Sure, BMW is going to build a small, urban electric car – the Megacity – in a few years, but we’re pretty sure there are a lot of Bimmer drivers who won’t much care for that little thing, no matter what the powertrain. For them, BMW has announced a second treat today: the Vision Efficient Dynamics (VED) concept will indeed make the jump to production form.

We first saw the VED a little over a year ago at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2009 and BMW says the concept was met with an “overwhelming response.” Little surprise, then, that BMW was interested in building this for the people – well, people who can afford the 0,000, give or take, the car will likely cost when it come to market in a few years. Since the VED contained a fair bit of “completely or virtually production-ready components,” BMW is confidently giving out media test drives at the Leipzig trade fair center of a road-ready technology showcase vehicle based on the VED.

Final production numbers won’t be known for a while, but the prototype features wing doors and a 2+2 seating arrangement. Underhood, a three-cylinder turbo diesel engine “with a hybrid synchronous motor at the front axle and a full-hybrid engine at the rear axle” put out a total of 241 kW/328 bhp and hits 0-100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) in just 4.8 seconds. The sleek car can do this while burning just 3.76 litters of fuel per 100 kilometers (a Toyota Prius-beating 62.5 miles per gallon U.S.) and emitting 99 grams of CO2 per kilometer. The production VED will also be a plug-in, with the ability to go 50 km (31 miles) on lithium-polymer battery power. Hit the jump for the full details in BMW’s press release, as well as a video of the Efficient Dynamics prototype.

[Source: BMW]

Continue reading Officially Official: BMW confirms Efficient Dynamics production [w/video]

Officially Official: BMW confirms Efficient Dynamics production [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 11:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to the folks who follow all things BMW, the automaker’s Vision Efficient Dynamics (VED) concept has been given the greenlight and a few details on the green machine have come along for the ride.

The VED’s will reportedly carry either the i1 or i100 name, and that moniker will be placed on a chassis made of carbon fiber and powered first by either by a gas hybrid or fully electric motor. About a month ago it was rumored the coupe would first be available with the drivetrain from the ActiveHybrid 5 Concept, which itself was derived from the ActiveHybrid 7 Series. That option would be good for 300 horsepower thanks to a TwinPower turbo paired with a 40 kW electric motor and running through an eight-speed transmission.

The ultimate hybrid variant, however, would be a 1.5-liter, three-cylinder motor with 181 horsepower, paired to two electric motors each putting out 93 ponies. Output would be channled through a double-clutch transmission, and while the hybrid is supposed to be all-wheel drive, a rear-wheel drive model is supposedly planned as well – perhaps the sole electric version.

All that juice in a carbon fiber body shouldn’t disappoint, and predicted numbers are a 0-to-62 mph run of four seconds, 58 miles per gallon, yet a lower-than-expected 250-mile range. The price for all that green when it appears in 2013: from €125,000 to €175,000 (4,145 to 3,817 U.S. at today’s rates). Which is why we suppose it makes (rumored) sense that BMW would only plan on building “30,000 units within five years.”

[Source: e90 Post]

Report: BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics approved for production originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A production sports car based on last year’s BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept will reportedly debut at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show and come to market by 2013. According to Germany’s AutoBild, the car which they refer to as the I100 (as part of BMW’s project I which is also spawning the MegaCity EV) will be powered by a hybrid powertrain much like the one in the concept.

A 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine (possibly a diesel) paired with an electric motor based on the architecture of BMW’s mild hybrid 7 Series would drive the rear wheels, while a second motor would drive the front wheels. A lithium ion battery pack is earmarked to provide electrical energy storage, although it’s not clear if the plug-in capability of the concept would be retained.

According to Autobild, it’s also possible that we’ll see an M variant of this car using the 450 horsepower twin-turbo inline-six from the next generation M3 along with set of supercapacitors instead of a lithium battery pack.

[Source: AutoBild]

Rumormill: Production BMW Efficient Dynamics sports car in 2013, M version too! originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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