The 2015 BMW Alpina B6: Meet the fastest in the Gran Coupe family

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By Norris McDonald - The Star

Base price/as tested: $142,400/$150,800

Engine: 4.4L twin-turbo V8

Power/torque: 540 hp/ 540 lb.-ft.

Fuel consumption L/100 km: 17.6 city, 11.7 hwy.; premium grade fuel

Competition: Audi RS7, Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG

What’s best: A rare beauty that both coddles and performs.

What’s worst: Hearty appetite for premium fuel

What’s interesting: Alpina founder Burkard Bovensiepen started it all in 1962 by slapping a pair of Webber carbs on a BMW 1500.

Alpina is to BMW what AMG is to Mercedes . . . but on a much smaller scale. With only 210 employees, this family-owned company in Buchloe, Bavaria, produces around 1,500 BMW-based cars a year. It’s on the road where this bespoke beauty separates itself from the other four-door coupe versions of BMW’s 6 Series, posting the highest top speed of any BMW.

I’m not alone in thinking the four-door coupe version of BMW’s 6 Series, known as the Gran Coupe, is one of the prettiest cars on the road. Drop into your local BMW store and they’ll have three turbocharged versions of this svelte Swabian on offer — the 315 hp six-cylinder 640i xDrive at $87,900; the 445 hp 4.4L V8 650i xDrive at $99,800; and the full-bore rear-drive M6 that starts at $127,900 and extracts an extreme 560 hp from the same 4.4L V8. 

Three choices should be enough, right? You’d think so.

But what if the two lesser models are just too “common,” and the M6 a tad too brutish for your sophisticated sensibilities? Well, Goldilocks, cut a cheque for 150 large and say hello to the rare-as-chicken-lips 2015 BMW Alpina B6.

This one is just right.

Dressed to kill in bespoke 20-inch multi-vane alloys and muscular body mods resplendent in Alpina Blue Metallic, the B6 is a bespoke beauty that doesn’t yell for attention. Yet it draws the eye and slacks the jaw with its elegance and sensuous tension.

The Alpina recipe leans more on the side of luxury than on track performance, but having said that, the B6 is hardly a poser. Those body bits are functioning aerodynamic aids, as this four-door coupe posts the highest top speed of any BMW — thanks to its Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires and the deletion of that pesky 250 km/h governor found on all other high-po Bimmers. Credit also goes to the Alpina-modified 4.4L twin-turbo V8 that makes 540 hp (down 20 hp from the M6) but a robust 540 lb.-ft., which trumps the M6 by 38. Give it enough room, and the Alpina B6 will see 318 km/h.

So what the heck is an Alpina?

Alpina is to BMW what AMG is to Mercedes . . . but on a much smaller scale. BMW and Alpina were very successful racing partners in the ’70s. In 1988, Alpina said goodbye to motor racing and concentrated on the business of building their special brand of BMW road cars. 

With only 210 employees, this family-owned company in Buchloe, Bavaria, produces around 1,500 BMW-based cars a year.

In the case of this B6, partially assembled all-wheel-drive 650i xDrive Gran Coupes are plucked from the BMW assembly line and sent to Alpina for finishing. 

The engines get high-performance Mahle pistons, new turbos, water-to-air intercoolers and a heavy-duty cooling system with 30 per cent extra capacity so things don’t go boom when running at high speeds in hot climates.

Alpina tunes the excellent ZF eight-speed auto to their liking and installs their own stainless steel exhaust system that exits through a pair of twin elliptical tailpipes. In keeping with the philosophy of the automaker, the sound is rich but subdued — unlike that of a V8-powered Mercedes AMG vehicle that will unapologetically belt its intent.

Alpina also reinforces the xDrive system and rear axle, tweaks BMW’s variable damping control and adds a bit more negative camber in the front for better bite in the corners. And of course, there are bigger brakes to retard this 2,168 kg beast that weighs in a hefty 175 kg over the rear-drive M6 Gran Coupe.

