BMW has announced that New York Metro and Greater Los Angeles will be joined by Metropolitan markets of San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento and Boston in its ActiveE field trial when it begins in summer 2011.
The BMW ActiveE field trial will build on the success and experience gained during the MINI E field trial, now in its second year. Experience gained in this second-phase trial will prepare the BMW Group for the launch of its purpose-designed Megacity Vehicle in 2013.
BMW says that although the exact size of the fleet has yet to be confirmed, it will be at least as large as the 450-unit Mini E fleet currently in operation in the U.S.
A glimpse of the BMW ActiveE was first seen with the Concept ActiveE at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show in January. Based on the chassis of a BMW 1 Series Coupe it features a newly developed electric drivetrain and a lithium-ion battery-packed developed in cooperation with SB-LiMotive. It offers four passenger seating and approximately seven cubic-feet of luggage capacity.
Based on realistic simulations, the sprint from 0-60 mph (100km/h) requires approximately 8.5 seconds. The maximum speed of the vehicle is electronically limited at around 90 mph (145 km/h).
The lithium-ion battery pack specially developed for this vehicle supplies energy to the motor and all other functions of the BMW ActiveE. For the first time, storage cells are used which were developed especially for use in automobiles by the BMW Group in collaboration with the cooperation partner SB LiMotive.
The storage system developed for the BMW Concept ActiveE enables a real-world range of about 100 miles (160 km) on a single charge, depending on conditions.
On the European power grid, the battery pack can be fully charged in just 3 hours at a wall box with a current of 50 ampere at 230/240 volts. In North America, using a high-current (32 ampere continuous) residential wall box, the charge time is about 4.5 hours.[wzslider height=”400″ lightbox=”true”]
