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Gentlemen,
Today I got the chance to test drive BMWs new ActiveE, which is a pure electric version of their 1 series. 1100 units or so will be made and will be leased (only) on the East and West coast. People who had the Mini-E predecessor get first dibs on signing a contract.
I drove one of the first production cars and also had a chance to put it on a lift for a closer inspection.
Overall, the vehicle gives a very nice and polished impression. The 170hp (if I remember) motor, with all torque available from 0 rpm, gives a silk-smooth acceleration away from a full stop. It is a very silent and space ship-ey feeling to drive with no gear changes and only minimal electric noise. Pressing the "Eco Pro" button gives a more conservative throttle mapping and a quite aggressive brake regenerative strategy. Letting go of the gas pedal in Eco Pro gives you the same level of braking, down to a full stop, that you would go apply in a regular car when coming to a stop light. It's a matter of taste, but I like it since I didn't have to move my foot to the brake as often when doing city driving.
The infotainment system has been modified to provide information and interaction with the electric drive train. I didn't dig too deeply into the system, but it seemed more geared toward raw data presentation than usability, showing lots of bars and numbers.
The main problem with this car is, as always, weight. A standard 135i weighs 3400 lbs. The ActiveE clocks in at 4700 lbs, and you can feel it. Once the initial acceleration tapers off, it is simply underpowered. The suspension is very well tuned to the weight of the vehicle, being BMW firm but not harsh, but fast lane changes immediately reveals the enormous mass being hauled around. Although the car attains 50/50 weight distribution by allocating the three high voltage (355v) packs in the front, in the tunnel and in the back, the front pack is so high up that it is more or less flush against the hood. This means a higher center of gravity, which translates into roll. I didn't have a chance to do any spirited driving, but turn in seemed ok (even with roll), probably due to the battery packs being put as close to the center of the car as possible, thus minimizing pendulum momentum. I would not, however, recommend tracking this car.
Nicely executed as the user experience was packaged, putting the car on the lift revealed something completely different. The whole thing was, frankly, sloppily executed, which I suspect was due to stress. The brackets and sub-frames where very crudely done, and some of the brackets had brackets bolted on top of them in an obvious attempt to get some extra strength out of the assembly. Some of the high power wiring were tie-wrapped in exposed positions under the car. Even if there is probably no immediate danger for a short, a protective shield against debris would have been nice. The insulation goo applied to the underbody seams was slathered on in haste, and you could almost hear the 3am German screaming in the assembly shop with the hauler waiting outside to get the car to the port.
There was even inklings of surface rust on the rear motor/suspension subframe on a car with 1000 SoCal miles on it. I guess there is a reason why the car is lease only.
In conclusion: Nice user experience, prototype level engineering.
Apparently this is the second phase, after the Mini-E, in BMW's electric roadmap. The final stage will be the all electric 3 series, which I suspect will be of better quality than the ActiveE.
/Magnus F.
Today I got the chance to test drive BMWs new ActiveE, which is a pure electric version of their 1 series. 1100 units or so will be made and will be leased (only) on the East and West coast. People who had the Mini-E predecessor get first dibs on signing a contract.
I drove one of the first production cars and also had a chance to put it on a lift for a closer inspection.
Overall, the vehicle gives a very nice and polished impression. The 170hp (if I remember) motor, with all torque available from 0 rpm, gives a silk-smooth acceleration away from a full stop. It is a very silent and space ship-ey feeling to drive with no gear changes and only minimal electric noise. Pressing the "Eco Pro" button gives a more conservative throttle mapping and a quite aggressive brake regenerative strategy. Letting go of the gas pedal in Eco Pro gives you the same level of braking, down to a full stop, that you would go apply in a regular car when coming to a stop light. It's a matter of taste, but I like it since I didn't have to move my foot to the brake as often when doing city driving.
The infotainment system has been modified to provide information and interaction with the electric drive train. I didn't dig too deeply into the system, but it seemed more geared toward raw data presentation than usability, showing lots of bars and numbers.
The main problem with this car is, as always, weight. A standard 135i weighs 3400 lbs. The ActiveE clocks in at 4700 lbs, and you can feel it. Once the initial acceleration tapers off, it is simply underpowered. The suspension is very well tuned to the weight of the vehicle, being BMW firm but not harsh, but fast lane changes immediately reveals the enormous mass being hauled around. Although the car attains 50/50 weight distribution by allocating the three high voltage (355v) packs in the front, in the tunnel and in the back, the front pack is so high up that it is more or less flush against the hood. This means a higher center of gravity, which translates into roll. I didn't have a chance to do any spirited driving, but turn in seemed ok (even with roll), probably due to the battery packs being put as close to the center of the car as possible, thus minimizing pendulum momentum. I would not, however, recommend tracking this car.
Nicely executed as the user experience was packaged, putting the car on the lift revealed something completely different. The whole thing was, frankly, sloppily executed, which I suspect was due to stress. The brackets and sub-frames where very crudely done, and some of the brackets had brackets bolted on top of them in an obvious attempt to get some extra strength out of the assembly. Some of the high power wiring were tie-wrapped in exposed positions under the car. Even if there is probably no immediate danger for a short, a protective shield against debris would have been nice. The insulation goo applied to the underbody seams was slathered on in haste, and you could almost hear the 3am German screaming in the assembly shop with the hauler waiting outside to get the car to the port.
There was even inklings of surface rust on the rear motor/suspension subframe on a car with 1000 SoCal miles on it. I guess there is a reason why the car is lease only.
In conclusion: Nice user experience, prototype level engineering.
Apparently this is the second phase, after the Mini-E, in BMW's electric roadmap. The final stage will be the all electric 3 series, which I suspect will be of better quality than the ActiveE.
/Magnus F.
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