Inside, you’re treated to blue-faced gauges and an Alpina-badged steering wheel with blue and green stitching. The traditional shift paddles are ditched for “Switch-tronic” buttons on the back of the wheel. A bit weird, but they work. The rest of the cabin is pure BMW 6 Series, and here in white leather it looks spectacular. Naturally, for your Alpina dollars you’re getting the full complement of goodies from Harman Kardon audio to most of BMW’s latest safety systems.

It’s on the road where the B6 separates itself from the other Gran Coupe models. The big torque coupled with all-wheel-drive give the Alpina B6 unrelenting urge and a rock-solid composure. There are no jackrabbit starts here — just the sense of a very powerful twin-turbo V8 rapidly overcoming substantial sybaritic mass.

And the suspension tuning is masterful. Looking at those 20-inch wheels you’d be forgiven for expecting a lousy ride, but in Comfort mode the B6 glides over the worst the GTA can throw at it. Yet there is not a millimetre of slop in the body control. In Sport or Sport+ mode, the dynamic parameters tighten up considerably.

BMW Canada is not saying how many 2015 Alpina B6s it will sell, but with under 200 allotted for the U.S., you can be sure of not spying many up here. It’s a unique take on this sleek four-door — smooth, luxurious, understated and fast as hell. For the few that dig a little deeper for the B6, it will be a justifiable expense

Designed to resist AK-47s: Tony Abbott's new bulletproof BMW

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By David Wroe - The Sydney Morning Herald

It's not quite The Beast, the legendary armored limousine that protects the US President, but it can stop an AK-47 round or a roadside bomb blast.

And the hulking BMW armored car worth at least $500,000 is now carrying Tony Abbott on his daily travels, delivering him to the Prime Minister's XI cricket match in Canberra on Wednesday.

Amid the heightened current terrorism alert, Mr. Abbott's new ride is one of nine BMW armored cars the government has bought under a $6.3 million contract, replacing the 12-year-old prime ministerial limo fleet of customized Holden Caprices.

The BMW 7 Series High Security cars were first used at the G20, ferrying world leaders around Brisbane, but have been phased into regular use over the holiday period.

The new V-12 prime ministerial fleet will be spread across the country and, when not needed by Mr. Abbott, will be available for visiting VIPs such as foreign leaders and dignitaries.

According to the German auto giant's website, Mr. Abbott's new car "meets the highest standards of ballistic protection", with bulletproof windows made from layers of laminated glass and polycarbonate coating, making them hard but flexible enough to absorb the impact of a bullet.

"It is the first vehicle specifically designed to protect against the world's most widely used firearm, the AK-47," the Munich-based firm's website states.

The armor plating is made from strengthened steel backed up by an interior made from sculpted synthetic fibers that are hard and heat resistant. It all forms "an impenetrable second skin", the website states.

Other safety features include tires that remain inflated even when punctured, a self-sealing petrol tank, an attack alarm and an intercom system that allows the occupants to communicate with people outside without having to open the doors.

It replaces the 2003 V-8 Holden Caprice fleet, which was bought by former prime minister John Howard and was custom-fitted with bulletproof doors and windows, as well as an armored floor and protected fuel tank.

The new cars were the subject of a political stoush with Labor questioning why Holden wasn't considered for the contract after it emerged that BMW did not bid in the original tender. Officials from the Attorney-General's department told recent Senate hearings the original tender winner turned out not to meet the "full requirements" and the department had to seek the best "value for money".

US President Barack Obama rides a customized General Motors Cadillac that the US Secret Service has nicknamed The Beast and famously carries several liters of blood of the President's type in the boot. It is estimated to weigh at least seven tons.

British Prime Minister David Cameron travels in an armored, super-charged, five-liter Jaguar XJ Sentinel that reportedly can release tear gas to disperse an angry crowd.

Gorgeous BMW 6-series gets minor Botox treatment

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By Henry Payne - The Detroit News

To the guitar wail of Jimi Hendrix, BMW revealed a mild refresh of its most premium model at the North American International Auto Show Monday: The 2015 6-series. Widely admired as one of the most beautiful cars in the world, the question is: How do you improve on perfection?

