Autocar - BMW's electric baby

:rofl:

Looks like an Ignis has crashed into the rear end of a beaver and left it suitably unimpressed..

Splitting hairs really though - if anyone can make hybrids work in a major way with the infrastructure to match then BMW have to be in the running. Not sure about the bubble car branding though...

Well, considering the spin and half-truths used in their Efficient Dynamics commercials, I'm sure they'll succeed in selling as many as they make. I don't suppose the average BMW buyer will be that bothered about being ripped off so long as they have the Blue Propellor on their bonnet (or at least BMW 'pedigree' seeing how its unlikely to be RWD! :P )

All I can say is you might be slightly incorrect. All that silly Stop/Start, regen and Active blinds behind the grill, do make a noticeable difference. I’ve tried driving with the Stop/Start switched off and in town it makes a very noticeable difference, the engine is all Alloy too. Plus there aren’t too many cars that produce 200bhp, can almost crack 150mph and only pay £115 a year in Road tax, so the Government agrees. Before anyone says the car is configured to do well in the tests, all I can say is do you think all the other manufacturers don’t bother trying to do well in the Government tests?

Autocar - BMW's electric baby

:rofl:

Any manufacturer who wants to sell in California/America will have to build these funny little cars:(. I bet even Gordon Murrays new project looks odd when it’s that short:D.

In response: I personally think stop/start is dangerous. Works fine when the car is brand new for sure, but I wouldn't fancy pulling out from engine stop at a busy junction on a battery / starter / alternator that had four or five years and several laps of the planet under their belts. I just hope that it doesn't take a fatal collision for manufacturers to realise it's a step too far in the name of efficiency.

And as for 'regeneration', every car on the planet does that anyway, so for BMW to effectively claim it as an innovation is borderline fraudulent IMO.

I'm sure that things like the blinds do their bit to help, but seeing how the engine on mine is at temperature for 80-90% of my regular journeys anyway, I don't think a minute or two cut off the warm-up time will make that much of a difference...

In response: I personally think stop/start is dangerous. Works fine when the car is brand new for sure, but I wouldn't fancy pulling out from engine stop at a busy junction on a battery / starter / alternator that had four or five years and several laps of the planet under their belts. I just hope that it doesn't take a fatal collision for manufacturers to realise it's a step too far in the name of efficiency

but if the battery etc didn't have enough left to start the engine, surely you'd end up still sat at the busy junction rather than half way across it just the same as if you'd forgotten to put the car in gear or left the handbrake on?

I'm not talking so much about a total failure to start; more the idea that the car takes a second or two to start rather than coming to life 'instantly', meaning that you misjudge your manouevre and end up getting broadsided... :(

In response: I personally think stop/start is dangerous. Works fine when the car is brand new for sure, but I wouldn't fancy pulling out from engine stop at a busy junction on a battery / starter / alternator that had four or five years and several laps of the planet under their belts. I just hope that it doesn't take a fatal collision for manufacturers to realise it's a step too far in the name of efficiency.

And as for 'regeneration', every car on the planet does that anyway, so for BMW to effectively claim it as an innovation is borderline fraudulent IMO.

I'm sure that things like the blinds do their bit to help, but seeing how the engine on mine is at temperature for 80-90% of my regular journeys anyway, I don't think a minute or two cut off the warm-up time will make that much of a difference...

The blinds also improve the frontal drag by closing when the car is moving and not requiring as much cooling. It heats up very quickly too, but I think this is partly down to the all Alloy block too.

As for the start/stop, only time will tell, but there is a button to disable it if you don’t like it and if your battery is a little low, the engine does not stop anyway. Eventually Skoda will produce a car with this type of system and I know which brand I would rather be driving with it fitted. A company that pioneered it across several ranges and has a proven track record with technology and several years experience or a company that realised it had to jump on the band wagon.

ps the engine fires in first revolution, inside the time it takes to put the clutch in it is running normally.

ps the engine fires in first revolution, inside the time it takes to put the clutch in it is running normally.

That's exactly what I mean: it will on a new car. One a few years old, and you'd expect a second or so of 'ruh-ruh-ruh-rarrrrrrr!'. And that's what I think is so dodgy...

That's exactly what I mean: it will on a new car. One a few years old, and you'd expect a second or so of 'ruh-ruh-ruh-rarrrrrrr!'. And that's what I think is so dodgy...

If my diesel, regardless of make, did the ruh ruh thing once hot starting, I would take it straight round to the menders anyway as something would need sorting. Stop/Start is coming to a street near you soon so you will have to get used to it I reckon.

