BMW Releases New Video On First Electric Car: 1972 BMW 1602e

Today's BMW i3 may be the first electric car available to the public in large quantities from the Bavarian brand, but it's certainly not BMW's first-ever electricvehicle.

Over the past four decades, BMW has built numerous concepts and prototypes to experiment with electric propulsion.

And it all started with a boxy orange model, the 1602e developed 43 years ago, in 1972.

MORE: BMW Celebrates 40 Years Of Electric Cars, From 1602 To i3 (Dec 2012)

While the i3 can be seen as a response to tightening global emissions standards and concerns over climate change, the 1602e was a response to the geopolitical issues of its own time.

While the 1973 OPEC oil embargo hadn't yet hit, continuing turmoil in the Middle East had already led to concern over the potential for shortages and disruptions in the supply of oil.

1972 BMW 1602e

Based on the now-classic "02"-series sedan, the 1602e featured a bank of lead-acid batteries under its hood, and a 32-kilowatt (42 horsepower) electric motor.

The batteries were essentially the same type used to power the 12-volt electrical system of a typical internal combustion car. They were grouped together as (very large) cells into one pack.

This arrangement yielded just 37 miles of range, with a weight penalty of around 770 pounds.

Only two examples of the 1602e were built, and they were both used at the 1972 Olympic Games in BMW's in hometown of Munich.

1972 BMW 1602e

They were used to shuttle dignitaries, and to pace athletes in long-distance running events.

The advantage of that, BMW notes in the above video, is that runners didn't have to breath exhaust fumes while being paced by the cars.

That's an advantage shared by the Nissan Leaf when a prototype paced the world-famous New York City Marathon in November 2010, a month before the car went on sale to the public.

Forty years later, BMW electric cars also performed supported duties at the 2012 London Olympics.

In between, BMW built and tested several more electric prototypes--including the fleets of MINI E and Active E released to customers as test beds for the i3.

In other words, you could say the i3 was four decades in the making.

Source: Green Car Reports

DOE Backs Hydrogen Cars With Cash

The US Department of Energy announced this week it is awarding $7 million dollars to promote improvements in hydrogen storage and distribution systems. These improvements will help lower the cost of infrastructure needed for fuel cell powered vehicles. In a press release, the DOE said such investment is “critical to the widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.” 

Hydrogen powered cars simply substitute a fuel cell for the battery found in electric cars. Extended range and rapid refueling time are two factors that strongly favor hydrogen powered cars. 

But wait. Aren’t electric cars the wave of the future?

Maybe not. Toyota announced last week that it is switching its focus from electric cars to fuel cells. Honda already sells a fuel cell car in California, where it will soon be joined by Hyundai. Mercedes Benz is aggressively pursuing fuel cells. And just last week the Japanese government announced it is putting its full weigh behind making Japan the world’s fuel cell technology leader.

Currently the future of the automobile looks to be a mix of hybrids, plug in hybrids, electrics and fuel cells. Asian automakers are betting heavily on fuel cells, going so far as to forsake their early EV programs. American companies are betting more heavily on electrics, especially plug-in hybrids, while European manufacturers are hedging their bets and dabbling in a little bit of everything. Which technology prevails will largely depend on infrastructure; right now America has over 121,000 places you can buy gasoline but only 11 public hydrogen refilling locations, 10 of them in California.

An optimist would say the market for fuel cells and hydrogen energy has a lot of room for growth!

Source: Green Autoblog

BMW And Its 40 Year History Of Electric Vehicles

While the BMW brand is better known for its luxury performance sedans than for its emissions-saving technologies, 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the first all-electric BMW. To celebrate, BMW has put out a brief primer on its EV efforts, starting way back in 1972 at the Munich Olympics.

The BMW 1602 EV debuted at the 1972 Munich Olympics with just 19 miles of range.

The Munich Olympics was BMW’s chance to show to the world their response to the ongoing oil crisis in the Middle East. To wit, BMW’s engineers developed the 1602 Electric using a 43 horsepower Bosch electric motor and 12 lead-acid batteries. Alas, with just 19 miles of range, even their limited use during the Olympics pushed the boundaries of the very limited range. Yet the battery pack was designed to be swapped out for a fresh one, an idea that is still on the table thanks to Project Better Place.

BMW followed up their efforts in 1981 with an all-electric rendition of the 3-series sedan. BMW built eight of these 325iX cars using sodium-sulphur batteries that had three times the energy density as lead-acid batteries. BMW even went so far as to convert these experimental sedans to all-wheel, or even front-wheel drive, an idea that has recently resurfaced in the BMW Touring concept.

The BMW E1, built from the ground-up as an EV.

In 2008 BMW launched the MINI-E project, leasing a small number of electrified MINI Coopers in a massive field test. Output was up to 200 horsepower and range was estimated at around 200 miles, though the high lease cost meant just a relative few could afford them.

Nonetheless, this test has helped BMW develop a new generation of EVs, including the BMW ActiveE, the latest BMW public test fleet. With 1,000 test vehicles, 167 horsepower, and a real-world range of 100 miles, this is arguably BMW’s best EV effort yet. With BMW launching an entire sub-brand dedicated to EVs, there is no doubt that the past 40 years of trial and error is paying dividends for the German automaker.

Source: BMW