Very carefully as it turns out.

Modest updates to the stylish, third generation, $78,000-plus tourer will be applied across its model range: Coupe, convertible, a four-door Gran Coupe, and ground-pawing M6 performance edition. The changes are few and subtle. Full LED lighting is now standard. A bigger, nine-rib kidney grille gains a rib over the current model. The lower front air intakes now connect to form a continuous opening across the front chin.

The sumptuous leather interior and base, six-way seats remain largely unchanged with minor adjustments in trim and color. Bang & Olufsen still provide an optional audio upgrade. The cramped rear seats provide little room for anyone bigger than a toddler.

Powertrain offerings don't change — the major change in the 6-series coming in its major, 2012 overhaul when its normally-aspirated engines gave way to turbocharged offerings and the big coupe was offered for the first time with all-wheel drive. For 2015, the entry level 640i carries over its 315-horsepower, 3.0-liter turbo inline-six. The 650i hangs on to its 445-horse, 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8. Both powertrains are offered with only an eight-speed automatic transmission — the manual having been put out to pasture years ago.

The coupe, Gran Touring, and convertible are all available in an M (for "Motorsport") performance upgrade. The M transforms this stately cruiser into an earth-pawing deviant — its twin-turbo V-8 packing 560 possessed ponies.

Despite a gold-plated sticker price that can easily climb north of six-figures, the 6-series — based on the same chassis as BMW's flagship, 5-series sedan — has sold more than 20,000 copies since 2011 (80,000 world-wide). The U.S. market accounts for two-thirds of those sales.

Indeed, the U.S. market continues to be a focus for the Bavarian automaker. The automaker announced in Detroit that it will be expanding production of its Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant to 400,000 units a year — the largest of any BMW plant in the world — when it introduces a plugin-hybrid version of its BMW X5 sport ute later this year.

BMW also announced a new sales experience for customers. They can meet with a BMW "individual consultant" to design a customized 6-series for themselves. All BMWs, meanwhile, will receive routine, mobile network-based, map updating for their navigation systems. Built into the vehicle through a SIM card, the automatic updates are free.

Review: BMW M3 sedan is more functional and fun than its two-door M4 twin

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By David Undercoffler - LA Times

Think of BMW's new M3 and M4 as fraternal twins with only a pair of doors to tell them apart.

Nearly everything else on these potent overachievers is the same, including 425 turbocharged horsepower and sub-four-second zero-to-60-mph runs.

After a white-knuckle week of testing both 2015 models, we were smitten by the four-door M3 but merely impressed with the two-door M4. Credit the sedan's extra dose of practicality — at no cost to style — and the sweet-shifting manual transmission that came in our test car. The M3 starts at $62,950 and wants for nothing.

Its lineage helps. As it has been for the previous four generations, the M3 is the high-performance version of BMW's 3-series family. BMW first launched the road-going M3 in 1986 to comply with racing regulations.

The original M3 was a coupe, but a few of the following generations have offered sedan and convertible variants. That continues here, except for the name: The sedan lives on as the M3, while the coupe and hardtop convertible are now badged as M4s.

Their rear-wheel-drive powertrains are identical. Wedged under the bulging aluminum hood of each is a 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine. It replaces the outgoing model's surly V-8 and uses turbocharging for the first time in the venerable model's history.

The new M3 sedan and it's M4 twin (BMW)

The new M3 sedan and it's M4 twin (BMW)

Though it lacks the pure vocals of the high-revving V-8, the twin-turbo six makes up for it in grunt. Horsepower is up a bit to 425, from 414, while torque is 406 pound-feet, a sharp increase from the old V-8's 295 pound-feet.

These new M cars went on a diet, using the smaller engine and carbon fiber and aluminum bits throughout to shed around 175 pounds. More power and less weight drop zero-to-60 mph times by 0.6 seconds.

An M3/4 with the standard six-speed manual transmission will do the run in 4.1 seconds, while cars with the $2,900 seven-speed dual-clutch transmission can pull off 3.9 seconds, according to BMW.

