BMW's i3 — Cutting Edge Electric Vehicle Technology
Longtime 2GreenEnergy supporter and EV enthusiast Fritz Maffry just sent me this piece on BMW’s entrance into the electric vehicle space — a process that has been slow and measured, but perhaps, in the end, one that will prove to be the best approach overall – an example of “slow and steady wins the race.” Certainly their Mini-E (whose drive train was built by my friends at nearby AC Propulsion) was a considerable success – a true delight for their customers, and an experience from which BMW learned a great deal; in fact, it formed the platform on which their current entrant, the i3, would be developed. I urge readers to take a long look at today’s i3: a blend of art, style, superior auto engineering, and perhaps most prominent of all, an incredibly advanced implementation of IT and communications technology.
But as one would have expected from any respectable German company, there is nothing too radical here; in particular, there is no attempt to redefine transportation as we know it. Having said that, one could argue that BMW has begun to embrace the splitting of the auto world into “urban commuter vehicles” vs. the larger, heavier, ultra-luxury vehicles that the company hopes will continue to be prominent in country club parking lots for a very long time to come.
There is nothing too radical here; in particular, there is no attempt to redefine transportation as we know it (or as some of us know it, rather Believe) …Sad, that is really sad being one of the Leader with German Engineering. (When we use the term Alternate Energy, this is the end result, we simply copy the same mistakes using electrical engineering)
No industry is anxious to turn itself upside down, and the auto people may be our finest example. They’ve been through 120 years of carefully constructed, iron-clad grasp on the status quo.
While I understand the Agony and Frustration on the subject, I would still give a Full Benefit of doubt to the Auto Industry for what it achieved on it’s linear path as it went ahead, with enough oil to support the Fire; and a Grand Ignorance on Innovations or Fundamentals could be purely incidental. …See such things are not there even in `Mars Rover’ – where it was all too relevant considering limited or onetime refueling of such creatures. What is really intriguing is when `Novel Methods’ come to be known, Why has there been such hesitations to bring them to Light; when it is about survival of very same industry, …Peace, Economy and Planet.