The latest BEV project from BMW comes in the form of a 5 Series sedan. The German manufacturer used its #Nextgen conference to introduce what it’s calling a “Power BEV”, essentially a 5 Series fit with three fifth-generation electric drive units.
The German manufacturer used its #Nextgen conference to introduce what it’s calling a “Power BEV” which is essentially a 5 Series fit with three fifth-generation electric drive units. Providing over 720 hp of power, it can sprint from zero-100 km/h in under three seconds. That’s not just sports car territory; that’s supercar or even megacar territory. Heck, that’s almost Tesla Ludicrous Mode territory!
More than just helping the Power BEV sprint, the electric motors can help it dip, duck and dive as well. Since the two electric motors mounted to the rear axle are controlled separately, this allows for precise torque vectoring. BMW says that this works better than a traditional limited slip in that an LSD is reacting to a difference in rotation between two wheels, while the e-torque can be actively sent to whichever wheel needs it. A third EV motor is mounted to the front axle; BMW says the entire powertrain is free of rare earth minerals, and that it does not infringe on interior passenger space.
BMW says that an EV motor of the same type as the three in the BEV will be fit to the upcoming iX3 SUV, though they also say that vehicle will only have a single EV motor. At the same time, BMW says it did demonstrate “the possibilities opened up by two separately controllable electric motors,” so perhaps we will start seeing some of this tech making its way to future production models beyond the iX3.
From EV to Autonomy
If being at the cutting edge of autonomy tech is more your thing, #Nextgen has something for you, too.
At the event, 7 Series models equipped with level 4 autonomous tech were being demonstrated. They can summoned by a smartphone app to a pickup point and then whisked away to a destination also uploaded to the app. The drive will only begin once everyone’s fastened their seatbelts, at which point they’re free to do what they please, according to BMW.
The vehicle makes use of high-performance sensor technologies developed by BMW such as computer vision. BMW says they have also been testing the autonomous 7 Series on German roads.
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