All that performance is adjustable too. The steering, the optional ($1,000) adaptive suspension, the dual-clutch transmission and the throttle input each have three modes.

A pair of configurable buttons on the steering wheel allow drivers to preset two combinations of all those modes. That's helpful, because the car reverts to a goofy default setup every time you fire it up.

Other high-tech options include an active limited-slip differential, stability control with a special dynamic mode, and a carbon fiber engine brace, trunk lid, roof and drive shaft. Those with unlimited budgets — or a desire to put the car on a race track — can add the $8,150 carbon ceramic brakes.
The manual transmission came with a light, precise shifter and automatic rev-matching on downshifts that felt like cheating; even the most ham-fisted driver could row it smoothly.

The automated dual-clutch on our M4 tester may be a tad faster, but the manual was much more fun, creating an intimate connection between driver and car. The manual also offered slightly better highway mileage, at 26 mpg instead of 24. Both versions are rated at 17 mpg in city driving.

We also preferred the higher seating position in the M3. Sitting lower in the M4 made it feel a bit more like a muscle car than a sport sedan.

Both models are athletic on the road, with endless power delivered in linear fashion. For maximum fun and control, turn off the overly conservative stability control software.

In curves, the M3 in particular felt lively and tactile. It's a car that still communicates the nuances of the roadway to the driver, a trait that's vanishing as cars get faster and more capable of doing most of the work for you.

The full brunt of torque comes on at a very low 1,850 revolutions per minute, so you need a deft touch on the gas pedal. The turbocharged engine never sounds great, but the noise gets better the harder you press it — partly because BMW pumps fake engine sound into the cabin through the stereo speakers.

The M3 combines asphalt-shredding power with the livability of a sedan and a comfortable back seat. Compared with the M4, it offers an extra inch and a half of headroom and legroom for back-seat passengers. Trunk space is also up by a cubic foot.

Our loaded test models weren't cheap: $81,425 for our M3, painted Yas Marina Blue, and $86,200 for the Austin Yellow M4. That included carbon ceramic brakes, the active suspension and LED lights, all of which are unnecessary.

Better to buy the base M3 for $62,950 or the base M4 for an additional $2,175.

So the sedan, more fun and functional, is also cheaper than the coupe. There's also something beautiful about a roomy sedan that can run with the Porsches.

They may be twins, but the M3 wins this sibling rivalry.

I Drove BMW's $150,000 Hybrid Sports Car 88 MPH Through The Streets Of Las Vegas, And I Can't Stop Thinking About It

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By Steve Kovach – Business Insider

I hate driving.

One of the happiest moments of my life was when I sold my old Honda CR-V after moving to New York almost seven years ago. New York has a great public-transportation system as well as plenty of taxis and Ubers. Why bother with the hassle of owning a car? 

But at the Consumer Electronics Show this year I saw a bunch of people tweeting about BMW's new hybrid sports car, the i8. They were drooling over this thing. It also looked pretty cool, like an updated DeLorean from "Back To The Future," complete with butterfly doors. At dinner Wednesday night, a friend told me about her test drive and said it blew her mind.

I had to try it. 

BMW made it simple, too. You just send the company a tweet with your location and a crew drives to you with a shiny i8. Demand was pretty high, so it took a little over an hour for them to show up. 

And then (holy smokes!) I saw this thing pull into the parking lot of my hotel.

BMW also brought along a camera crew to follow me in a separate car and film me driving through the streets of Las Vegas. There was also a GoPro mounted inside the windshield. So look for me in a future car commercial, I guess.

But before I could even get behind the wheel I had to sign a waiver. I have no idea what this thing said. I didn't read it. I assume I signed my life away in case something nasty happened during my drive. I didn't care. I wanted to drive this thing so badly I would've signed away my firstborn. 

Getting in was tough. The i8 sits really low to the ground, so you have to kind of slide in butt-first. I'm over 6 feet tall, so this was pretty difficult. But once inside, I was totally comfortable. The interior was much roomier than it looks from the outside.

