BMW, the German car maker, have revealed it’s branch into electric cars. They have named the division BMWi.
They announced two cars, the BMW i3 and the BMW i8. The i3 is a small car perfect for the city and is fully electric. The i8 is sports car which packs a punch. it is a hybrid vehicle combining a three cylinder engine with an electric motor.
The cars have been made out of light weight aluminum to improve performance and reduce weight. The body of the cars are made from a light yet strong form of carbon fibre. The idea is that by reducing weight the batteries of the vehicles will be able to be smaller yet travel as far.
The cars have an odd design as a result. Some of the car is silver (the aluminum) and some of the car is black carbon fibre. BMW sales and marketing director said that BMW ‘wanted to show the carbon fibre in the raw’.
The i3 is set to go on sale in 2010 and will have a range of 95 miles in one charge. The motor and the batteries lie beneath the car floor in an effort to increase space within the car. There will be four seats and a 200 litre boot.
The i8 is more of a sports car and with its aerodynamics looks is less spacious than the i3. The i8 is only a prototype currently but is expected to go on sale in 2014. The range using solely electrics is much less than the i3 at a measly 21 miles.
The cars will create 800 jobs at BMW’s Leipzig, Germany factory. All the cars will be built in Leipzig, good news for Chancellor Merkel!
No one quite knows if electric cars will catch on and BMW are not exactly sure how stong demand for electric vehicles will be in the future. However they have said they will be make ‘tens of thousands’ of the BMWi cars in the first few years.
Interestingly, the process of manufacturing these electric cars is less complex than normal cars. There is no need for a wielding or press shop and the BMWi range require no paint, making use of their raw materials.
The electric car market is definitely an interesting sector. Whether electric cars will really take off is another question.