Throwback Thursday at AutoMadame HQ...

BMW 1993/1994 brochure

No matter where I go, I always stumble across something BMW-esque. While sifting through boxes that had been in storage for the last four years, I stumbled across a piece of BMW literature from 1993/1994. The forty-five page brochure was a summation of what had recently been achieved by the company and what was anticipated for the future, with the introduction titled 'mobility and the future'. BMW have always been synonymous with progressive technology and redefining the automotive landscape, so coming across this brochure more than twenty years after it was published  was an interesting experience. 

Just to summarise how much has changed since this brochure was published, in 1994 the entire BMW range could be summarised on an A4 page. The BMW range consisted of only four numbers; 3, 5, 7 and 8 Series and only one letter, M. Now the BMW range has more than five hundred individual models and  five letters (well, technically six) that prefix models; M, X, Z, GT and i.  The huge increase in models tells a lot about what has happened in the last twenty years or so. BMW have grown as a company to provide a vehicle for every possible need. 1 and 2 Series for young, aspirational individuals and families, X for those eager for the four wheel drive experience, M for the sports car and i for the environmentally conscious, early adopter type. And so it goes. 

Technical data for the 1993/1994 BMW range.

I expected to feel nostalgia while flicking through this brochure but what I was not prepared for was to read some sort of prediction... The similarity in language and ideas portrayed was uncanny to current BMW rhetoric.  Perhaps that seems obvious; all good companies endeavour to follow the same marketing line in order to create a timeless brand. However, I did not expect to read about electric vehicles in a brochure more than twenty years old, when electric vehicles are still met with scepticism in the twenty-first century and when BMW only brought their first electric car to market in November 2013. To give you an idea of what I read,  BMW stated:

"We are constantly working to improve mobility in every possible way.  

The E1 reflects our ideas in even more concrete form - a short-distance vehicle with enough room for four people and an environmentally sound propulsion concept. 

This vehicle can be driven by an electric motor or an internal combustion engine, or even by a hybrid system with an ultra-fuel efficient internal-combustion engine feeding the batteries for the electric motor."

If you know anything about the current BMW range, you will find this spooky. The E1 Concept was introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show (the home of all great car launches) in 1991. A purpose built electric car, the E1 was powered by sodium-nickel chloride batteries, with a reputed electric range of 100 miles, staggering for the time. The E1 was a design and engineering study carried out by BMW Technik and was not produced for public consumption.

BMW E1 Concept

In 2013, twenty years on from the print of this brochure, BMW launched its first wholly electric vehicle, the BMW i3. The i3, a compact hatchback smaller in size than the 1 Series, using lithium-ion batteries and driven by an electric motor producing 170hp, propelling the car from 0 - 62mph in 7.6 seconds, is also a purpose built electric vehicle like the E1. Also like the E1, the i3 has an electric range of up to 100 miles and carries four people. Can you see the growing number of similarities? 

Furthermore, the i3 is also available in a hybrid set up, albeit not in the usual sense. The small two-cylinder petrol engine is designed to charge the batteries rather than drive the wheels . This model, named the Range Extender, is designed for those with 'Range Anxiety'.  With the Range Extender, the electric range of the car is reportedly up to 180 miles. Like the above quotation from the 1993/1994 brochure, the E1 and i3 both share a hybrid set up with an internal combustion engine feeding the batteries.

BMW i3 in Laurus Grey

So how has this design study evolved with the development of the BMW i range? Well, besides from the differences in batteries used by each car and of course design, the i3 features numerous technological breakthroughs, which you would expect given the time that has lapsed between the two vehicles. For instance, the i3 features a carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) structure, making the car extremely light, countering the additional weight caused by the batteries and  enabling the nimble drive of the vehicle. This is the first time CFRP has been used to such extent by BMW, and by any manufacturer. 

Moreover, the magnitude of this achievement is underpinned by the fact that the CFRP is produced at a carbon-neutral factory in Moses Lake Washington, which is powered by hydro electric thus eliminating any detrimental environmental effects caused by production. The success of the BMW i brand, which we can see has its roots in the E1 Concept, can be measured by the numerous awards the i3 has received including Auto Express's 'Best Green Car' of 2014 and the fact that customers cannot get these cars quick enough.

BMW i3 CFRP Structure

As I have alluded, the i3 mirrors many of the original goals of the E1.   And my gasps when reading through this now vintage BMW brochure, were totally justified. But the biggest question this raises is why did BMW wait until 2013 before launching electric vehicles when they had already gained huge insist through R&D with the E1?

A few possible reasons why:

1. BMW were waiting for the market to be 'electric-ready'.

2. Vested interests elsewhere: the development of diesel engines 
became priority with improved turbo-charging and inter-cooling. Over the years BMW have pushed the boundaries with their diesel engines producing the likes of the X5 M50d, a 3.0 litre diesel engine with three turbos working in series to produce maximum output while remaining somewhat more economical than a petrol equivalent. Further to the development of diesel engines, BMW have employed a host of technologies in all of their vehicles, known as Efficient Dynamics,  including lightweight engineering, brake regeneration, twin-power turbo technology among other technologies to improve consumption and reduce emissions since 2007, in addition to the introduction of hybrid models known as Active Hybrids (which have not seen huge uptake).

3. Changing government regulation surrounding carbon emissions in recent years have meant that manufacturers have had to develop electric vehicles as improvements to ICE vehicles were essentially exhausted.

4. Recent breakthroughs in battery technology, particularly in personal handheld devices has filtered down to electric vehicles, improving battery longevity, safety and environmental soundness.

5. Cost: it was simply too expensive to be economically viable to continue with the design study in the early nineties. 'Teething problems' such as the issue surrounding the safety of the battery pack used in the E1 could have been enough to simply rule out any further development in the immediate future.

6. BMW chose to place resource on the Clean Energy project, which saw the development of the Hydrogen 7, a car that burns hydrogen in an internal combustion engine where the only emission produced is water. This project has since been put on the back burner.

Regardless of what the reason or reasons may be, if anything is to be learned from this exercise, it is that when BMW make a commitment, they keep their word. In 1993 they wanted to improve mobility in every possible way. In 2015 they argue that:

"BMW i is a comprehensive and groundbreaking concept for sustainable mobility. It represents visionary electric vehicles and mobility services, inspiring design and a new definition of premium, defined by sustainability."

It is clear that this idea of improved mobility has transcended into present day BMWs and many parallels can be drawn between the E1 and the i3. Even if you do not get excited about electric vehicles like I do, it is exciting to think that possible design studies and concepts now may some day become reality for the driver. 

Here is to hoarding and finding old memorabilia that excites your inner geek, who knows what I will find next!