There's a lot of tech in this car, too, so I had to become familiar with all the gizmos before I could start the ignition. My favorite: The heads-up display that projects your console screen onto the windshield so you don't have to take your eyes off the road to look at the GPS, XM radio, incoming calls, etc.

Then my BMW guide, who sat in the passenger seat, hit the ignition button. It seemed like nothing happened. No noise. No rumble and roar of the engine. Just silence. Because the i8 is a hybrid, it can run in an electric-only mode, so you can't feel the engine. It's a little jarring at first for those used to driving regular cars.

The i8 can travel about 20 miles on battery power alone. After that, you'll need to use the gas-powered engine. The car can also switch automatically between electric and gas based on your speed, acceleration patterns, and a bunch of other factors. 

I pulled out of the SLS hotel lot and onto Joe W Brown Drive. I was overly cautious at first, afraid to taint the car with even a grease spot. I've never sat behind the wheel of a vehicle like this. Pedestrians and other drivers were gawking at me. It felt as if I were driving a car designed for Tony Stark. Eventually, I started feeling more confident. Then my guide switched the i8 to sport mode, which turns on the gas engine, and told me to turn down an empty side street.

The speed limit was 35 mph. I didn't see any cops or people or other cars.

"F--- it," I thought, and floored it.

The interior was silent, but I had the windows down so I could hear the engine roar and echo off the buildings lining the street. The g-forces pressed my head against the back of my seat. I took the i8 up to a symbolic 88 mph before slowing down again so I didn't run the red light at the end of the road. Breaking one traffic law was enough for me.

By the way, the model I drove costs $150,000.

I tooled around the city a bit more before arriving at BMW's booth outside the Las Vegas Convention Center. I parked the car and did a quick interview for the BMW camera crew.

Hours after my test drive, I was still thinking about the i8. If I could, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. And this is coming from a dude who hates driving.

If you have an extra $150,000, I highly recommend buying the BMW i8.

2016 BMW 7-Series Final Prototype

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The new BMW 7-Series final prototype was caught unmasked on December 31, 2014. The front end looks like a combination of the X5 and F30 with a rear end confirming the earlier versions we have seen. BMW's new Laser Lighting will also including, although it is not yet clear if they will be standard. BMW will officially unveil the 2016 7-Series at the International Motor Show in Geneva in May 2015. 

BMW's autonomous i3 learned how to park and forgot how to crash

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By Sean Cooper - engadget

BMW is at CES this week demonstrating some of its newest advances in the field of highly autonomous driving. If you remember, last year we were taken to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and sped around the track in a tricked-out driverless 4 Series. This year's theme remains essentially the same, though rather than focusing on high-speed driving and drifting, the German automaker has slowed everything down. We were invited to a hotel's rooftop parking area where a couple BMW i3s were parked at either end of the space. One would demonstrate 360-degree collision avoidance and the other fully automated parking. They both did a very impressive job.

Both i3s were equipped with four laser scanners: front, rear and one on both the left and right front-quarter panels. Using the scanners, the car is able to create a temporary map of its environment; picture a box extending out from the car on all sides. Once it drives past an object such as a pylon or a giant block -- and there were many on hand, like real-life Minecraft blocks -- they're remembered for a time.

For the second run, I kept the pedal hard against the floor, but we still stopped at the same smooth pace.

The experimental software and hardware at play know the precise shape of the car and where it is in space. If any part of the car is in danger of hitting any obstacle, the system gently, but insistently stops the car. Of course, the system can also be overridden in a pinch -- for instance, stomping on the pedal will force it into motion no matter what.

In our first test, we drove straight toward a giant block. The BMW rep with me in the car told me to just keep my foot in it and the car would stop. It did, but with the center stack's proximity alerts howling and mostly red. We then did the same exercise, but in reverse. For the second run, I kept the pedal hard against the floor, but we still stopped at the same smooth pace. The rest of the demo saw us circling a rooftop outbuilding attempting various maneuvers to see how the i3 would react while parallel parking and trying to deliberately knock a mirror off. The proximity sensors, while useful in low-speed driving, are mostly useless at speeds greater than a parking pace. To demonstrate this, our last run at the blocks was from a much greater distance and the system stopped as before, but this time without the proximity alerts wailing.

