Friday 25 February 2011. Things-We-Learned-This-Week Column.
Our new end-of-the-week column taking a light-hearted look at the big stories making the news this week in the world of economical and environmental transport.
The week before an important Motor Show is always likely to be a busy news week in the automotive world, yet this past week perhaps more than most has seen to pretty massive news – the biggest of which has come out of German behemoth BMW.
For several years the company has taken tentative steps into the EV world – we’ve had several impressive looking concepts and even real world trials (including the MINI E seen around Oxfordshire and the soon to trial BMW ActivE) but this week saw the covers finally come off their ‘project i’.
To be based out of Leipzig, the new BMW-i brand is a serious statement of intent from the carmaker, and although no production ready cars will be available until 2013 the excitement in the EV world (and beyond) has already started to build. So far we know that two cars will be launched initially, the i3 and i8. (Quite what Hyundai think of this naming nomenclature we can only speculate!) The i3 is based on the Mega City Vehicle concept, not to be confused with the Mega City Quadricycle, and the super-sexy i8 will take the Vision EfficientDynamics concept as its inspiration. There are several reasons why the BMW-i is so important and exciting – firstly, BMW rarely do anything half-heartedly and the company is already pouring significant amounts of Euros into the project, including a substantial refit to their Leipzig plant, secondly BMW has arguably been at the forefront of developing, introducing and integrating fuel efficient technology into their existing range. Their EfficientDynamics program has been a huge success, with the technology now widely used across their range. And finally, it is the biggest statement of intent so far from a ‘premium’ carmaker that zero emission cars are here and here to stay.
Over in Sweden, Volvo has announced that its popular DRIVe range of economical motors is about to be expanded with the imminent introduction of the S60 and V60 variants. This brings the total of DRIVe models up to an impressive seven, so whatever size car you’re after, Volvo pretty much has it covered. The trusty 1.6 litre diesel unit will be utilised (again) in both the S60 and V60, so while thrill-seekers will need to look elsewhere, motorists looking for a well-built, great looking, and roomy car will find lots to admire here.
Heading over to France, Renault has also made a less spectacular, but arguably equally as important, announcement as the BMW-i news. Reports have come out of France that not satisfied with launching the Kangoo van Z.E. later this year, the manufacturer will also launch a second commercial vehicle – the Kangoo Maxi Z.E. Essentially just a larger variant the move is bold in that the company has confirmed not one but two commercial vehicle will launch into essentially unknown territory – a move which we hope is successful. Not a company to dip their toe into the EV waters, Renault would appear to be dive-bombing into the splash pool in 2011 – with no less than five ZE models set to appear in the next 12 months. Phew.
The final bit of news this week which has caught our eye is from Nissan. We had the pleasure of taking a very close look at their spectacular ESFLOW concept in Germany last week, but we were also given footage of Nissan’s new animated character. Named as PLUG, the wacky character can be seen attempting to commit an act of vandalism on a pristine white wall in front of a couple of equally oddball friends (accomplices?!). We’ve attached the one-minute long film on this post for your viewing pleasure. Nissan promises there’ll be more adventures from PLUG and his chums to look forward to in the future. We’re a bit take-it-or-leave-it at TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk but it is cute, inoffensive, and mercifully short!
Let us know what you think about the new column in the comments box below.
