New Cars Specification

Frankfurts auto show shaping up as its greenest, most wired ever--and BMWs new concept coupe is leading the charge. MotorAuthority has reported for weeks on the Vision EfficientDynamics concept in the works for the 2009 Frankfurt auto show. Rumors placed the car as a coupe, then a four-door, then a little unbelievably as a three-cylinder hybrid. Almost all of the leaked details have turned out to be true, as BMW confirms the details of the new concept set for a world debut at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show. At its core, the Vision EfficientDynamics concept is a sportscar in the BMW vein, with promised M-car performance levels. Its the drivetrains that are the shockers: this particular vision sees a future BMW sportscar sporting a three-cylinder diesel plug-in hybrid powertrain. Its a tour de force--at least in concept, since no automaker has yet produced a diesel hybrid, or a mass-market plug-in hybrid, not to mention a combination of the two. BMW Vision EfficientDynamics: Greener Than Thou With the new Vision concept, BMW isnt simply keeping pace with the Chevy Volts, Prius plug-ins and Peugeot diesel hybrid concepts floated by those automakers. Its a trump card that marries all those technologies into a single halo car that could lead the way to lighter, more efficient, more dramatically styled BMW coupes of the future. It could also be the engineering equivalent of conjecture. Theres so much going on beneath its body, its difficult to imagine all the green-car technologies knitted together in harmony. Its hard to write them in a single sentence without running on, even. Theres a direct-injection, 1.5-liter, 163-hp, three-cylinder turbodiesel, two electric motors (one per axle), a set of lithium-ion batteries, and a software controller that modulates and marries both powertrains to a combined total of 356 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. The EfficientDynamics concept uses all three in tandem or selectively. Using only the diesel engines power, a six-speed dual-clutch transmission sends power to the rear wheels. The hybrid powertrain is actually two distinct applications, a "conventional" hybrid system applied to the rear wheels and a hybrid motor hooked to the front wheels. The rear-wheel hybrid system operates in tandem with the diesel engine, while the front system operates on battery power alone. As such, BMW says the Vision EfficientDynamics could provide all-wheel drive in electric-only mode, with battery power twisting its front and rear axles simultaneously. The EfficientDynamics concepts performance is geared to convince Bimmerphiles that green and clean doesnt mean thin power and willowy handling. BMW claims a 155-mph top speed and a 0-60 mph time of less than 4.8 seconds, while providing fuel economy of almost 63 mpg, and for European enthusiasts, CO2 emissions of 99 grams per kilometer. Because its also a plug-in hybrid, those controversial CO2 emissions could be halved to 50 grams per kilometer, if the Vision EfficientDynamics were juiced up with electricity and driven on battery power alone. The plug-in technology used means the concept car would use a standard 220-volt household outlet to recharge its batteries. A 2.5-hour recharge time is predicted, though on a 380-volt line, BMW says a 44-minute full recharge is possible. Driving range could pass 400 miles with fuel or 31 miles on electricity 

alone, BMW also adds.