The other i3 on the roof was sitting next to a valet parking sign. Using the same scanners as the 360-degree collision-avoidance system, the fully automated parking demo also adds maps to the mix. GPS might work well in a rooftop parking area, but once you head below ground, GPS goes away and our car would be stopped and stranded. BMW's solution is that the cars be supplied with detailed maps of the parking area so that they can both orient themselves to find the entrance or exit and help select a space to park.

We hopped in the back seat of car and the BMW tech produced a ZenWatch running a BMW app and tapped the "Park Vehicle" button. The car did a quick 180-degree turn and off we went to find a spot. After a few hundred feet, the i3 chose to back into a spot between two other BMWs -- of course -- and did it perfectly. Retrieving the car was done exactly the same way using the app, but this time the car pulled out and headed back to where we left it. The experience of sitting in the back seat of a car as it drove itself about was pretty unsettling at first, but we quickly forgot about that and just enjoyed the drive.

We'd buy these systems tomorrow for our cars as an aftermarket add-on or bundle them in our next new purchase in a flash. The demos -- yes, they were in a controlled environment -- were that compelling. But unfortunately, this gear is being built, designed and tested in lockstep with BMWs vision of the Highly Autonomous car. This was the carmaker's way of telling us it wasn't coming to the next-gen i3 or any other model in the current lineup. Instead, these are small steps in a much larger vision of how vehicles will interact in all manner of different driving situations. Eventually, BMW hopes they'll form a complete and safe automated-driving experience. Again, to be crystal clear, we love driving, but give me the option to read mail instead of mindlessly drifting in traffic and I'm on board. Drop my car off and let it park itself while I get my groceries and then meet me at the curb for a pickup? Yes, we'd line up for that! It's sort of like making dinner -- we'll always want the potatoes; we just won't have to do the peeling anymore.

BMW Dazzles CES with the BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights

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By Alexander Kalogianni - Digital Trends

Like everything else on cars nowadays, headlamps are getting smarter. We’ve already begun moving away from heavy, space-hogging bulbs in favor of smaller OLEDs, giving us cleaner beams of light in the process. Having brought laser boosted lighting to the market with the i8 hybrid sports car, BMW illuminates the path ahead with BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights vehicle.

The white metallic car itself is just a showcase of how the future lights would look on a typical BMW vehicle. The laser lights themselves starts blue in color, but a phosphor plate inside the light converts it to a bright white light that mimics daylight. The beams are ten times as powerful as any other light source like xenon or LED, and has a projection range of 600 meters.

You’re probably reading this now, imagining how blind you’ll be when one of these heads down the road ahead of you. Don’t worry, BMW’s thought of that, too. Dynamic actuators control the Selective Beam system, which spots oncoming traffic with a set of cameras and prevents the headlights from dazzling oncoming vehicles.

In fact, the dynamic ability of these lamps goes even further, allowing people and animals detected by an infrared camera to be “spotlighted” for the driver’s immediate attention. Forward sensors can also detect if the way ahead has enough clearance for the vehicle and provides a laser projection to indicate the available width.

From a design standpoint, the implementation of laser and OLED headlights open up realm of possibilities to give the vehicle a distinct appearance, front or back. For instance, as each segment can be individually illuminated, the lights could change so something more fierce in appearance if sport mode was selected.

The headlights themselves may be designed to prevent dazzling other drivers, but consider us stunned.

BMW retakes U.S. luxury auto sales crown from Mercedes-Benz

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BY Bernie Woodall

(Reuters) - BMW (BMWG.DE) on Monday regained bragging rights as the top-selling luxury brand in the United States, ending the one-year reign of German rival Mercedes.

BMW ended with a lead last year of more than 9,000 vehicles over Mercedes-Benz, which in 2013 seized a title BMW had held for the previous two years.

