The new EV Experience Centre under wraps (Image: T. Larkum)
It has a fairly good location near the middle of the main shopping centre; it’s on Crown Walk, next to the big Boots store. It looks smaller than I expected, at least on the outside. Currently there isn’t much to see – the windows are blanked out and there was someone on the door in front of a sign saying ‘Invited Guests Only’.
EVEC’s BMW i8 plugin hybrid (Image: T. Larkum)`
Two plugin cars were on display at the intersection of Crown Walk and Silbury Arcade – a BMW i8 and a Kia Optima PHEV.
EVEC’s Kia Optima plugin hybrid (Image: T. Larkum)
We have been invited to the official EVEC launch so I’ll report back after that.
Auto Express singled out BMW for tech innovation across the board
The Auto Express New Car Awards took place yesterday, and among all the awards – from the Pick-up of the Year to the Small SUV of the Year – there were two slightly newer categories; Best Electric Car and the Technology Award. As you’d expect, the first went to the best EV on the roads today, and the latter was awarded to the brand with the most innovation across the board – and BMW won them both.
Electric Car of the Year – BMW i3
The BMW i3 is one of the most important cars on the road today. Sure, it’s not got the speed or the glamour of its i8 sibling, and it doesn’t sale in the same numbers as the Leaf, but the i3 is still an iconic electric car. Inside and out, it displays new thinking, innovative design and a sophisticated technology – three things BMW’s i brand has become known for. Fresh from a new facelift, Auto Express awarded it the title of Best Electric Car, beating competition from the new Renault Zoe and the Tesla Model S.
Technology Award – BMW
BMW also won the Technology award, but before we explain why, it’s worth outlining exactly what the award is for. Rather than in-car tech alone, the Technology Award is designed to recognise brands that are innovating across the board, inside the car and out, from apps to hybrid vehicles.
Plug in Hybrid options are beginning to cascade across the entire lineup of BMW’s core offerings. BMW designates these PHEVs as the iPerformance line with the marketing tag line; “Charging is optional, thrilling is not”. The X5-40e was the first to market in October 2015, then came the 330e in March of 2016, followed by the 740e nine months later. Now, it’s the 5 Series that’s getting the “e” treatment, with the introduction of the 530e iPerformance.
BMW of North America was kind enough to allow me an exclusive extended test drive of their latest iPerformance offering. Having it for nearly three weeks, I was able to get a good feel for how well the eDrive system works, how it performed, and what to expect in terms of fuel efficiency.
The 530e iPerformance comes with a turbocharged 2-liter inline 4-cylinder engine which, along with the synchronous electric motor combine for an output of 255hp and 310 lb-ft of torque. That’s enough power to propel the rear wheel drive 530e from 0-60mph in 6.1 seconds, and 5.8 seconds for the xDrive version (which I had), according to BMW. Top speed is 146 mph, and the maximum speed in all electric mode is 87 mph.
However, I noticed that the maximum speed in all electric mode diminishes as the state of charge depletes. So, while you start out with a top speed of 87 mph, it may be as low as 65 mph once the battery state of charge is under 10%.
In MAX eDRIVE mode, the 530e will remain in all-electric mode up to 87 mph, until the battery is depleted. However, if the driver fully depresses the accelerator, the ICE will fire up to supply added power.
There are three driving modes: Max eDrive, Auto eDrive and Battery Control. The car defaults to the blended mode of Auto eDrive, which combines the gas and electric power supply to increase efficiency. In Auto eDrive the car decides when it’s best to be in all electric mode, and when to blend the power. It works very well, and I was pleased to see the car wants to drive in electric mode as much as possible, and only turns on the ICE when more power is needed or when the battery SOC is low.
I found that this is probably the most efficient mode to use if you are driving long distances. If you’re going to be driving less than 40 miles, the Max eDrive mode would be the best choice. It keeps the car in all electric mode until the state of charge is depleted, and then the ICE kicks on.
The joint venture in autonomous driving by BMW, Mobileye and Intel has gained another partner in German automotive parts and tyre company Continental.
As the development of the technology continues at a pace, manufacturers are finding themselves in needs of an alliance with technology companies to ensure they can keep up with the demand required to meet launch targets. The BMW venture will see Continental play a role in the commercialisation of the platform, which will be sold to other vehicle manufacturers.
