On Again, Off Again BMW i5 Off The Table — Again

Few concept cars have gotten as much press attention as the long rumored BMW i5. The German luxury car maker burst upon the electric car scene in 2011 with two highly innovative models that married electric powertrains with advanced carbon fiber manufacturing techniques. The i3 sedan, with its funky styling, became a cult darling, but suffered from modest range. The plug-in hybrid i8 sports car coupled an electric motor for the front wheels with a turbocharged 3 cylinder engine driving the rears.

It was widely assumed an i car would come along eventually to fill in the model range. In fact BMW often suggested it was working diligently on an i5. But somewhere along the line, BMW lost the thread of the conversation. Here are just a few of the Gas2 titles about the i5 unearthed from the archives: BMW i5 Under Consideration As Tesla Model S Competitor (2013), BMW i5 Could Be Powered By Toyota Hydrogen Tech (2015), Rumor: BMW i5 Will Be An SUV Arriving In 2021 (2016). Whew! That’s a lot of news for a product that never materialized.

Now, the well respected BMWBlog says the whole i5 idea has gotten the kibosh from management. In a blog post dated May 23, it wrote, “According to several sources, BMW has scrapped their i5 plans and will focus on electrification of other series models — like the X3 and 4 Series GT — and on the high-tech iNEXT model. This move will leave the i sub-brand with two models, i3 and i8 this year before the i8 Spyder is being added to the lineup.” The iNEXT is the all singing, all dancing BMW concept car the company wants to be its signature vehicle as it moves into its second century as an automaker.

BMWBlog says the carbon fiber chassis used in the i3 and i8 is not flexible enough to accommodate the large variety of automobiles in its product lineup. Instead, it will focus its energy on cars that can be powered by a variety of powertrains —  both electric and plug-in hybrids. BMW is following the example of Korean companies Kia and Hyundai, both of which now offer customers new models that can be had with their choice of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or electric powertrains.

The future of the automobile is murky at best. It’s OK for Tesla to be a battery electric only car company, but the rest of the industry is trying to remain as nimble as possible so it can build the tens of millions of cars each year the world craves that are not pure electrics.

“The all-electric MINI and the all-electric BMW X3 will mark the beginning of the second wave of electrification for the BMW Group, benefitting from the ongoing technological progress we are making in this area,” said BMW CEO  Harald Krüger last week. “i NEXT sets out our strategic course for further electrification and the direction of project i over the coming decade. We will incorporate all-electric, battery-powered mobility into our core brands, as we have already done successfully with our plug-in hybrid vehicles. By using highly flexible architectures we can avoid duplicate investments in plant and equipment and will be able to adapt our range of electric and conventional vehicles to changing demand both quickly and efficiently.”

Source: BMWBlog  Image credit: Autocar

BMW i5 Will Be A Hydrogen-Powered Crossover - BMWBlog

Rumors are strange things. Some are just silly, like the rumor that Michael and Janet Jackson were the same person. Others are more substantive. The key to whether you should believe one or not is the source. When that source is BMWBlog, the likelihood that the rumor is true goes up. Way up.

BMWBlog says the BMW i5 won’t arrive until 2020 and, when it gets here, it will be a hydrogen-powered crossover SUV. Didn’t see that one coming, did you? We know that BMW R&D chief Klaus Froehlich has said that, whatever the BMW i5 is, it won’t arrive until 2020, so that part agrees with the BMWBlog folks. The rumor mill says the i5 production model will be just as spectacular in design as its i3 and i8 brothers, but without the i8’s butterfly doors. It will have an attractive appearance but not sacrifice the comfort of its passengers.

The thinking is that electric cars like the BMW i3 are perfect for the daily needs of urbanites and suburbanites, but that a hydrogen-powered fuel cell car would be better suited to long-distance travel with minimal time for refueling required. [Note: On the whole, the competitiveness and purpose of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is highly questionable.]

BMW is known to have tested a fuel cell powered 5 Series sedan in July. It is sharing some development duties with Toyota as the two companies plan a new sports car for both. Surely that means BMW has access to most if not all of the Toyota fuel cell technology embodied in its hydrogen-powered Mirai, doesn’t it?

The big question is, what about hydrogen refueling infrastructure? Who will pay for it and when will it be available? BMW is working at creating an electric charging network to rival that of Tesla, but at the moment, there are a total of 3 commercial hydrogen stations in the US, and 2 of them are located in southern California. BMW and Mercedes (and others) are hedging their bets on electric cars and fuel cell technology. Elon Musk may call them “fool cells,” but a lot of smart people are investing time and money in fuel cell technology — just in case.

