According to a local Washington State TV station BMW and partner SGL are looking at several locations in North America to build a plant specifically for producing carbon fiber material likely for the upcoming iSetta range of cars. According to sources BMW is looking at a location near Moses Lake Washington (US) and an unnamed Canadian city. The project is so secret that those inside the Washington county where Moses Lake resides are only calling it “Project Chinook”.
With labor and material cheaper in North America than Europe, BMW is looking to make a strategic decision to shift some production of components outside of Europe and closer to what is currently BMW’s largest market and closer to what could eventually eclipse it, China.
BMW and SGL are expected to make a decision and a formal announcement in the coming weeks.
Today BMW presented it’s annual account press conference where BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer re-confirmed that BMW will build a front wheel drive car below the 1 Series. Let’s go straight to the money quote of the article:
“There will be front-wheel-drive BMWs in the smaller vehicle classes in the future,” BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer said at the company’s annual financial results press conference here today.
BMW expects the new architecture to debut in 2014 (a year later than anticipated) with the debut of the third generation MINI hatch. The new archicture will allow BMW to produce many products around the size of the current MINI and MINI Clubman and smaller. Basically everything from minicars to compacts. All told Automotive News expects the architecture to underpin up to 20 different MINI and BMW models.
BMW has gone the length of officially disputing the notion that the upcoming launch of the ActiveE will be smaller than the MINI E field study. In fact based on our understanding the idea is to offer at least the same number in hopes that many of those MINI E customers would move over to the Active E.
Official Release: Recent published reports have incorrectly stated that the size of the fleet of BMW ActiveEs that will be deployed during the BMW Group’s second-phase field trial in the US will be limited to 200 vehicles. While the exact size of the fleet has yet to be confirmed, it will be at least as large as the MINI E fleet which is currently in operation. There are 450 MINI Es on the road in the US right now. They are being driven by a dedicated group of individuals and select fleet users.
With the Geneva Motor Show wrapping up BMW has created a highlight reel or sorts that details the new 5er Hybrid, Active E and 335is models. Worth watching as a recap of much the reporting we’ve been doing over the past week about the show.
Last fall we had a quick jaunt in the two-mode BMW X6 Active Hybrid. We have discussed the system at great length with Dave Buchko from BMWNA when he visited with us during a BimmerCast. Thanks to Dave we were left with a great understanding of the system and how BMW created a hybrid that provided both better fuel economy and performance than the V8 X6.
We have not discussed the vehicle much lately but Herr Spira over at The Diesel Driver recently had a week in the X6 Active Hybrid and has cued us back to the NiMH based hybrid. In his review he breaks down the vehicle systems and explains some of the plusses and minuses of BMW’s first production hybrid.
The secret sauce behind the performance is the two-mode active transmission that supports enhanced efficiency or greater performance, as desired by the driver. When the driver accelerates, the V-8 is joined by the two electric motors to provide additional power without increasing fuel consumption. The motors also supply power in most driving conditions (such as highway driving), reducing the power output required of the V-8.
For more of his take on things (including an unexpected conclusion) check out the complete review at The Diesel Driver.
As BMW is taking the wraps off of its latest 5 Series in Geneva, it will also be unveiling its latest hybrid. Yes the mystery concept car that had been speculated about is indeed the Active Hybrid 5. The car has a straight-six combined with an automatic transmission plus an electric motor developing maximum output of 40 kW (drawing its energy from a high-voltage battery at the back of the car). While it’s not the revolutionary drivetrain that we’ll see in the Megacity vehicles, it does bring a fair share of high tech to the masses. It’s also a glimpse of what is to come with the next generation 3er. But we’ll have more on that later.
Official Release: The new concept car offers a particularly good rendition of the new BMW 5 Series Sedan in all its dynamic, efficient and innovative qualities, at the same time representing the ongoing development of the BMW ActiveHybrid X6 and the BMW ActiveHybrid 7 with their drivetrain technology already in production.
The drive system featured in the BMW Concept 5 Series ActiveHybrid consists of a straight-six gasoline engine with TwinPower Turbo technology, eight-speed automatic transmission, and electric drive. Integration of BMW ActiveHybrid technology in a sedan already extremely efficient with its “conventional” combustion engine reduces both fuel consumption and emissions once again by more than 10 per cent. At the same time the electric motor offers a boost function, supporting the gasoline engine in generating particularly dynamic drive power for an even more sporting driving experience in the car.
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Sections: Project i Mar 20th, 2010 No Comments 