So far BMW reckon they aren’t’ seeing any major problems with the system and my local garage have seen cars with 70K on them so far using this system and it seems to be robust. I can see the battery being the first thing to go, but there are so many things requiring electricity on modern cars, I can see ‘battery not being a specific Stop/Start problem.

That's exactly what I mean: it will on a new car. One a few years old, and you'd expect a second or so of 'ruh-ruh-ruh-rarrrrrrr!'. And that's what I think is so dodgy...

But if the car doesn't think it can start it won't.

Citroen and other manufacturers have been using this for longer than BMW and it seems fine.

Anyway if this is "dangerous" then what about the prius, it's a fire waiting to happen with so many electronics. I mean the engine switches on and off as needed, while driving, so there is an interesting one. Cut the engine and the leccy motor can't take over as it won't start due to iffy electronics.

Same situation.

I never said I was a fan of the Prius...

Stop/Start has seen a few false dawns, haven't VW and Citroen tried it in the past? Maybe the technology has caught up with the idea and BMW can make it stick this time.

With all due respect though Lady E, I doubt a 70k mile Eff Dyn. Beemer sees much stop/start traffic

Stop/Start has seen a few false dawns, haven't VW and Citroen tried it in the past? Maybe the technology has caught up with the idea and BMW can make it stick this time.

Yep, I remember Chris Goffey reviewing a red Mk3 Golf that had it on the old Top Gear - that's got to be a good ten years ago...

Stop/Start has seen a few false dawns, haven't VW and Citroen tried it in the past? Maybe the technology has caught up with the idea and BMW can make it stick this time.

With all due respect though Lady E, I doubt a 70k mile Eff Dyn. Beemer sees much stop/start traffic

Those school runs don’t do themselves you know:D.

Actually they do get a lot of use, as I spend half my life stuck on motorways in jams so I get to use mine a lot:(

70k, my goodness you're racking it up, how long have you had it now?

70k, my goodness you're racking it up, how long have you had it now?

Not mine!! I only have around 15-16K I think

And as for 'regeneration', every car on the planet does that anyway, so for BMW to effectively claim it as an innovation is borderline fraudulent IMO.

There's never a polis about when you need one; someone's stolen my wheel motors!

There's never a polis about when you need one; someone's stolen my wheel motors!

Do they actually use wheel motors à la Pruis, though? I thought it was just that they used the alternator when coasting to charge the battery, which is exactly what every other car does???

If my diesel, regardless of make, did the ruh ruh thing once hot starting, I would take it straight round to the menders anyway as something would need sorting. Stop/Start is coming to a street near you soon so you will have to get used to it I reckon.

But then what about van driver lore which says that keeping a diesel engine idling for a short time uses less fuel than switching it off and on again, due to the masses of fuel that need to be injected at startup? I'm sure thousands and thousands of owner-operators wouldn't be that profligate... :confused:

So far BMW reckon they aren’t’ seeing any major problems with the system and my local garage have seen cars with 70K on them so far using this system and it seems to be robust. I can see the battery being the first thing to go, but there are so many things requiring electricity on modern cars, I can see ‘battery not being a specific Stop/Start problem.

What worries me about the whole 'Oh, the car will take care of it' situation is that recently my car has been convinced it's running out of coolant (up to the application of one of Maplin's finest! ), and until I sorted it out, was wont to make the unilateral decision that ABS / ASR / PAS should temporarily be deactivated! Maybe that's the trade-off between buying German and buying Czech, but then computers never make mistakes, do they?

Just why is the car world so pants nowadays?

Everything that could be bad about motoring has come to pass.

Do they actually use wheel motors à la Pruis, though? I thought it was just that they used the alternator when coasting to charge the battery, which is exactly what every other car does???

Maybe not, but regeneration is more than just running the alternator when the engine's on the over-run; there has to be a method of supplying that power back to the drivetrain.

Maybe not, but regeneration is more than just running the alternator when the engine's on the over-run; there has to be a method of supplying that power back to the drivetrain.

I didn't think that Efficient Dynamics went as far as true hybridity, though? Not that you'd have guessed from their commercials, which was my original point... :confused:

I didn't think that Efficient Dynamics went as far as true hybridity, though? Not that you'd have guessed from their commercials, which was my original point... :confused:

No but there are windings somewhere in the hub and a cable back to charge the system. Each hub acting as a mini alternators from what I remember being told.