Merry Christmas from the Laurel BMW!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
BMW in talks with GM on Fuel-Cell Vehicle Technology
Posted by Laurel Auto Group on 8:15 AM
BMW in talks with GM on fuel-cell vehicle technology.
“We are exploring various topics related to future technologies such as fuel cells,” Mathias Schmidt, a spokesman for the Munich-based carmaker, said today by phone. He declined to comment on the timing of an agreement.
Fuel cells generate electricity in the chemical reaction that combines hydrogen and oxygen to create water. BMW has largely ignored the technology in the past, focusing research on burning liquid hydrogen in a combustion engine. Daimler AG, the world’s third-biggest luxury-vehicle manufacturer, plans to introduce a fuel-cell-powered version of the Mercedes-Benz B- Class compact by 2014.
The talks between BMW and Detroit-based GM were reported Dec. 10 by Germany’s WirtschaftsWoche magazine, which said the carmakers are close to signing a deal as early as January.
Monday, December 5, 2011
BMW and Toyota to Collaborate on Battery Development
Posted by Laurel Auto Group on 6:58 AM
Some pretty cool news from Toyota and BMW.
At a press conference in Tokyo, the Toyota Motor Corporation and the BMW Group jointly announced they would collaborate on specific advanced powertrain technologies. The effort would initially be focused on research in lithium-ion batteries.
Additionally, BMW was contracted to supply 1.6-liter and 2-liter 4-cylinder diesel engines to Toyota Motor Europe.
Batteries have historically been the most troublesome component in electric- and hybrid-vehicle development. While lithium-ion batteries generally deliver improved range and performance over previous battery materials like nickel-metal hydride, advances in this area could help these vehicles, particularly E.V.’s, find broader adoption in the marketplace.
“We think that this collaboration will allow for development of next-generation batteries to be done faster and at a higher level,” said Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota executive vice president, of the agreement with BMW.
Both automakers said that the joint effort was a mid- to long-term commitment and that other areas for collaboration would be discussed.
Read more: http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/bmw-and-toyota-to-collaborate-on-battery-development/