The BMW brand sold 339,738 vehicles in the U.S. market last year, a 9.8 percent jump from 2013. BMW's sales growth outpaced the overall U.S. auto market's 5.9 percent increase. Daimler AG's (DAIGn.DE) Mercedes-Benz brand showed an increase of 5.7 percent to 330,391 vehicles.

Last year, Mercedes-Benz outsold BMW by about 3,000 vehicles. BMW won the sales crown in 2011 and 2012.

Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) Lexus brand narrowed the gap on the two German brands, but remained in third last year with 311,389 vehicles, up 13.7 percent.

From 2000 to 2010, Lexus was the luxury sales leader, but the two German brands jumped the Japanese brand in 2011 when a damaging earthquake and tsunami struck Japan.

Volkswagen AG's (VOWG_p.DE) Audi brand overtook General Motors Co's (GM.N) Cadillac for fourth place. Audi's sales of 182,011 were up 15.2 percent while Cadillac sales fell 6.5 percent to 170,750 vehicles.

Honda Motor Co's (7267.T) Acura brand showed a 1.5 percent gain in the year to 167,843 vehicles, followed by Nissan Motor Co's (7201.T) Infiniti at 117,300 vehicles, up 0.8 percent.

In eighth place but gaining was Lincoln, the Ford Motor Co (F.N) luxury brand that a couple of decades ago was the luxury market leader. Lincoln's sales rose 15.6 percent in the year to 94,474 vehicles.

Owners of BMW electric cars get paid not to drive

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By David R. Baker - San Francisco Chronicle

Some Bay Area drivers of the BMW i3 electric hatchback may soon qualify for an odd perk — getting paid to delay recharging their cars.

Drivers who participate in the German automaker’s new i ChargeForward program will receive up to $1,540 in return for letting BMW delay the recharging process whenever California’s electricity grid faces a heavy strain. The delays are expected to last no longer than an hour.

The experimental program — developed by BMW and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. — will test one way to ensure that electric vehicles don’t burden the grid as their popularity slowly grows. If it works well, it could lead to a future in which EV drivers get paid for helping to maintain the grid’s stability. And that money could, in turn, offset the price of electric cars, which still cost substantially more than their gasoline-burning brethren.

“If they will provide us grid service, we can provide them some incentives that will help lower the cost of these vehicles,” said James Ellis, PG&E’s director of electric vehicle programs.

The new program, announced by PG&E and BMW Monday, is just one of many efforts under way to study how best to plug electric cars into the grid. A consortium of automakers, including BMW, is developing a standardized communication platform that will let utilities communicate with their customers’ EVs, letting utilities balance charging times among thousands of customers. Some researchers are also studying ways to use electric cars as big batteries that could feed power to the grid when necessary.

That won’t be part of the BMW experiment.

Instead, BMW and PG&E want to see if they can persuade drivers to give up a little control over recharging times, to prevent electric cars from straining the grid when power supplies are low. It’s similar to the “demand response” programs that utilities already run, which typically give big businesses a break on electricity bills in return for agreeing to cut power use during emergencies.

Starting this month, BMW will seek online applications from Bay Area i3 drivers willing to participate in the program. Those interested can register at www.bmwichargeforward.com. The program will enroll 100 drivers, who will receive $1,000 up-front.

Whenever power supplies on the electricity grid run low — say during summer afternoons — PG&E will send a notice to those drivers through a BMW smartphone app. The notice will warn them that their plugged-in cars will temporarily stop charging. Drivers who absolutely need a full charge can use the smartphone app to opt out, ensuring that charging continues.

At the end of the program, in late 2016, drivers will receive a second payment worth up to $540, based on the number of times they let the system delay charging.

In all likelihood, not all participating drivers will agree to delay charging each time the system sends an alert — they could be on the road or know they need a full charge soon. So BMW will tap a bank of used electric-car batteries, located at the automaker’s technology office in Mountain View, to make up the difference, sending PG&E enough electricity to make up for the drivers who opted out.

“That’s our way we’re ensuring that we always meet our commitment to PG&E while never sacrificing mobility for our customers,” said Julia Sohnen, an advanced technology engineer in sustainable mobility for BMW.