No automotive company wants regulation. But from time to time, rules and deadlines the industry to move in a way that it otherwise cannot. For BMW, the first emission standards in California in 1966 and the US Clean Air Act were exactly this type of thrust in 1970. They not only cleaned the air – they accelerated BMW with cars such as the 2002 Tii into the fuel injection, which made them cleaner, more efficient and faster.
However, the reduction in emissions was only part of the story. Due to the removal of them, something radical required: a return to electrical drive lines. And while BMW did not build any cars during the first “electrical age” around the turn of the century, he dived in 1972 with the Elektro 1602, a converted year 2002, which tacit marathon runner at the Olympic Games in Munich. Twelve batteries batteries and a 44-mile range meant that it was more science project than a production car, but it was the beginning of a long journey.
Hydrogen path and Californian pressure
In the 1980s and 90s, BMW followed hydrogen as a zero emission path, while the regulators in California repeatedly pushed for EVS. Concepts such as E1 and E2 looked futuristic, but had to deal with sodium sulfur batteries. Even a small 3-series fleet with experimental range extremes missed the brand. The reality, as BMW NAS Richer Brekus later expressed: “The E36 electric vehicles were terrible.”
California finally agreed, instead the partly zero emission vehicles from BMW accepted to accept cars that were still operated by petrol, but were extremely clean. Millions of them went on the street and dramatically improved the air quality of California.
Project I and the Megacity Vision
BMW changed gears until 2007. BMW canceled the F1 project and shifted engineering talent in electrification. In combination with hydrogen experiments, the company started the project I. The idea was not only to build up an EV, but also to rethink mobility in the age of mega. Enter the Mini E: 1,088 lithium-ion cells that supply a mini slip with your rear seats with electricity. With 201 hp and a stressed range of 156 miles, it was rough, but promising.
What made the mini e remarkable was not the hardware, but the test program. In 2009, BMW placed 450 of them in the hands of real customers in La, New York and New Jersey. Leasing costs 850 US dollars a month and the drivers had to give feedback. Suddenly BMW not only experimented in a laboratory – the EV future lived alongside its customers.
Peter Trepp, residents of Pacific Palisades, blog every day about loading, regenerative brakes and life without petrol stations. Customers discovered the joys (immediate torque, one pedal driving) and the headache (European plug without UL approval, brutal range loss in the cold).
From mini e to activee
The second phase came in 2012 with the BMW Activeee, a coupé of the battery-battered 1 series with liquid batteries and more refinement. The range was still only about 100 miles, but the car presented the drive train and thermal management, which underpins the first real production -EV of BMW, The I3.
Lessions that are still important
The Mini E and Activee were not sales hits – they rolled test beds. But they taught BMW how customers feel how fear feels and how UVS could use UVS to stabilize the network of one day. They also laid the foundation for the thinking of the BMW circuit industry and exhibited old EV batteries for inpatient energy storage.
And while Tesla collected headlines with the model S and its 300-mile range, I showed how an old car manufacturer was able to learn through the project through the methodical path from BMW. The experiments were messy, sometimes frustrating, but essential.
Our attitude
In retrospect, the mini e and ActiveE feel like shabby prototypes compared to the polished new classes that will arrive. But they were the spark. The regulation may have enforced BMW’s hand, but what has maintained the momentum was curiosity, stubbornness and the willingness to hand over imperfect cars to real drivers. Without that there is no i3, no IX and no EV future for BMW and no upcoming new class.
