No automotive firm needs regulation. However sometimes, guidelines and deadlines drive the business to maneuver in methods it may not in any other case. For BMW, California’s first emissions requirements in 1966 and the U.S. Clear Air Act in 1970 had been simply that sort of push. They didn’t simply clear the air — they accelerated BMW into gasoline injection with automobiles just like the 2002 tii, making them cleaner, extra environment friendly and faster.
However decreasing emissions was solely a part of the story. Eliminating them utterly required one thing radical: a return to electrical drivetrains. And whereas BMW wasn’t constructing automobiles throughout the first “electrical age” on the flip of the century, it dipped its toes in 1972 with the Elektro 1602, a transformed 2002 that quietly paced marathon runners on the Munich Olympics. Twelve lead-acid batteries and a 44-mile vary meant it was extra science venture than manufacturing automotive, but it surely marked the start of a protracted journey.
Hydrogen Detours and California Stress
Via the Nineteen Eighties and 90s, BMW chased hydrogen as a zero-emission path whereas regulators in California stored urgent for EVs. Ideas just like the E1 and E2 seemed futuristic however struggled with sodium-sulfur batteries. Even a small fleet of three Sequence with experimental range-extenders missed the mark. The fact, as BMW NA’s Wealthy Brekus later put it: “The E36 electrical autos had been horrible.”
California ultimately agreed to simply accept BMW’s Partial Zero Emission Autos as a substitute — automobiles that had been nonetheless gasoline-powered however terribly clear. Hundreds of thousands of them hit the highway, dramatically enhancing California’s air high quality.
Challenge i and the Megacity Imaginative and prescient
By 2007, BMW shifted gears. Cancelling its F1 projectm, BMW shifted engineering expertise to electrification. This mixed with hydrogen experiments being deserted, the corporate launched Challenge i. The thought wasn’t simply to construct an EV, however to rethink mobility within the age of megacities. Enter the MINI E: 1,088 lithium-ion cells powering a MINI hatch stripped of its rear seats. With 201 hp and a claimed 156-mile vary, it was crude however promising.
What made the MINI E outstanding wasn’t the {hardware} however the take a look at program. In 2009, BMW put 450 of them within the fingers of actual clients in LA, New York and New Jersey. Leasing value $850 a month, and drivers had to supply suggestions. All of the sudden BMW wasn’t simply experimenting in a lab — it was dwelling the EV future alongside its clients.
Lovers like Pacific Palisades resident Peter Trepp blogged day by day about charging, regenerative braking and life with out fuel stations. Clients found the fun (immediate torque, one-pedal driving) and the complications (European plugs with out UL approval, brutal vary loss within the chilly).
From MINI E to ActiveE
Section two got here in 2012 with the BMW ActiveE, a battery-electric 1 Sequence coupe with liquid-cooled batteries and extra refinement. Vary was nonetheless solely about 100 miles, however the automotive previewed the powertrain and thermal administration that will underpin BMW’s first true manufacturing EV, the i3.
Classes That Nonetheless Matter
The MINI E and ActiveE weren’t gross sales hits — they had been rolling take a look at beds. However they taught BMW how clients cost, what vary anxiousness looks like, and the way utilities would possibly sooner or later use EVs to stabilize the grid. Additionally they laid the groundwork for BMW’s round financial system pondering, repurposing previous EV batteries for stationary power storage.
And whereas Tesla grabbed headlines with the Mannequin S and its 300-mile vary, BMW’s methodical path by means of Challenge i confirmed how a legacy automaker might study by doing. The experiments had been messy, generally irritating, however important.
Our Take
Wanting again, the MINI E and ActiveE really feel like scrappy prototypes in comparison with the polished Neue Klasse EVs about to reach. However they had been the spark. Regulation could have compelled BMW’s hand, however what stored the momentum going was curiosity, engineering stubbornness and the willingness handy imperfect automobiles to actual drivers. With out that, there’s no i3, no iX, and no EV future for BMW and no forthcoming Neue Klasse.
