BMW 1-Series News

The choices among electric cars just keep getting better, as BMW has now announced the lease details for the first stage of its evolution into BMW-branded electric cars. The ActiveE, an all-electric version of the 1-series, will be available for lease requests later this summer. It will be offered...

Electric cars, at the moment, cost more to buy than gasoline cars of similar size and with similar features, powertrain excepted. Leases on electric cars from mass-market brands like Nissan and Chevrolet are often a little more competitive. The 2011 Nissan Leaf is $349 a month, the 2011 Chevy Volt...

German electronics company Siemens is set to begin field trials of an inductive charging system, in partnership with BMW. Inductive charging is a popular concept for charging away from home - it allows for charging without trailing cables and plugs around, and without requiring charging posts...

Oh, those wacky Germans and their car-sharing schemes. BMW said yesterday that it would launch a pilot car-sharing program, first in Munich and then in Berlin, starting next month. The cooperative venture with Sixt AG will be called DriveNow. BMW says DriveNow will be the "first-ever car-sharing...

BMW are developing some of the world's most anticipated electric cars at the moment with the i3 and i8 spearheading the launch of BMW's 'i' brand. The 1-Series based ActiveE is the first pure electric car to eminate from Bavaria since the MINI E, and the production car makes its world debut at the...

Of all the electric vehicles planned by major automakers, few are more eagerly awaited than the BMW MegaCity 'i' all-electric urban car, expected to go into production late in 2013 or early in 2014. It's a BMW, which means it will be sporty and handle well. It's likely to be the smallest BMW since...

It's not just Toyota that sells multiple models of hybrid cars now. German luxury brands are getting in on the act too. BMW announced today that it was forming a joint venture with France's Peugeot-Citroen to design and build hybrid-electric powertrains. The new enterprise is an expansion of the...

BMW made a step towards its electric car future today by launching its ActiveE electric car forums. In its final Plugged-In newsletter to all its current MINI E Lease participants, BMW announced that the new website will form the backbone of BMW’s next electric car program. In addition, BMW...

The BMW "MegaCity" carbon-fiber all-electric car, scheduled for launch in 2013, may be the most radical BMW in decades. BMW had confirmed that this first production electric car to wear the BMW badge would be the first of a sub-brand within the make, much as its "M" series of performance editions...

The M series of cars from BMW may very well be some of the most sought after performance coupes and sedans on the market. They range from vehicles with complicated on-board systems like the M6 to the very popular M3 and now the 1-series M coupe. The M coupe represents the fastest and most...

BMW is moving full steam ahead with its plans to offer new, radically more fuel efficient vehicles in the next decade. Today, the company said it would put its striking Vision EfficientDynamics concept car into production, to be offered for sale starting in October 2013. And, it signed off on an...

Mercedes-Benz and BMW are both working on a new generation of front-wheel drive compact cars complete with four-cylinder and alternative powertrains, advanced composite construction and soaring fuel economy numbers. However, more often than not, we customers in the U.S. can only dream of such...

As BMW bring to an end the first round of BMW Mini E lease schemes in the U.K, drivers in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Boston and Connecticut can look forward to signing up to help BMW test its ActiveE, two years before its MegaCity EV hits the market. Based on a...

It's easy to forget that BMW have already produced two EVs - the 2009 MINI-E, which is undergoing trials in the U.S. and elsewhere in the hands of individuals, and the 2009 ActiveE concept based on their 1-Series Coupe. BMW are busy working away on another EV though, one that will wear the famous...

Expect to see smaller engines for BMW’s future models, as high fuel prices and greater environmental concerns push buyers towards engines with lower displacements. Automakers, even the luxury marques, would be foolish to ignore the trend, which is why BMW's working on a new three-cylinder engine...

In an announcement just days ago, BMW revealed that it will build its first ever production electric vehicle at its northern Germany plant in Leipzig. The BMW Megacity EV, as the company calls it, will enter production in either 2012 or 2013.  As a way to test electric vehicles, the company has...

We've covered BMW's first two hybrid vehicles, just launched for the upcoming year: the 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid X6 "sports activity coupe", the world's most powerful hybrid, and the 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid 7, the world's fastest hybrid sedan. Now a spy photo from the British magazine Autocar shows that...

Which Of These Two Bimmers Will Grab Your Attention?

This site has been covering news of the Mini E for over a month, so it shouldn't surprise you that Mini's parent company, BMW, is expected to unveil some EV concepts in the very near future. According to BMW Blog, the German automaker will showcase "Concept eDrive" at the Geneva Auto Show in March...