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BMW's lean, clean, high-tech future
UK magazine speculates advanced materials and EV technology will be embraced for BMW 3 Series in 2022BMW has been buying up carbon-fibre production on a massive scale for its i3 and i8 models, but there's wider application for all that composite material, according to respected UK magazine, Autocar.
The publication reports that BMW is gearing up for a greater concentration of lightweight materials in its post-2022 cars, from the 3 Series right up to Rolls-Royce. And complementing the company's commitment to weight reduction will be range-extended EV technology across the same spectrum.
Each body will be constructed from a mix of steel, aluminium and composite (presumably carbon-fibre) components. Given the Germanic love of high-speed autobahn travel, these new BMW models will take aerodynamic efficiency to new heights, Autocar suggests. Drive will be supplied by two electric motors (front and back), drawing power from a large battery and range-extending internal combustion engines running at close to constant revs for peak efficiency. ConnectedDrive systems will employ interactive satellite navigation to configure the car's drivetrain on the fly for hills – powering up or coasting down.
Draconian new CO2 targets across vehicle fleets will apply in Europe from 2021, and that's the force compelling BMW's ultra-frugal model roll-out from the following year. The BMW fleet will need to AVERAGE 95g/km, and legislation is expected to tighten up further again from 2025. Excluding 1 Series and MINI, 75 per cent of BMW's vehicle production comprises 3, 4 and 5 Series models, which will need to emit as little as 50g/km on the current NEDC combined-cycle test, simply to offset higher emissions from larger performance models.
BMW will launch its rival to the Audi A3 e-tron – the 3 Series eDrive (pictured) – next year, but come 2021 the company can no longer afford to limit its plug-in models to niche-selling variants built in tiny numbers. What this means is that 3 Series will adopt some of the engineering philosophy and thinking inherent in the i3 and i8. The first example of mixed-materials engineering will surface around the middle of this year, when the new 7 Series makes its global debut.
Fastening together different materials will require bonding, gluing, screwing and riveting applied in a mass-production assembly scenario. BMW is expected to work out the bugs in this kind of construction on low-volume models like the 7 Series before the 3 Series migrates to the same methods with an all-new model in 2018.
The hybrid-drive system will be scalable and shares some common traits with the system developed by GM for the Chevy (Holden) Volt – not least of which is the placement of the battery in the driveshaft tunnel and space normally reserved for a larger fuel tank. BMW has already previewed this battery mounting and the all-wheel drive hybrid system in a 5 Series GT we drove at the end of November last year. By placing the battery low and aft of the internal combustion engine, BMW engineers have found a way of maintaining the brand's vaunted weight distribution, for optimal dynamics. The mixed-material construction is expected to yield a 100kg weight saving to offset much of the additional mass from the hybrid battery.
BMW anticipates the petrol engine will only run 10 per cent of the time for any given journey. But it can mechanically lock into the drivetrain to power the front wheels at speeds above 80km/h. The manufacturer is not revealing how this would work, and has been very secretive about the transmission for the 5 Series GT concept car.
While the concept car's internal-combustion engine was turbocharged, Autocar believes future models will be naturally-aspirated. For the vast majority of the time the engine is running, it will be at a set speed to generate electricity, meaning it need not enrich the fuel charge for motive power. This will contribute further fuel savings, relative to a conventional petrol engine, and it will also be cheaper and easier to manufacture.
Autocar didn't go so far as to offer this by way of speculation, but with Toyota and BMW collaborating on fuel cell technology for the i3, can fuel-cell powered conventional cars employing the same hybrid drivetrain systems be far away?
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Written byCarsales Staff
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
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