It the BMWBlog rumor true? We don’t know. Parts of it agree with what is well known. But would BMW really crawl out on the fuel cell limb? Only if it thinks it can make money doing so, right?

Image Credit: BMWBlog

BMW i8 Get Hydrogen Fuel Cell Drivetrain

While Elon Musk believes electric cars are the future, and Toyota maintains that hydrogen fuel cells are a better idea, BMW has committed to playing both angles. After the successful launch of the BMW i3 and i8, the German automaker has rolled out a hydrogen fuel cell concepts based on an early i8 test mule.

When it launched, the BMW i8 came with a 3-cylinder gas-powered engine pair with two electric motors driving the rear wheels, giving the plug-in hybrid about 23 miles of electric driving range and 357 combined horsepower. However, it still relies on gasoline once the 7.1 kWh battery pack is drained, and while the 76 MPGe rating is better than the hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai, the i8 still ends up spewing emissions from its tailpipe.

That changes with the eDrive Hydrogen Fuel Cell prototype. BMW has toyed with hydrogen as a replacement for petrol in various ways, and while the hydrogen-powered BMW i8 appears to be the fruits of the BMW-Toyota tech-sharing alliance, it was actually built in 2012, before the alliance was ever cemented. With 300 miles of range per tank and a sinister look, the hydrogen-powered eDrive BMW i8 was actually one of the first test mules built before production.

But where the plug-in hybrid version of the i8 dolls out a combined 357 horsepower and can zip from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.4 seconds, the hydrogen version of the i8 makes just 268 horsepower and takes 6 seconds to reach 60 MPH. BMW also fitted this experimental drivetrain to a 5 Series GT, and the rumored BMW i5 could offer both a plug-in hybrid and hydrogen drivetrain.
That said, given the above specs, I know which one I’d prefer.

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BMW Enters Holding Pattern On EVs To Gauge Demand

It has taken BMW nearly half a decade to bring its initial electric car concepts into production, and at least in Germany, demand is already strong. Before BMW adds any more cars to its i-line of electrified vehicles, the German company wants to see how the world reacts to its take on green cars.

Despite reported production delays, the first BMW i3 and BMW i8 vehicles are making their way to dealerships and buyers. BMW has reportedly said that demand for both vehicles is strong, and the initial allotment of i8s may already be spoken for. Yet despite registering the i1 through i9 trademarks, executives have decided to go into a holding pattern to see just how strong demand is beyond eager early adopters.

While there is naturally plenty of room for the i-brand to grow beyond a compact urban commuter and a high-performance sports car, BMW has already spent some $2.7 billion developing its dual green cars and the i brand itself. That’s a lot of spent capital, reportedly more than the $1 billion Nissan spent to develop the Leaf, and there’s a reason for that. Whereas the Nissan Leaf is based on an existing platform (the Nissan Versa), BMW developed not one, but two brand new platforms for the i3 and i8. Add in the additional cost of developing two mostly carbon fiber vehicles and the associated technologies, and you quickly work your way up to that $2.7 billion price tag.

While all this development has given these two electric/hybrid vehicles better performance than their peers, and a higher price tag too. There’s a lot of sunken cost into these two vehicles, and BMW needs to make that money back in order to justify more cars, including a mid-size or full-size sedan to compete with Tesla, which has its crosshairs on the German luxury brand. Meanwhile, BMW has its own Active E testers that are quite popular with customers wanting a mid-size EV.

With a reported 11,000 orders on the books and a six month delay for the BMW i3, things are certainly off to a good start. But Bimmer will have to sell a lot more electrics cars than that to make back the billions they’ve already invested.

Source: The Truth About Cars

BMW planning to stretch i3 into i5 family hauler?

If you're sweet on the new BMW i3 but wish it had more space to carry people and stuff, we've got good news for you. According to Autocar, BMW is planning on stretching the platform that underpins the i3 to create a new model, expected to be called i5.

The stretch job would add an extra four inches of legroom in the back and another six inches of rear overhang to the benefit of cargo space. The result would create a vehicle longer than the current Mini Countryman - although the next Countryman is likely to be even larger. As Autocar points out, the process of extending the i3's composte passenger cell likely wouldn't be as difficult or cost-intensive as lengthening a conventional metal chassis, although the rear doors would need to be re-engineered.

Whether the resulting vehicle would more closely resemble a hatchback, wagon, minivan or something in between remains to be seen, however BMW is said to have already registered the nameplates i1 through i8, signalling that the possibility is at least there to add more members to its new EV family.

News Source: Autocar