Another data point in the conversion of our transportation fleet from Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles to Electric Vehicles (EVs):
Electric vehicles are making up an ever-increasing percentage of BMW's sales, both here in the US and worldwide, according to a statement released by the company on Friday. In April in the US, the BMW i3, i8, and X5 xDrive 40e accounted for just under 15 percent of all BMW passenger vehicle sales—a combined 2,572 cars out of a total of 17,786 cars sold last month.
More than half of BMW's EVs have been sold here in the US, which, along with Scandinavia and the UK, is the company's best market for hybrids and EVs. BMW's electrification strategy is a two-fold affair. There's the i sub-brand, which currently features the i3 city car and i8 sports car (two of our favorites here at Ars), and it's believed that a third i model is in the works, a crossover called the i6.
The company is also building hybrid versions of some of its regular vehicles, including the 330e, X5 xDrive40e, and now a 740e as well.
In recent news BMW also announced a joint fast-charger network with Nissan.
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A rally in Tesla shares [...] briefly vaulted the company's market capitalization past the German luxury carmaker in early Friday trading. The amount of ground Tesla covered was vast: BMW was valued at a $30 billion premium as of early December.
[...] Short interest represented about one fourth of the shares as of the latest quarterly filing.
According to The Drive the three most valuable auto makers are "Toyota, Daimler, and Volkswagen."
Tesla stock sat at $357.32 after market close after trading as high as $376.87 on Friday.
—Silicon Valley Business Journal
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Tear-Down/Reviews on new BMW i3 Electric Car
BMW X3 May be Emitting a Greater Amount of Poisonous Gases than VW
Electric, Autonomous Cars Will Drive BMW's Continued Growth
BMW Boosts i3 Battery Capacity by 50 Percent—and it's Retrofitable
VW Responds to Diesel Scandal, Says "the Future is Electric"
Bob Lutz Thinks Tesla is Doomed
One in Seven New BMWs Sold in the US is an Electric Vehicle
Elon Musk's "Top Secret Tesla Masterplan, Part 2"
Elon Musk's Tesla Offers to Buy Elon Musk's SolarCity, Shares Tumble
Wall Street Values Tesla Motors at $620,000 for Every Car Delivered Last Year
Tesla Soars on Financials and Ratings
Tesla Stock Price Falls as Sales Target Cut to as Few as 50,000 Vehicles
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(Score: 3, Informative) by bitstream on Wednesday May 18 2016, @01:42AM
Now it all hangs on the battery performance.
I suspect these technology approaches currently have the best hope:
* Substantial improvement of existing principles using nanotechnology by increasing surface area.
* Quantum mechanics to make existing battery technology interact internally in otherwise impossible ways. This science area seems to start producing practical science right now. But it still only a trickle.
* Capacitor because of charging time and perhaps weight.
* Flow battery because they can be reloaded quickly and there already exist technology.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by halcyon1234 on Wednesday May 18 2016, @02:15AM
You want to know when there will be a mass adoption of electric vehicles? I mean the exact, specific moment?
It'll be the moment someone takes a Powerpoint to Walmart that shows "If you invest $x in public infrastructure (charging stations), and fleet conversion, you will get $millions in profit from gas savings, tax breaks, and a bump in PR"
The change to the Walmart fleet will almost be overnight. There will be charging stations and economies of scale for all as a spinoff benefit
Original Submission [thedailywtf.com]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 18 2016, @02:26AM
What infrastructure would be appropriate for charging away from households, such as in/near Wal-Mart parking lots? "Fast" charging? Battery swap?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday May 18 2016, @02:33AM
"Fast" charging of course.
The longer you car is charging, the more time you spend shopping.
I also don't like battery swap because you just know that they will give you one with 100k miles on it, right after you replace your battery in 7 years.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2016, @02:49AM
Battery swaps wouldn't work like that.
You wouldn't buy one and then swap it out on your next recharge.
You'd sign up for a service contract that either sold you prepaid battery swaps (like prepaid cell phone minutes) or a monthly subscription that guaranteed you at least X number of swaps. But you wouldn't ever feel like it was "your" battery any more than you feel like a rental car is "your" car.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday May 18 2016, @06:52PM
Renault addressed that problem already: Buy the car frame, but lease the battery.
Need a new one? Swap it, it's not yours.
Long trip? Swap for charged ones as you go, it's not yours.
Worried it might be old? who cares, just swap it again.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Wednesday May 18 2016, @02:59AM
In which case you replace it again until the battery is good. And the car system will then diagnose if the battery is good enough before hitting the road.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Wednesday May 18 2016, @04:35AM
Like buying a brand new set of welding gas tanks.
Isn't that a letdown on your first exchange?
Getting into welding? Check the pawn shops for welding tanks first!
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by halcyon1234 on Wednesday May 18 2016, @02:48AM
A fleet-level, nation-wide charging network. They would need a five-nines level guarantee that their fleet can be fueled anywhere, anytime, 24/7. In-house charging stations won't cut it (Walmart would have to maintain it, trucks could only fuel at a Walmart, etc).
It's a massive project, and tax dollars aren't going to pay for it upfront. Can you imagine trying to get something like the Interstate system approved by the government in today's day and age? Never. So if someone said "Hey Walmart, if you kick in $1 Billion towards building this across North America, you'll get back $50 billion in savings and tax credits over the next X years"... bam, it'll happen
Original Submission [thedailywtf.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Whoever on Wednesday May 18 2016, @04:57AM
The government already kicked in $100M for a nationwide charging network. [wikipedia.org] It was more successful than Solyndra (although it ultimately sold its assets for $3.3M), but Blink DC chargers are very unreliable.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2016, @02:43AM
That's an interesting thought, but I don't think that's how Wal-Mart does business. That would be a huge investment outside of their core business, for something that wouldn't give Wal-Mart stores an obvious competitive advantage (since gasoline is still reasonably cheap).
