BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept Sports Car REVEALED!

Just leaked onto http://www.bimmerpost.com

Diesel hybrid with 3-cylinder diesel engine and 2 electric motors.


Some pics. There's a ton so not going to link it all.

Whole set of photos:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=296845

 

It's a definitely interesting design. I especially like the front end and what they did with the grill and headlamps. The interior too looks top notch and I hope that we see BMW interiors that are influenced by it. The only part I'm not so sure about is the rear end, it looks like a mainstream compact/Prius/Volt and not like a BMW.

 

Re: BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept Sports Car REVEALED!

Wow I totally hate where BMW is going. The is high up on their worst concepts.

 

Re: BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept Sports Car REVEALED!

I don't like the rear... Some of the elements I do like, for example, the tail lights are pretty awesome as is the shape of the rear glass.

I love the design of the front clip. This is a nice smoothing over of the M1 concept's front end. Side profile is excellent.

-Chase

 

Re: BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept Sports Car REVEALED!

I don't like the rear... Some of the elements I do like, for example, the tail lights are pretty awesome as is the shape of the rear glass.

I love the design of the front clip. This is a nice smoothing over of the M1 concept's front end. Side profile is excellent.

-Chase

I agree... I love this front end and that doesn't happen with most BMWs right now. I see a lot of the M1 in it which is good.

Very well done BMW!

 

Re: BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept Sports Car REVEALED!

Now theres a bold car! LOVE IT!

 

The styling is definately... bold... to put it nicely. The overall proprtions, especially the side view, are excellent as usual for a BMW, but the details are at best love it/hate it... and I don't love it yet.

But I for one am far more interested in the drivetrain: 356hp/590lb-ft, 0-60 in 4.8s, with AWD... and yet it gets 62.6MPG (EU cycle, probably closer to 45-50MPG US) and up to 31 miles EV range... an amazing combination of fast and frugal... and it uses just a little 3-cylinder plug-in diesel hybrid!!

Yes, a production version would likely cost more than a small country and/or won't get the amazing mileage due to having more conventional aerodynamics and greater weight. But this definately shows that performance and "green"/CAFE-compliant are not mutually contradictory terms as some have claimed, and that just because BMW/M-B are bringing out 3-cyl/4-cyl engines doesn't mean luxury cars will go back to 0-60 in about a week like in the 70's/80's.

 

T
But I for one am far more interested in the drivetrain: 356hp/590lb-ft, 0-60 in 4.8s, with AWD... and yet it gets 62.6MPG (EU cycle, probably closer to 45-50MPG US) and up to 31 miles EV range... an amazing combination of fast and frugal... and it uses just a little 3-cylinder plug-in diesel hybrid!!

I went and read the BMW press release.

It's on Autoblog: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/29/frankfurt-preview-bmw-vision-efficientdynamics-concept-turbodi/

They airily say that they can discharge the battery down to 80%. But they give no explanation whatsoever as to how they pull off this technological feat. To get an idea as to the magnitude of this feat, note that the Volt's battery is designed to discharge only down to 50%.

And this 80% discharge is one of the keys to the overall efficiency of this amazing drivetrain. Without it, the whole recipe is thrown off.

I can only conclude there's a big element of vaporware in this machine.

 

wow this thing looks great! It's so wild and out there! That steering wheel looks like it's out of place, you should just think where you want to go, and it will obey

 

Lots of design ques from the last M1 concept.

 

I can't make out what the heck is going on with the interior. The exterior? It's misses in places, but for the most part... it looks awesome. I really hope they build something as bold and sexy as this.

 

There appears to be some missing information, to wit:

1. The story says the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) can drive the wheels directly, charge the battery or supply electricity to drive the electric motors but there is no mention of generator capacity or how the generator is mechanically coupled to the ICE. After the batteries are depleated the electric motors cannot produce any more power that what the generator can supply. It is also important to understand that regardless of how much capacity the generator has, the only available source of power when the batteries are depleated is the 163 HP from the ICE, you can send this power to the wheels mechanically through the 6-speed transmission, or by generating power to run the electric motors, or a combination of both, but the maximum power you will get is 163 HP. So that means this vehicle is vehicle can go like hell for 31 miles then becomea 163 HP weakling thereafter.

2. Why the traditional driveline? if the car is equipped with an ICE, generator and electric motors, why carry a second driveline, and one that is less efficient than a pure electric drive?

3. The story says the usable battery capacity is 8.6 KWH, but this is measured from full capacity of the battery which is 10.8 KWH to the 20% depleation point. GM has stated that the lithium ion battery chemistry is such that these batteries deterioate at a unacceptable rate if they are run beyond the 30 to 80 percent. So has BMW discovered some new chemistry, or are they planning to go through batteries at a higher rate than the Chevy Volt.

