Scelte strategiche BMW Group

[4200blu]

 

BMW's Neue Klasse electric architecture will arrive in 2025, and as of today, we know a 3 Series sedan will be the opening act. Whether it officially becomes the new 3 Series isn't entirely clear, but an interesting rumor has the popular sedan existing simultaneously on two platforms going forward – one for electricity, the other for internal combustion.

The rumor comes from BMW Blog, citing an anonymous but reliable source for the information. The car would become the G50 / G51 3 Series, riding on BMW's CLAR modular platform for internal combustion and hybrid powertrains. It would coexist with the Neue Klasse electric 3er, likely called the i3, rumored to have an internal designation of NA0. And it wouldn't launch until 2027.

It's quite an interesting notion, though BMW isn't ready to talk about such possibilities. In an email to Motor1.com, a BMW spokesperson declined to comment on our inquiry about this rumor.

The current 3 Series debuted at the Paris Motor Show in 2018 and just received a mid-cycle refresh that was announced in May. The update brought minor exterior tweaks to the front and rear, offset with a significant tech upgrade inside featuring a large curved screen containing two displays for the driver and center touchscreen. If BMW follows its typical lifecycle for vehicles, a new model would arrive in 2025. That's perfect timing for the Neue Klasse platform to take over, but the rumor poses a relevant question: is BMW ready to take the 3 Series all-electric in the next couple of years?

That's the foundation for the rumor, and at this time, there's no clear indication that BMW's new platform will accommodate internal combustion powertrains. It's certainly possible that BMW could extend the current G20 3 Series lifespan, and in fact, that's also been a rumor on BMW Blog. Bumping to 2027 would give buyers a few years of overlap to get comfortable with electric power.

Building a next-generation 3 on the CLAR platform would extend the overlap while giving buyers a choice of pure electric and hybrid vehicles for at least another decade. The literal million-dollar question is whether an i3 on the Neue Klasse platform and a 3 Series on CLAR would be worth the investment.

 

(Motor1 USA)

 

 

[Beckervdo]

BMW M starebbe sviluppando un modello full electric con 4 motori, ossia uno per ogni ruota, così da creare una esperienza di guida completamente nuova.

 

Modificato 17 Agosto 2022 da Beckervdo

[4200blu]

BMW to get Tesla-like cylindrical batteries in Europe from China's EVE, report says

EVE will supply BMW with battery cells for the automaker's Neue Klasse (New Class) vehicles, sources said, as the automaker follows Tesla in adopting the technology.

 

SHANGHAI -- BMW will receive large cylindrical batteries for its electric cars in Europe from China's EVE Energy, two people with knowledge of the matter said, as the automaker follows Tesla in adopting the new technology.

EVE has signed contracts to be BMW's primary supplier of the battery cells in Europe for its new series of electric vehicles due to go on sale in 2025, said one of the people who has direct knowledge of the deal.

The vehicles will use the automaker’s Neue Klasse (New Class) architecture and will initially focus on midsize premium models such as the 3 Series.

Tesla this year started manufacturing its new larger-format 4680 cylindrical battery -- denoting 46 millimeters in diameter and 80 millimeters in length. It has said it expects the battery to lower production costs and improve range compared to the current-generation 2170 cylindrical battery.

Guangdong-based EVE's batteries will be similar in size, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak to media and declined to be identified.

Company filings also show EVE is planning a large cylindrical battery plant in central China.

EVE, a supplier to BMW in China, did not respond to a request for comment. BMW said it plans to release some battery-related news in early September but declined further comment.

The shift by BMW, which currently uses prismatic batteries, underscores growing momentum for larger-format cylindrical batteries.

Prismatic batteries, which are rectangular in shape, have become the most common form of auto battery in the past two years as they can be more densely packed, saving on costs. But proponents of cylindrical batteries argue the newer larger format cells have become more cost-effective due to improvements in energy density.

China's CATL, the world's largest battery maker, is also due to start supplying cylindrical batteries to BMW from 2025.

Expectations are high that these batteries will also be large-sized cells. CATL did not respond to a request for comment on planned dimensions.

It was not immediately clear how many batteries BMW plans to procure from EVE and CATL.