Bezos or Musk would pull something like that first. That's the way those guys think.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Wednesday May 18 2016, @03:11AM
It's simpler. When it's cheaper to drive electrical over gasoline as a total cost without subsidies. Or if there's a competitive advantage like being able to get all the energy from ones own wind power etc but that still requires lower cost overall.
Another advantage is being independent if (or when) the distribution network of oil wells, boats, refineries, trucks, filling station and credit system stops working. And being able to power the house as a bonus.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Wednesday May 18 2016, @06:02AM
I recently bought a used Nissan Leaf for about $10.5k -- no subsidies on used vehicles. I'm averaging 4.5 miles per kWhr, each of which costs me about 10.5 cents -- that's 58.33 cents per 25 miles. My other car gets 25 miles per gallon and sadly, requires super. I paid $2.90/gal today to fill up. Every time I drive the leaf 25 miles (about my daily commute), I save about $2.30. That's 11.50/wk, or almost $600/yr based on today's gas price. Plus no oil changes.
The other half of the equation is that for an econobox, it's totally fun to drive. I got it as an experiment, but for my next new car, it's going to have to be electric. It's such a pleasure to drive.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Wednesday May 18 2016, @06:41AM
You would need to keep it running for something like 6 years with the same battery to make it pay. Of course it really depend on the alternative cost for a gasoline car. But with your numbers it seems the electric won the economic game which will make a huge difference. Now it also need the electric range to.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday May 18 2016, @07:29PM
More than 6 actually, a new battery is $5500 -- if I make six years I'll be about $2000 in the hole comparing battery to gas. Hopefully at some point there will be aftermarket batteries for cars that cost less and hold more. Anyway, before I spent a bunch on an electric car, I wanted to get some experience with a cheap one. And like I said, driving it is so much nicer than I ever imagined.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Friday May 20 2016, @12:23AM
Do these electric cars feature a gear lever?
(Score: 1) by wirelessduck on Friday May 20 2016, @03:25AM
Electric cars have no gearbox?
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday May 20 2016, @03:28AM
Yes. There is "Go", "Park", "Reverse". ;-)
I've never owned an automatic always preferring a stick shift, but the fact that there isn't a complicated transmission means one less thing to maintain or go kaput.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Friday May 20 2016, @04:42AM
The real aspect of this is that there's a limited driving license which only allows the use of cars with an automatic gearbox. Thus all electric cars would then be allowed for such license.
(Score: 2) by rondon on Sunday May 22 2016, @06:42PM
I've been pricing out refurb batteries for Priuses (Prii?) at about $1,000 and brand new for less than $4,000, so I think your $5,500 number can come down substantially.
Unless you need to get it from the dealer for some reason?
(Score: 2) by M. Baranczak on Wednesday May 18 2016, @03:35AM
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2016, @02:46AM
The cars are for snobs who don't care about the Nazi past. Quite fitting for those who also like Ueber.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2016, @02:52AM
> The cars are for snobs who don't care about the Nazi past. Quite fitting for those who also like Ueber.
Unlike Ford [wikipedia.org] who just inspired Hitler...
And yeah, my Ashkenazi brother-in-law refers to BMWs and Mercedes as "nazi sleds" and then went out and bought a land rover while they were owned by Ford Motor Co.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2016, @12:43PM
Some old lady in a Ford tried to give me crap for driving a Honda and putting Americans out of work. I had to inform her that my car was built in Ohio while hers was from Mexico and not built by the sort of "Americans" that she was referring to.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2016, @04:40AM
All I know is driving a BMW strongly correlates to a whole lot of other personal characteristics that I find quite nauseating.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2016, @12:59PM
What's the difference between a BMW and a porcupine?
The pricks are on the outside of the porcupine.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2016, @01:22PM
They may be snob cars, but they are really good.
I owned a 15-yo little 3-series awhile back, and was impressed with these traits:
- Excellent cornering, very little body lean
- Road feel and steering response
- Driver comfort and visibility
- Reliability (surprising, as my previous euro-car experience was all Saabs)
- Body integrity - no rattles, squeaks, leaks, etc, even on an older car.
- Mileage; consistently in the low 30mpgs on the highway.
Best part--I'd bought used, and it had depreciated like crazy. Sold it to buy a minivan after 150,000 trouble-free miles.
The only negative was how low it was. I think I only had about 4" of ground clearance which caused some pain with speedbumps, roadkill, and so on.
Yeah, maybe snobs buy BMWs, but that doesn't mean they aren't awesome.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday May 19 2016, @01:28AM
Have BMW supported Nazism after 1945? Supposing they haven't, might it be more effective (as an anti-Nazi tactic) to do business with them under the assumption they won't further a modern-day Nazi movement--but boycott them if they violate that trust?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2016, @05:35AM
I'm not certain I trust an electric vehicle from a manufacturer whose turn signals never work. I mean have you ever seen them working?
Shows a ignorance of basic wiring right there.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2016, @05:46AM
> I'm not certain I trust an electric vehicle from a manufacturer whose turn signals never work.
I think that is the drivers, not the cars