Up Close and Personal: Vision Efficient Dynamics

While we have covered the Vision Efficient Dynamics Concept at great length here at BimmerFile we have not had the chance to get up close and personal with it, until now. We recently attended a private showing of the car before its trip to LA for the auto show.

While not anticipated to be introduced as a single production model the Vision is said to showcase future drivetrain, efficiency techniques and design language that will be used in production models. This revolutionary concept is designed with the intent of being powered by 2 electric motors and a three-cylinder diesel engine to produce 356 hp and 590 lb-ft. It would rocket the car from 0-60 in 4.8 seconds while achieving almost 63 miles per gallon.

From pen to the vehicle you see pictured above took the design team and staff of almost 30, eight months to produce in its current form. Extensive use of advanced aerodynamic techniques were used on the body and wheels to keep drag at a minimum, allowing for greater efficiency. Active aerodynamics are also utilized to improve drag and overall operating efficiency, the front grill has the ability to open or close depending on the operating temperature of the diesel motor (a technology that is currently utilized in the EU market on some models).

This 2+2 coupe uses space saving concepts to assure adequate interior comfort. This is achieved by allowing the Lithium Polymer battery packs to live within the center line of the undercarriage from the front to the rear. These batteries would also permit the car to run solely on battery power for 31 miles. In design it can be used solely as a diesel, electric only or both simultaneously.

The interior electronics and climate control systems are great departures from current vehicles with a key focus on keeping resistance, weight and electrical draw to a minimum. These elements allow greater vehicle efficiency by placing less demand on the batteries and engine.

In person this vehicle is something to behold, it is a complete departure from current BMW design and looks to be a car from the future (Marty may have even seen one at some point in his travels). If this is what BMW has in store for us in the coming decades, I am all for it. It is aggressive, attractive, efficient and still has an internal combustion engine in it; how can you go wrong?

Worth noting is that this concept does not actually contain a full working diesel/hybrid drivetrain in it at this time (it is powered by an electric motor) but in the future we will see the proposed system in a vehicle as the engineers are hard at work finalizing it.

If you get the chance, go and see it at the LA show from December 4-13 in the Convention Center. We will have a full show preview in the next week.