BMW

After the mirrorless BMW i8, the German automaker unveiled an updated version of its i8 spyder at CES in Las Vegas, but the company has yet to offer any production timeline.
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Over a year after the first deliveries of the plug-in hybrid BMW i8, the open-top version is still not available even though the option was unveiled in 2012 – prior to the release of the production version.

But now BMW CEO Harald Krüger reiterated the company’s commitment to the feature and said the company is working on a production version.
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Some Tesla Model S owners who are used to high-end luxury cars have complained about the vehicle’ interior not being up to the standards of a $80,000+ car. Andrey, a Model S owner in Moscow, was tired of complaining and took action. He completely changed the interior of his Model S to a BMW 6-series’ for about $30,000.
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In a recent interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt, BMW CEO Harald Krüger reiterated the company’s intention to phase out diesel models and introduce more electric vehicles in order to comply with increasingly strict emission regulations.

The CEO also commented on Tesla’s Autopilot, which he doesn’t see as the lead semi-autonomous option on the market at the moment. Of course, this comment shouldn’t come as a surprise since you rarely hear an executive admiting that a competitor’s technology is more advanced than his own company’s, but Krüger’s comments went beyond boasting BMW’s tech.
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BMW debuted the i8 with ‘Laser Lights’ in the U.S. at the 2015 LA Auto Show last week. The ‘Laser Light’ option was available in Europe since the introduction of the i8 in 2014, but the FDA has been stalling the feature the in the U.S. until now.
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Last month we reported on comments made by BMW CEO Harald Krüger about the BMW i3 getting a new battery pack with more range in 2016. Now we learn through an article coming out of Autocar yesterday that sources close to BMW are saying that the new battery pack should enable “up to 124 miles of range on a single charge” and be available as a retrofit to current i3 owners – something Krüger hinted could be possible.

Autocar’s Greg Kable didn’t say on what he is basing his “124 miles” figure, but he compared it to the current range of the i3 which he said is “just under 100 miles”. This means he is working with the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) which is not very accurate in predicting real world range.
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A major new partnership between Blink, BMW, ChargePoint, Nissan and EVgo was announced today at the LA Auto show. The five partners created the ROEV association with the goal to access all 3 charging networks with a single account.

Between them Blink, ChargePoint and EVgo operate more than 17,500 electric vehicle charging stations or about 91% of all stations in the US.

Full press release below:
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BMW is expanding its “ChargeNow DC Fast” program in partnership with eVgo by installing 500 more DC fast charging stations across 25 U.S. markets. eVgo already installed 100 stations throughout California last year as part of the ChargeNow DC Fast program and now the company will add 50 stations (~2 in each market) before the end of the year under the new deal, which should bring the total to 600 stations by the end of 2018.
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Yesterday, BMW celebrated the two-year anniversary of the launch of the BMW i3 by releasing a few tidbits of information about the vehicle program. The company says its Leipzig plant is assembling 100 units per day and that the i3 is now the third best-selling electric vehicle in the world, but in my opinion the most interesting information BMW released is that over 80 percent of BMW i3 buyers are new customers to the BMW Group.
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This week BMW’s Motorrad division unveiled an all-electric concept version of its RR motorcycle called “eRR”. The company didn’t reveal any specific information about the new concept, which it described as an “experimental vehicle” – meaning it isn’t likely to hit the market anytime soon.

But the group released the following pictures:
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Fisker Automotive, which recently rebranded as Karma Automotive, announced today the signing of a supply agreement with BMW for electric and hybrid powertrains.

Earlier this summer, the company moved to Riverside, California to set up a manufacturing facility and is now aiming to re-launch its plug-in hybrid vehicle in 2016.
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BMW CEO Harald Krüger talked to German magazine Die Zeit earlier this week and confirmed that the company will introduce an upgraded battery pack for next year’s version of its flagship all-electric vehicle, the BMW i3.
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BMW’s MINI brand has been expected to come out with a battery-powered vehicle for a long time now. In 2009, when BMW was first working on its “i” program, which eventually resulted in the i3 and i8, the company produced a few hundreds “MINI E” to test its electric drivetrain technology, but the vehicle never made it to a wide release.

During the Frankfurt Motor Show, Auto Express spoke with MINI’s product management chief Ralph Mahler who didn’t rule out an electric MINI, but it wouldn’t be for anytime soon…
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Germany is in the spotlight of the automotive industry as the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show is coming to an end. While we are sorting through vehicle registration data, we decided to take a look at the top-selling electric vehicles in Germany. Unsurprisingly, the BMW i3 is the best-selling all-electric vehicle in its home turf, but sales are down 27% year over year while Tesla’s Model S is gaining market shares by growing sales 84% based on registration data.
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In an interview at the Frankfurt Motor Show, BMW’s sales chief Ian Robertson revealed that the company is in the “final stages of consideration” to introduce new all-electric vehicles by expanding its “i” lineup.

Currently BMW only sells the i3 and the i8 under its electric “i” brand, but the German automaker is evaluating a “number of options” to take advantage of the new platform introduced in 2013.
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