Sustainable Mobility for Megacities
In megacities around the world, a need has arisen for a new kind of sustainable personal mobility that works on many levels. It has to have minimal environmental impact, both on the city's streets and on the planet itself. It has to deliver an effortless, and comfortable driving experience. And it has to intelligently integrate personal mobility within the wider public transport system. The BMW i3 has been created from scratch with all these needs in mind. Whatever questions the megacity may ask, this electric car always has an intelligent, sustainable, beautifully designed answer.
Advanced, lightweight construction
The BMW i3 integrates the newly-developed drive components into a completely new vehicle architecture. Lightweight construction throughout the car and innovative use of CFRP (Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic) offers significant benefits to the customer and the environment.
Interior Design Freedom
The BMW i3 boasts significantly more space for its size. The LifeDrive structure also enables the integration of new functionalities and is far less restrictive in terms of vehicle layout. This design freedom allows the interior of the BMW i3 to be inspiringly shaped and sculpted for the demands of urban mobility. Intelligent and intuitive displays, driver assistance systems and location based services make city travelling convenient, streamlined and effortless.
The interior is further enhanced by the use of sustainable and natural materials that create a relaxing atmosphere and define a new level of premium design.
The Electric Motor
The BMW i3 dynamic, high-performance electric motor offers an entirely new level of emission-free driving pleasure.
The electric motors of the BMW Group, such as the BMW i3, generate well over 100 kW. And all of the motor's output is available right from the start. It does not rely on built-up power from engine revolution like a combustion engine. Differentials, slip regulation and a single gear stage ensure that all torque is transferred to the road.
What's more, the profound expertise of the BMW Group in motor design has enabled the company to build its own electric engines. So whenever you drive a BMW i, you drive a BMW.
Acceleration Without Shifting
Electric motors make use of a much larger rotation speed range than combustion engines, achieving RPMs of more than 12,000 without strain. The process of reaching maximum speed is also different as a consequence. Thanks to its high torque, an electric vehicle does not just accelerate faster than a combustion vehicle with comparable horsepower – the high revolutions per minute also enable uninterrupted torque transfer across the entire speed range. The motor's output is channelled through a single transmission stage then relayed directly to the wheels, making a multi-gear transmission unnecessary. Maximum speed is achieved from standstill within a single gear, resulting in an effortless, seemingly uninterrupted surge of acceleration.
Braking With the Accelerator Pedal
The accelerator serves both as brake and throttle – when the foot is taken off the pedal, it actively decelerates. This decelerative torque is used to reclaim energy in a process known as recuperation. The electric motor becomes a generator – producing energy and charging the battery. This intensive use of energy recuperation increases the range of the BMW i3 by up to 20 percent.
Compact and Powerful – the BMW i3 Propulsion System Components
The electric motor also produces higher-density power than a combustion engine, allowing for production and implementation of the same motor output in a smaller space. For instance, the entire propulsion system of the BMW i3, excluding energy storage, is only the size of two drinks crates.
The electric motor’s smaller dimensions and much lower mass require up to 50% less installation space compared to a combustion engine with transmission. This again helps increase vehicle range, improve sustainability and passengers benefit from the extra space created.
Creating the future of the electric engine together.
BMW Group is actively shaping the technical evolution of electromobility. In accordance with the company’s holistic approach, development, production and procurement experts all congregate under a single roof at the “e-plant” in Leipzig, the BMW Group competence center for electric motors. Their unified aim is simple: to develop the world’s most advanced electric motors.
[Source: BMW]
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