Frank Jourdan, member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and head of the Chassis & Safety division, comments:
‘We have already had very good experience in working with the BMW Group through jointly successfully completed development and series projects. Contributing development and integration for the partnership is a recognition of our extensive competence in the field of automated driving. The cooperation with the core partners involved represents the unique opportunity to drive ahead and get this technology of the future to our roads more quickly.’
Speaking on behalf of the partnership, Klaus Fröhlich, member of the board of management of BMW AG for development, adds:
‘Every new Tier One partner brings us a step closer to our goal: We intend to bring safe autonomous driving to series production by 2021 and actively shape this technology. With our non-exclusive approach to this technology of the future we will deliver a safe, fast and cost-efficient solution that is highly attractive also for other manufacturers.’
The group added Delphi to the partnership in May 2017, while Mobileye was bought by Intel earlier in 2017, the technology giant seeing the need to integrate the autonomous specialist into its ranks.
AS ELECTRIC cars become ever-more mainstream this BMW 530e is the latest example of new technology becoming normal.
BMW 530e is another example of how normal electric cars have become
BMW’s new plug-in hybrid version of the already-successful 5-Series could revolutionise the electronic market, especially among business drivers. Plug-in hybrid vehicles work by combining a petrol engine with an electric motor and battery.
That means the car can run on electric power for around 30 miles before the engine kicks in. Alternatively, both the engine and electric motor can work in tandem with the electric one running the car at lower speeds or under light acceleration, switching to or working with petrol when more performance is required.
It takes a sharp eye to even spot that this 530e is the plug-in hybrid version of BMW’s 5-Series saloon, introduced earlier this year. Only details like a blue tint to the grille, blue lining to the BMW badge on the alloy wheels and the eDrive logo on the rear door pillar, as well as the giveaway charge point flap behind the nearside front wheel, mark out this as the ultra-low emission 5-Series.
The car is the new plug-in version of the already popular 5-Series
The plug-in hybrid takes the 5-Series to new efficiency levels, which isn’t surprising as it’s the first rechargeable one. The 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine and 83kw electric motor combine to produce 252bhp, returning an average fuel economy figure of 141.2mpg, though that number is entirely dependent on how much time the car runs on electric rather than petrol, and the emissions figure is 46g/km.
That’s important for company car drivers because anything below 50g/km means lower monthly tax bills. It is also eligible for a £2,500 government grant off the purchase price. The battery helps performance too, giving the 530e a 0 to 60mph acceleration of 6.2 seconds. It is electronically limited to 146mph.
There are three driving modes for how the battery and engine work. In the Auto eDrive setting, the car decides whether to use electric or petrol based on how hard the driver is pressing the accelerator and the car’s speed.
Below 60mph and when not accelerating too hard the battery is employed. Push harder or get to higher speeds and the car switches to petrol. It’s essentially like a regular hybrid, such as Toyota’s Prius.
Somewhere along the way, throughout the history of the automobile, car interiors started to all replicate each other. Go back five or six decades and car cabins were all remarkably different, with unique ideas and ways of doing things.
However, modern cars are all very, very similar on the inside. Across brands, segments and price points, car cabins are mostly the same, in terms of overall layout, shape and technology. But there is one outlier in the industry and that’s the BMW i3.
Step into the BMW i3 and it’s almost like a different world, compared to other cars. It’s so different from anything else on the market that it’s almost unnerving. Whereas you can pretty much get in any car these days and immediately understand how to control and operate it and its systems, the i3 is different. There’s a learning curve and that throws people at first. And it isn’t even just because it’s an electric car, therefore lacking the need for conventional powertrain, as it differs greatly from every other electric car as well.
It’s sort of funny, as there have been quite a few modern cars that try and attempt a retro look with their cabins. The current Mustang, with its classic dials and dash layout, is one of them. Yet, the BMW i3 takes you twenty years into the future. There’s so much negative space, so much interior room that’s it’s almost shocking. In front of the funky two-spoke steering wheel is a single screen that displays the simplest of information and nothing more. The iDrive screen sort of floats above a section of negative space that’s often covered in eucalyptus wood and surrounded by exposed, unfinished carbon fiber reinforced plastic.
There’s nothing else like the cabin of the BMW i3 on the market. It’s fascinating and charming in a way that nothing else can come close to managing. Like it or not, there’s no denying its departure from the current car norms. This makes it one of the coolest cabins on the planet and the most interesting.