EVE's deal with BMW prompted the Chinese company to announce in March that it would build a cylindrical battery production facility in Debrecen, Hungary - its first plant in Europe, according to the person with direct knowledge of the deal.

BMW is also constructing a plant in the same city where it plans to produce EVs developed on its Neue Klasse platform. Government incentives are driving demand for EVs in Europe and the United States, spurring Chinese battery and EV makers to accelerate plans to set up production bases overseas.

CATL announced last week it would build Europe's biggest battery plant with annual capacity of 100 gigawatt hours, also in Debrecen, to supply European automakers. Mercedes-Benz will be its largest client.

With much of fresh battery demand likely to be for large cylindrical cells, Chinese battery makers which have relied on a huge domestic market where prismatic cells reign, will have to change tack like EVE and CATL, said Duan Bing, an analyst at Nomura.

Eve, founded by lithium ion battery researcher Liu Jincheng in 2001 and also a supplier to Xpeng, is a much smaller player than CATL. It ranks eighth with 2.3 percent market share in China, according to data from the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance.

By comparison, CATL makes 48 percent of the total batteries installed in EVs in China.

 

(ANE)

 

[4200blu]

On 17/8/2022 at 17:56, Beckervdo scrive:

BMW M starebbe sviluppando un modello full electric con 4 motori, ossia uno per ogni ruota, così da creare una esperienza di guida completamente nuova.

 

BMW M tests fully electric high-performance model +++ Four e-machines plus integrated driving dynamics regulation +++ BMW M driving experience 2.0 

A new chapter is starting in the fully electric future of BMW M. A team of developers from different departments is collecting their first experiences of innovative drive and suspension control systems for the fully electric BMW M high-performance automobile of the future, with initial test drives and a concept car. At the centre of the concept testing is an all-wheel drive system comprising four e-machines and an integrated driving dynamics regulator. Together, they provide an as-yet-unreached level of performance. With the completely new drive concept, BMW M is demonstrating its ability to carry the essence of the letter M into the world of locally emission-free mobility.
Exactly 50 years after its founding, BMW M GmbH is in the middle of a transformation process heading towards electric mobility. “For our anniversary, we are not just looking back, but also forwards,” says Franciscus van Meel, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW M GmbH. “Before the end of the year, we will begin production of the BMW XM, our first high-performance automobile with a V8 M hybrid drive.”

 

 M xDrive all-wheel drive with four electric motors dressed as a BMW i4 M50.

A BMW i4 M50 with a chassis modified for the integration of the specially made high-performance constructions on the front and rear axle serves as a test vehicle for the BMW M GmbH engineers, with the right genes in terms of the dynamics and electrification typical of BMW M. The core of the revolutionary high-performance drive is an electric M xDrive all-wheel system with four electric motors. As all four wheels have their own electric motor, they offer completely new possibilities for infinitely variable, extremely precise and very rapid distribution of drive torque, which cannot be achieved with traditional drive systems.
“Electrification is opening up new degrees of freedom for creating the typical dynamism of M,” says Dirk Häcker, head of development at BMW M GmbH. “We can already see that we can maximally exploit this potential to ensure that our high-performance sports cars will continue to offer the unparalleled combination of dynamism, agility and precision typical of M in a locally emission-free future.”

 

Highly integrated control unit for vehicle dynamics and drive control.
The precision during the transfer of drive torque in particular benefits significantly from the electric M xDrive four-wheel drive system. The four motors are connected to a central, highly integrated control unit that permanently monitors the driving condition and the driver's wishes. The ideal power transmission to the road is calculated within milliseconds from the values for the accelerator pedal position, steering angle, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, wheel speeds and other parameters. The signals for this are transmitted just as quickly and directly via a multi-plate clutch and differentials to the four motors, which are able to implement them immediately and precisely.

This form of vehicle dynamics and drive control was brought to practical maturity in intensive development and test phases, initially on virtual models and then on test benches. For completely realistic application of the hardware and software developed for this purpose, the concept test vehicle is now being put on the road. The interior of the four-door coupe is equipped with extensive measuring technology that can be used to analyse in detail every completed driving situation. In this way, the theoretical results for the perfect distribution of drive torque can be compared in the rolling test laboratory with reality on the road and taken into account for further programming.

