Some of the latest news from BMW shows that the premier German automaker is committing further to the principle of all-electric vehicle design.
Reuters reports the firm plans to roll out five all-electric models in next year’s lineup, with a goal of having seven million electric cars on the road by 2030.
This comes partially in reaction to the European Union’s aggressive cuts in emissions over the past decade, but it’s also market-driven. We’re seeing all automakers focus on sustainable energy design, but BMW is doing it in its own iconic way.
The basic premise for the company’s design is simple – a large battery pack sits on the chassis of the vehicle, underneath the cabin, and an electric motor sits in back, near an accessible charging port.
BMW addresses the long-standing question of range by not only increasing the distance that these vehicles can go on a full electric charge, but also providing a generator to feed a combustion engine that can help out in emergencies only.
“In (one of these electric vehicles), this generator does not directly power the car, because if it did, it would be a hybrid,” write BMW spokes persons explaining the design.
Elsewhere in BMW’s online guide to its electric offerings, writers illustrate the appeal of the plug-in this way:
“Electric cars are obviously a practical choice, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fun. When you’re at a traffic light, you’ll have enough torque to smoke the guy next to you when the light turns green, but you’ll be able to do it in a sneaky way because the engine is so quiet.”
Interested aficionados can learn more in the company’s “Changing Lanes” podcast, which will go over all of the options that BMW offers, including ‘mild hybrids’ and fuel-cell vehicles. Innovation at BMW shows that this blue-chip automaker is far from becoming irrelevant on today’s markets.