Nearly 100 plug-in cars and a stack of second-life EV batteries successfully responded to dozens of demand response calls.
The concept of using electric vehicles as a grid resource is no longer just theory. A pilot program recently conducted by BMW and Pacific Gas & Electric successfully demonstrated that electric vehicles can serve as reliable and flexible grid assets, which could eventually save money for both utilities and EV owners.
The BMW i ChargeForward Project is one of the best examples to date of a utility and an automaker working together to develop new technologies and use cases for electric vehicles (EVs) and their batteries.
“One of the things that we really wanted to test here was, how can we work closely with an automaker?”
said David Almeida, electric vehicle program manager at PG&E.
“We are an old company, and we’re a large company. Automakers are old companies, and they’re large companies. We both have our own internal bureaucracies. And so, one of the challenges I wanted to understand when we were setting this up was, how do we make those two independent entities work well together?”
“By and large, we didn’t have any of those institutional challenges that I was [worried about],” he said. “We ended up working very closely, I think partially because we’ve got this common shared goal of increasing electric transportation.”
With the i ChargeForward pilot, BMW was required to provide PG&E with 100 kilowatts of grid resources when called upon, through a combination of delaying charging for nearly 100 BMW i3 vehicles in the San Francisco Bay Area and drawing from a second-life stationary battery system built from reused EV batteries, for the duration of 1 hour. The grid services demonstrated in the pilot included day-ahead and real-time signals that were modeled after existing proxy demand resources from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), in order to test whether these resources could eventually participate at the wholesale level.
Is owning an electric car a statement or simply good financial sense?
In the beginning it was most definitely the former. Electric cars were expensive, limited in range and thanks to a complete lack of infrastructure impossible to make long journeys in.
To find out if these cars are now living up to our expectations we spent two weeks with BMW’s i3. We drove to work, did the weekly shop and generally found every possible excuse to use it over our own two legs.
To begin with we’ll run though the model we tested. This was a BMW i3 94ah with range extender. That meant that if we drove it in BMW’s COMFORT mode we could, just about, squeeze out a top range of 205 miles.
BMW i3
The first few days…
Getting into the car for the first time you’re struck at just how pleasant everything is. It’s BMW alright, but if BMW lived in California and went to yoga four times a week.
It’s all very minimalist and the cabin itself feels incredibly spacious, despite the small dimensions of the car.
Interior of BMW i3
Halfway there…
Electric cars are absolutely perfect for city driving, especially small ones like the i3.
Thanks to the i3 having plenty of punch in the acceleration department we found weaving through the central London chaos to be almost, and we do mean almost, enjoyable.
The silence is also something that becomes really hard to give up. The i3’s cabin has just the right amount of sound isolation to make sure that the only thing you’re going to hear is either the gentle whine of the electric motor or the radio. It’s a blissful oasis in a sea of livid cyclists.
The last stretch…
We’re on to the last week week now and despite having driven over what feels like every road hump in London our love for this plucky little car is growing.
The styling continues to be a real winner for us, especially this two-tone fabric against what looks like a black recycled composite. It looks futuristic and yet acutely homely at the same time, like a Bang & Olufsen speaker.
Bang & Olufsen speaker, BMW i3
Another thing that’s really starting to dawn on us is that not once have we worried about range anxiety. The car’s range readout is accurate enough that you never feel like it’s suddenly going to steal 5 miles from you.
While an owner will have a charging point installed in their house we couldn’t and so had to rely on a plug socket. Naturally the plug socket was too far away and so for the last two weeks we’ve actually been solely charging the car using what’s available around the city.
BMW i3, Charging Port
Verdict….
The i3 is a superbly built car. It feels and behaves in every sense like a product that is at the top end of what BMW is capable of. The interior build-quality is second to none while the enormous windscreen at the front gives it perfect visibility for city driving.
Its electric motor is powerful and responsive and while the ride itself is a little hard the seats are incredibly comfortable.
The i3 doesn’t feel like an experiment any more, it is simply a BMW that’s electric. Most of this is down to the car while the rest is absolutely down to the fact that we finally have a substantial charging network here in the UK.
[Test drive of] 2017 BMW i3 94 Ah REx. The last bit of that name seems like a jumbled mess of letters and numbers so, for those who aren’t well versed in EV-speak, it means that [this] particular i3 had the newer 94 Amp-Hour battery and a gasoline Range Extender.