This detailed work is crucial to ensure that future high-performance models will also be characterised by exactly what has rendered BMW M automobiles unmistakable for the last 50 years: a linear build-up of drive power and lateral dynamics that permits controllable handling right up to the limits. The fact that this limit range is shifted even further by the pioneering drive principle was already apparent during the first test kilometres of the concept test vehicle on closed-off roads. Thanks to the particularly sensitive dosage of drive torque and conversion without perceptible latency, significantly higher cornering speeds can be achieved, even on rain-soaked or snow-covered roads, for example. In this case, the vehicle steers effortlessly and without a tendency to understeer, as the drive torque for the outside rear wheel has already been increased parallel to the steering angle.

The high-performance character of the new drive system is also evident in the recuperation of braking energy. Right up to the limits of driving dynamics, the four motors can assume the function of a generator when braking before a bend, for example, and feed electricity back into the high-voltage battery.

 

(BMW Group)

 

Modificato 18 Agosto 2022 da 4200blu
Info addizionale

[4200blu]

BMW Group commences in-house production of fuel cells for BMW iX5 Hydrogen in Munich.

Hydrogen is an additional option for electric drive systems +++ Fuel cells are manufactured in the company’s competence centre for hydrogen +++ BMW Group leads the way in hydrogen technology in the premium electric vehicle segment

 

 

Munich. On 31 August, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG Oliver Zipse and Frank Weber, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Development, will come together to inaugurate fuel cell system production at the company’s competence centre for #hydrogen in Munich. The reason for this occasion is the small series of #BMW iX5 Hydrogen cars that will be entering service around the world from the end of this year for test and demonstration purposes. The combination of #fuel cell and high-performance #battery is set to enrich the company’s portfolio by adding a unique form of drive system for the premium segment. The BMW Group is playing a visionary and pioneering role in this technology with the aim of achieving a more diversified transition to #zero-emission mobility.

“As a versatile energy source, hydrogen has a key role to play on the road to climate neutrality. And it will also gain substantially in importance as far as personal mobility is concerned. We think #hydrogen-powered vehicles are ideally placed technologically to fit alongside battery-electric vehicles and complete the electric mobility picture,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, in Munich on Wednesday. “By commencing small-scale production of fuel cells today, we are demonstrating the technical maturity of this type of drive system and underscoring its potential for the future.”

“Our many years of research and development work have enabled us to get the very most out of hydrogen technology,” added Frank Weber, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development. “We have managed to more than double the fuel cell’s continuous output in the second-generation fuel cell in the #BMW iX5 Hydrogen, while weight and size have both decreased drastically.”

Thanks to these advances, the BMW Group leads the way in the development of #hydrogen technology and considers it to hold great promise for its next generation of vehicles.

Technological expertise and high standards of efficiency in the drive system

The BMW Group will now be manufacturing highly efficient fuel #cell systems at its in-house competence centre for #hydrogen. This technology is one of the core elements in the BMW iX5 Hydrogen and generates a high continuous output of 125 kW/170 hp. It teams up with an electric motor featuring fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology and a high-performance battery purpose developed for this vehicle to enable its powertrain to deliver 275 kW/374 hp. The development team incorporated the powerful drive system – comprising two hydrogen tanks, the fuel cell and the electric motor – into the existing #BMW X5 platform for the small production run. The BMW iX5 Hydrogen already successfully demonstrated its excellent everyday usability, even at very low temperatures, during the final round of winter testing in Sweden at the start of this year.

The impressive testing results of this new small-scale series of cars are rooted in the BMW Group’s extensive experience with the use of hydrogen as a drive technology. Hydrogen-powered combustion engines had already been in use prior to the arrival of the fuel cell system. Efficiency considerations prompted the BMW Group to continue development work in this area from 2015 with the BMW 5 Series GT Hydrogen Cell based on fuel cell technology. Fuel cell technology has since been steadily refined by harnessing the company’s vast know-how in the field of conventional drive technologies and applying the exacting standards of all-round efficiency it expects of all its vehicles.

