BMW Megacity Vehicle official teaser
BMW's plans for the future have been dramatic and decidedly high-tech of late, including the U.S.-bound 1-Series ActiveE and the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept, itself headed to production in the next few years. Today, BMW has released a teaser for an all-electric car under the project name of the Megacity Vehicle.
The new Megacity Vehicle, or MCV for short, does not exclusively represent one type of vehicle, but rather a range of technologies BMW could introduce across its fleet or even under a rumored fourth brand. As such, there will be several different variations, including all-electric, range-extended electric and high-efficiency gasoline and diesel models.
The first will be an all-electric minicar due in 2013 and depicted in this teaser sketch. It will be able to seat four and employ a vast array of lightweight composite materials to boost its efficiency as much as possible. Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) will play a large role in the car's construction, and accordingly it will be built by BMW in its Leipzig plant as a joint venture with SGL Carbon and SGL Automotive Fibers. The actual carbon fiber material will be sourced from right here in the U.S.
Not much else is known about the Megacity Vehicle but this all-electric version is expected to sport a 134 horsepower electric motor running on lithium-ion batteries and driving the rear axle. A range-extended version complete with a compact internal combustion engine acting as a generator will also likely be launched.
For more details, check out John Voelcker's previous report by clicking here.
[BMW]
