BMW ActiveE News

There are always growing pains when automakers introduce new technologies. BMW is learning this with the electric powetrain used on the 2011 BMW ActiveE. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about half of the all-electric 1 Series coupes currently in the hands of the public are being recalled for a potential problem that could ...

Since too much information isn't exactly possible in some situations, BMW is continuing its electric vehicle user study in Leipzig, Germany. The automaker is working with TU Chemnitz (University of Technology) and Stadwerke Leipzig municipal utility to conduct an electromobility study with long-distance commuters in 15 BMW ActiveE EVs in the Leipzig ...

If nothing else, we can thank BMW for giving us the rare opportunity to post a picture of one of its classic, super-boxy '70s models. In this case, it's an electrified version of its 1602, the progenitor to the popular 2002. The 1602 was the German automaker's first foray into electric-vehicle production, and the company made two of them to ferry ...

A little over a year ago, BMW announced its DriveNow partnership with Sixt. That car-sharing service – which is active in three cities in Germany: Berlin, Munich and Dusseldorf – made its U.S. debut in San Francisco in June. Today, BMW gave more details on the San Francisco service and announced the upcoming launch of ParkNow. DriveNow is a ...

Most anyone who follows the plug-in vehicle scene is familiar with at least one electric-vehicle driver whose car is "powered by sunlight" because of a solar-panel power-supply system at home. If you don't know such a person, you can meet one. Or, with BMW and Green Mountain Energy, you can easily become one. The German automaker and the utility company ...

The solar panels are a big help. Our friend Peder Norby says his family's monthly transportation expenses for his two electric cars – a BMW ActiveE and Honda Fit EV are about half those for the two gas cars he and his wife used to drive. Norby calculates that the ActivE and Fit EV cost a combined $1,082 a month in lease payments and insurance, ...

Three years ago, when the very first Refuel event was held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, it was a relatively small affair with a smattering of vehicles in attendance. With the fourth edition of this electric vehicle-centric happening now complete, it's amazing to see how much has changed. And, how some things haven't. First, what has changed. Back in ...

BMW and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have announced that the 1 Series ActiveE is being recalled. We don't imagine many of those reading this are owners of the recalled machine since the first ActiveE was just delivered to a paying customer in January of this year and the cars are only available in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, ...

Think of them as hippies in yuppie clothing. That's the idea behind the deal BMW and solar-panel system installer Real Goods Solar is offering drivers of the German automaker's battery-electric ActiveE vehicles. BMW is working with the Louisville, CO-based solar-panel system installer to give lessees of BMW's battery-electric ActiveEs a break on ...

Every now and again, we get reminded that BMW has been working on all-electric powertrains for decades. In 2009, we put together a gallery of some of the automaker's electric prototypes through the years, like the electric 1602 you see above. In a new video, BMW compacts the work it has done on electromobility since the 1970s into a short video, just over ...