Production of fuel cell systems in Munich

A chemical reaction takes place in the fuel cell between hydrogen from the tanks and oxygen from the air. Maintaining a steady supply of both elements to the fuel cell’s membrane is of crucial importance for the drive system’s efficiency. In addition to the technological equivalents of features found on combustion engines, such as charge air coolers, air filters, control units and sensors, the BMW Group also developed special hydrogen components for its new fuel cell system. These include the high-speed compressor with turbine and high-voltage coolant pump, for instance.

The BMW Group sources the individual fuel cells required for manufacturing the BMW iX5 Hydrogen from the Toyota Motor Corporation. The two companies have enjoyed a partnership characterised by trust for many years and have been collaborating on fuel cell drive systems since 2013. Fuel cell systems are manufactured in two main steps. The individual fuel cells are first assembled into a fuel cell stack. The next step involves fitting all the other components to produce a complete fuel cell system.

Stacking of the fuel cells is a fully automated process. Once the individual components have been inspected for any damage, the stack is compressed by machine with a force of five tonnes and placed in a housing. The stack housing is manufactured in the light metal foundry at BMW Group Plant Landshut using a sand casting technique. For this, molten aluminium is poured into a mould made from compacted sand mixed with resin in a process specially designed for this small-series vehicle. The pressure plate, which delivers hydrogen and oxygen to the fuel cell stack, is made from cast plastic parts and light-alloy castings, also from the Landshut plant. The pressure plate forms a gas-tight and water-tight seal around the stack housing.

Final assembly of the #fuel cell stacks includes a voltage test along with extensive testing of the chemical reaction within the cells. Finally, all the different components are fitted together in the assembly area to produce the complete system. During this system assembly stage, further components are fitted, such as the compressor, the anode and cathode, the high-voltage coolant pump and the wiring harness.

 

(BMW Group)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Maxwell61]

On 17/8/2022 at 21:57, 4200blu scrive:

BMW to get Tesla-like cylindrical batteries in Europe from China's EVE, report says

EVE will supply BMW with battery cells for the automaker's Neue Klasse (New Class) vehicles, sources said, as the automaker follows Tesla in adopting the technology.

 

Mmm, mi sa che saranno 4680 NMC811, che già nelle Tesla strutturali non hanno dato risultati particolari. Eve produce anche LFP, ma prismatiche. 

 

Questo rischiare con chimiche a rischio per avere alte densità, invece di lavorare per migliorare le LFP, come Catl e Byd, non mi convince proprio. 

Con i guai avuti su tutte le Phev e Bev, mi sembra che Bmw manco lo stia capendo.

[4200blu]

9 minuti fa, Maxwell61 scrive:

Mmm, mi sa che saranno 4680 NMC811, che già nelle Tesla strutturali non hanno dato risultati particolari. Eve produce anche LFP, ma prismatiche. 

Non sono sicuro se prendono qualcosa gia pronta del partner, BMW ha l'intenzione nel CMCC a Parsdorf di sviluppare la costruzione delle cellule future lo stesso e il fornitore fa solo la produzione..un po' come il sistema Apple con Foxconn e altri. Ma naturalmente non e certo, che questo piano funzionera.

 

 

 

[Maxwell61]

12 ore fa, 4200blu scrive:

Non sono sicuro se prendono qualcosa gia pronta del partner, BMW ha l'intenzione nel CMCC a Parsdorf di sviluppare la costruzione delle cellule future lo stesso e il fornitore fa solo la produzione..un po' come il sistema Apple con Foxconn e altri. Ma naturalmente non e certo, che questo piano funzionera.

 

 

 

Vedremo la chimica che scelgono, per me la questione sta li... 

[VuOtto]

@4200blu salto di palo in frasca chiedendoti se le voci che riportano che nel 2023 la MINI ICE a cambio manuale dovrebbe tornare a listino sono vere.

[4200blu]

3 ore fa, VuOtto scrive:

@4200blu salto di palo in frasca chiedendoti se le voci che riportano che nel 2023 la MINI ICE a cambio manuale dovrebbe tornare a listino sono vere.

 

...hmm...non mi sembrerebbe logico. Il target generale alla BMW e la riduzione delle versione e variante dei modelli ice e poi la Mini attuale va verso la fine del suo ciclo, cosi secondo me sarebbe poco probabile la introduzione di una nuova variante.

In piu modelli con cambio manuale hanno un consumo WLTP piu alto, altro argomento che contraddice una versione cosi.