BMW recently unveiled the i3 and i8 concept cars, which piloted the beginning of the company’s new greener and more sustainable i brand. We highly doubt that BMW would be putting all of its energy (no pun intended) into just two electric vehicles, so when we caught wind of some rumored future BMW i models, we started to pay attention. According to BMW insider Scott27, the company is already preparing two new vehicles - the i4 and i5 - which should debut sometime towards the end of the decade.
The BMW i4 will be a sportier version of the i3, translating into a 2-seats mini-sports car. It will feature a plug-in electric or range-extended electric drivetrain. The BMW i5, on the other hand, will be a mid-sized four-door sedan with coupe-like design cues. It will feature sleek aerodynamics and rear hinged doors, while being powered by the same powertrain found in the i8. Both models will use the same cutting-edge CFRP technology as the other two BMW i models.
These may only be rumors right now, but it would be hard to believe that BMW would not want to capitalize on being the first brand to have a full lineup of electric vehicles. The future is green, folks, and BMW is already ramping up their marketing efforts for their new subbrand, so filling in the slots between the i3 and the i8 probably isn’t too far-fetched.
If in case all the news and rumors surrounding electric supercars have become a little too much for our gas-guzzling friends, it is worth pointing out there is a future for these type of cars. The only caveat, as has always been the case, is that someone actually builds something that could be considered as such.
The latest automaker to have their names attached to building ’e-exotics’ is British automaker, Bristol. You might remember these guys for their storied history in aviation manufacturing and their crossover into the automotive industry with the 200-mph Fighter sports car. However, now it appears as if the British company is looking at breaking into the electric segment.
According to EVO, Bristol wants to build an electric supercar that can hit up to 200 mph. Ambitious as it sounds - and it does sound very ambitious - the British automaker is serious enough to already have plans for putting in two separate electric powertrains for the front and rear wheels. These dual drivetrains will each have two motors, allowing for each wheel to have its own more, which could very well make for a very interesting car.
While the hope and dream for the car’s realization is still years away - if it ever gets there - Bristol at least has an important ally by its side in the form of its parent company, Frazer-Nash, which has been spending a lot of its time working with and helping develop range-extending powertrain systems for other manufacturers.
If Bristol manages to achieve producing a 200-mph electric super car with all the luxury bells and whistles that come with it, who knows, they might end up being a trail blazer in their own right.
If you use an electric toothbrush, chances are good that you don’t have to plug it in to recharge it. Instead, you simply place it on a post in the base of the charging stand, and the toothbrush tops itself off via electromagnetic inductive charging. If that works to recharge a toothbrush, or a cell phone, why can’t the same idea be applied to electric cars?
This is the exact question being raised by HaloIPT, a British firm that will demonstrate electromagnetic inductive charging for electric cars at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. The concept is relatively simple: the driver of an electric car equipped with Halo IPT’s system parks his car atop a rubber charging mat, which is plugged into a charging station nearby. The mat and the car communicate via Bluetooth to test the connection and ensure the car is parked properly. Once the hand-off is given, charging begins with no additional action required on the part of the driver.
Top Gear’s 17th season flew by just like that, didn’t it?
The sixth and final episode aired over the weekend, and unlike the past episodes, this one more than lived up to the expectations. Richard Hammond got the show off to a promising start with a great segment about the Lamborghini Aventador. From there, the show picked up some steam with a pretty hilarious segment featuring Jeremy Clarkson and James May as they embarked on an electric-car crusade around town. Some unforeseen circumstances resulted in a few mishaps, but all in all, the duo managed to make the most out of their respective cars - Clarkson had the Nissan Leaf while May had the Peugeot Ion - to finish their adventure in one piece. But even that wasn’t enough to convince the two about the potential of electric cars in the future.
Fittingly, the final segment of season 17 took a more serious turn with an inspiring story about a Cross Country racing team in Wales for disabled British soldiers. It’s a humbling way to end a very interesting season and puts into perspective what the human spirit is capable of accomplishing despite the challenges that seemingly lies in front of it.
Rumors about a successor for the Nissan 200SX started circulating back in 2008, but now the car is coming out of the woodwork to pay a little competitive visit to the seemingly untouchable Mazda MX-5.
Nissan’s plan to launch 52 new cars by 2016 has carved a path towards production for the 200SX, which may be seen as early as 2013. Prices will start from about £20,000 - or about $33,000 at the current exchange rates.
The new 200SX will be built on a new mid-size platform supplied by Daimler that will also be used for the 370Z replacement and the next GT-R. There aren’t any details on the powertrain that will be used for the future 200SX, but rumors hint towards a tuned version of the Leaf’s drivetrain or a hybrid set-up as a couple of options. Other rumors suggest that an all-electric rear-wheel-drive version may be the way to go. These rumors stem from the Nissan ESFLOW concept, which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March and ignited the fires about a future hybrid Nissan sportscar.
