peeling cars.

First up is a slick 356-horsepower all-wheel-drive plug-in diesel-hybrid concept that BMW claims accelerates like an M3, sips gas like a Toyota Prius and can go 31 miles on battery power alone. It’s called the Vision Efficientdynamics Concept, and we’ll see it later this month at the Frankfurt auto show.

No, Vision Efficientdynamics Concept doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. But the name aside, BMW has a dynamite idea on its hands here.


The EfficientDynamics is a 2+2 four-door hybrid that combines M Series performance with better fuel efficiency and less emissions than you see in many compacts. BMW performs this magic by marrying its ActiveHybrid technology with an extremely economical engine and excellent aerodynamics. The result is a concept car with a top speed governed at 155 mph and a zero-to-62 acceleration time of 4.8 seconds. More impressive, the car gets 62.2 mpg and emits a Prius-like 99 grams of CO2 per kilometer.

Power comes from a 1.5-liter direct injection 3-cylinder turbodiesel engine and an electric motor on each axle. The engine was small to squeeze in between the rear seat and the rear axle, which should make the Efficientdynamics Concept very agile. The diesel puts out 163 horsepower and 214 pound-feet of torque. Add in the motors and total output is 356 ponies and a stump-pulling 590 pound-feet, though you can only get that much power in short bursts. The car has all-wheel-drive when running in electric mode. BMW says the car can run on the diesel engine, either one of the electric motors or any combination of the three.

The lithium-polymer battery pack sports 98 cells. It delivers 8.6 kilowatt-hours for driving the car, and BMW says the serial arrangement of cells has gross storage capacity of 10.8 kilowatt-hours. The pack weighs 187 pounds and BMW says it doesn’t need an active cooling system. BMW says the battery recharges in 2.5 hours at 220 volts.

All that tech is housed in a body designed with some serious inspiration from BMW’s Formula 1 cars. BMW says the Vision has a drag coefficient of 0.22, aided in part by the myriad vanes and ducts. People are going to love it or hate it, but you’d expect nothing less from BMW even without controversial designer Chris Bangle around anymore.

So far the Vision is just a concept. Still, BMW has made it clear it plans to make sustainability a cornerstone of its lineup, so we’re sure to see some of the technology in road cars before long.

[Heisenberg]

Wow. Now we're talkin.

[TheCount]

How much?

[CowboyWay]

You know the old saying...............If you have to ask...............

[zrinkill]

Looks nice

[Wheat]

I read that BMW is also way advanced making some sort of plastic hybrid using industrial hemp.

Those wacky euros

[CowboyWay]

What I find great about all of this, is that it seems that most car companies are doing some serious research into fuel efficiency. Sure, maybe none of us can afford whatever the heck BMW is going to charge for this down the road, but the technology trickles down, and trickles down. Before long it will be hard to buy just a plain old gasoline automobile.

I'd love to have a crystal ball and look into the future 5-10-15 years to see where the technology will be then.

[iceberg]

Originally Posted by CowboyWay

What I find great about all of this, is that it seems that most car companies are doing some serious research into fuel efficiency. Sure, maybe none of us can afford whatever the heck BMW is going to charge for this down the road, but the technology trickles down, and trickles down. Before long it will be hard to buy just a plain old gasoline automobile.

I'd love to have a crystal ball and look into the future 5-10-15 years to see where the technology will be then.

judging by your own love of cars, i wonder if you're like me with mixed feelings over it all.

i realize things evolve and grow.
i realize in time things "get better" by their very nature of business
and i realize things change.

but i must admit i love the way my hemi sounds when i fire it up. $450 on the exhaust sure did make a difference for that car. : )

[CowboyWay]

Originally Posted by iceberg

judging by your own love of cars, i wonder if you're like me with mixed feelings over it all.

i realize things evolve and grow.
i realize in time things "get better" by their very nature of business
and i realize things change.

but i must admit i love the way my hemi sounds when i fire it up. $450 on the exhaust sure did make a difference for that car. : )

I know what you mean, but I think we usually only remember the "good stuff" about some of the older cars. The sounds, the smells, but if you're honest with yourself, those cars could be a beating too (not your present day hemi), Like that camaro in my sig, you think "yeah, thats cool", but you don't remember how starting a chevy on a cold morning can wear on you, or sitting there waiting for it to warm up, or just the beating the ride would give you, or the lack of being able to hear the radio over the exhaust. etc etc.

I live on the east side of the metroplex, and a few years back, drove the z-28 to Texas Motor Speedway for a car show. Its 50 miles door, to door. By the end of that 50 miles, I was BEAT. I felt like I drove 300 in my new truck.

Heck, maybe I'm just getting old, but these new cars nowadays are pretty damn fine automobiles.

[Danny White]

I'll take one in red, please.