4. The battery is listed at 187 pounds. The Chevy Volt battery is a 16 KWH lithium ion battery that weighs in excess of 400 pounds. That works out to only 17.3 pounds per kilowatt for BMW verses 25 pounds per kilowatt for the Volt. The story implies this weight savings was accomplished by leaving out the cooling system, but this system is there for safety as litium batteries have a nasty habit of overheating and exploding, and in any case, with the exception of the coolant pipes, the cooling system is external to the battery and therefore not counted in the battery's weight. So how has BMW made this astounding achievment?

5. No mention of how much this car is going to cost or what type of warranty they plan to offer on the car and on the battery.

It does occur to me however that it is a good thing that BMW is bringing out a plug-in hybrid as it may help the Volt dispell the preception that is is built to compete with the Prius, which costs a lot less. It is also good to see more manufactures taking the electricification of automobile more seriously.

 

So that means this vehicle is vehicle can go like hell for 31 miles then becomea 163 HP weakling thereafter.

You don't need the extra power driving at constant speed. Only on acceleration. Driving on the highway at 100mph need maybe 80hp or less. At least my old 60hp Kadett had a top speed of 102mph.
So there are enough power left to charge the battery.

 

This, unlike the Volt is not meant to be produced. It's a showcase for a number of different solutions that might find their way into BMW products.

I think the essential parts are weight reduction and the 1.5L diesel engine. For comparison purposes, the 1.6L diesel used in the Mini makes 90hp (Mini One D to be introduced in 2010) and 110hp (Mini Cooper D) while this engine makes 163hp.

 

so bmw is making a all out push to make the best car it can, werent they suppose to be doing that all along? what i see happening is bmw is seeing what gm has in its future and they are making a play to use all of there tect to try to make sure gm does not take anything away

and its going to back fire, they will be pushing there limits to be big and bold while getting away from there roots! and this will make them lose ground to gm

gm is coming back in a big way, this is just one indication!

 

You're funny. For one thing, BMW, unlike GM, won't desecrate their luxury namesake by producing subpar products, and they actually make RWD cars...something that seems to be going the way of the dinosaurs @ the GM stable. If anything the Volt is more like GM's Hail Mary....or at least I hope it is.



Anyway, the car seems promising, but a lot of the specs are a bit...optimistic at best. I'm looking forward to see if the powertrain will make it in one way or another to the current lineup. BMW really needs to bring their more fuel efficient 4-cylinders here

 

Generally, I like the design, though I have some of the same criticisms as others above. The powertrain, particularly if it could be applied to a production vehicle sometime before 2050(!), would be great.

With its EfficientDynamics program, BMW essentially wants to have it both ways -- continue to develop its rep as a maker of engaging, sports-themed cars while improving the efficiency of its vehicles through the use of new technologies.

This is a noble endeavor, especially if they achieve it.

I'd still like a more powerful Converj-pretty much unadulterated from the Converj Concept-on the road by 2012/13, preferably with AWD. I have faith GM could do it, if they wanted it badly enough.

 

This is a cool concept. But this is an art concept. It is just showing off BMW's creative design talent. 99% of this won't make it into any production vehicle. They use these types of concepts to grow new ideas and occasionally some ideas from the concept evolve into a more refined production form.

It's kind of like the Cadillac Sixteen front end being adapted to CTS and the rest of the lineup.


The rear-quarter shot looks great:

The interior would make me dizzy:

 

As futuristic as the glass side panels look, I do not think they would convey a sense of safety! While cognitively I understand that future vehicular construction will evolve into different configurations than what we have today, this concept from BMW will probably stay just a working exercise.

I confess that the design is probably safer than say the current Saturn line, but seeing all that glass just makes me imagine the breaking sound, and then….

:drive:

 

VERY interesting and trippy......looks like they scored some good "shrooms" from those Bavarian forests! I will read the full article to see if they list the cD as that convoluted surface treatment does not look very aerodynamic.

 

they say 0.22, and I'd like to call BS, not that I have a wind tunnel or anything. I'm also going to call BS that BMW could make anything like this for production weighing less than 3000 lbs after that X6 M. The 2-seat Z4 weighs 3200 without rear seats, a diesel powertrain, an 8.4 kWh batterypack, or all those extra (non-structural) surfaces.

Those Krauts must be smoking some good stuff nowadays. I can't believe this qualifies as PR. They could save their prototype department a lot of time and just have their animators draw up a cartoon of the MACH6 with a BMW propeller or something.

Nice concept though - efficient and fun to drive. I can't believe nobody ever thought of that before BMW came along...

 

Wow, now that's a design concept, superb! Looks like BMW asked how Starfleet engineers would design a car .

 

This makes me think it’s time for someone to remake Woody Allen’s “Sleeper”

 

That looks great. Much better than the weird stuff they're selling currently. Put some real doors on it and you're ready to go.

 

Wow, looks like the perfect car to listen to Kraftwerk in while on the way to a screening of Tron.