BETTER PARTSWhite - blue future
Miramas ( France ), July 2, 2015
Be it the i models or various vehicles with plug-in hybrid BMW applies among premium manufacturers currently considered innovative. But it is not resting on its laurels, but looks to the future. The central themes are economy and alternative fuels. Here BMW is now new solutions.
Van energized
Already quite seriennah acts of BMW 2er Active Tourer with plug-in hybrid. The Nitro-electric combination there alongside the i8, more recently, the X5, the 3 Series it is also obtained. In the case of 2er Active Tourer a transversely mounted three-cylinder turbo with 136 hp will be coupled to an electric motor on the front axle, the gasoline engines "boosts" from the state with about 15 kilowatts of power and 150 Newton meters. Another electric motor is positioned together with the power electronics on the rear axle. With an output of up to 65 kW respectively 88 hp and a maximum torque of 165 Newton meters, the rear wheels are driven. The result is similar to a kind i8 wheel drive. In just 6.5 seconds the compact van to sprint to 100 km, while fuel consumption BMW expects a value of about two liters. Electric power alone the car is 38 km far, with current up to 130 km / h there. The boot capacity is to remain unchanged, the subsequent series price should be at the level of approximately equal strength 225i Active Tourer, which costs 38,000 euros.
Let the water flow!
The second idea for the future of BMW sounds at first rather bizarre: direct water injection. But this solution has been used for some time in M4 MotoGP Safety Car. Now shows the company as a more practical variant may look. Specifically, it is a 1 Series with three-cylinder petrol engine. With the direct injection of water can be loud BMW the potential of turbocharging to use even more intense. The water is injected as a fine spray into the collector of the intake module and should thus lowering the combustion temperature in the engine by more than 25 degrees. This cooling effect performs at full load to a significant increase in efficiency, at the same time can be increased compression, while the risk of knocking tendency decreases. The reduction in fuel consumption should be in everyday life up to eight percent. For comparison: To date, three-cylinder petrol engine in the 1 Series are on average five liters. And where the water is stored? According to BMW does not have to pick up the watering can. Water arising from evaporation in the air conditioning system is collected. After each stop the engine, the water is returned from the pipe system into a tank to prevent icing of the components in freezing temperatures.
Help from Japan
For more than 30 years, BMW employs the hydrogen propulsion. But in recent years it has been fairly quiet around the fuel cell. Since 2013, the Munich work together with Toyota. The Japanese have recently presented with the Mirai was a standard hydrogen car. The aim of the cooperation is, according to BMW, the completion of a first group of tested components by 2020. In the long term the hydrogen drive to complete the program of the mark in connection with a specific vehicle architecture.
Much already feasible
But on the basis of a converted 5 GT shows you now, what can be done. The fuel cell, the housing and the ancillary systems are results of the alliance with Toyota. The electric motor 180 kW 245 hp accordingly, the power electronics and the high-voltage battery used as buffer storage. Here BMW relies on the experience of i - models and the plug-in vehicles. The hydrogen is stored in a tank tunnel between the front and rear axle at 350 bar pressure. The range is said to be more than 500 kilometers. ( rh )