BMW Project i Details

[JoshCalkins]

It's fitting that the "i" in Project i should be lowercase, as the effort will focus on delivering premium vehicles at a fraction of normal car size. While Dr. Ulrich Kranz, who heads the Project, said that these vehicles probably won't hit the markets until around 2015, the first stage of the project is already in motion in the form of the Mini E.

The Mini E

The Mini E is an all-electric version of the iconic compact, and there are currently a little more than 500 vehicles being tested in both Germany and America. After compiling the feedback from this test, Dr. Kranz and his team will focus their plans for designing smaller vehicles that will be targeted at car markets in big, congested cities. London, Shanghai, Tokyo, and New York City have all been mentioned as potential markets, and all of those cities are known for having horrible traffic congestion problems. Also, the production of the Project i vehicles will differ from BMW's current production habits. Current BMW models are manufactured in their production facilities and then shipped around the world. If Project i is a success, then production facilities will be created as close to the target region as possible. For the London market, that likely means sharing space in current Mini factories, but for many other markets, it would require a lot of factory expansion. Dr. Kranz was quick to point out, however, that all Project i vehicles will be made at BMW factories and will not be sub-contracted to another manufacturer.

BMW CLEVER Concept

So what will Project i vehicles look like? Well, because they're so far away from production, there are currently no concept vehicles being shown, but the idea of producing two-wheel and three-wheel vehicles is definitely a possibility. This mention of a three-wheel configuration brings up the CLEVER concept car that BMW premiered by in 2007. The CLEVER used a one front wheel and two rear wheels design and offset the inherent lack of cornering stability in that configuration by having the entire cabin tilt like a motorcycle in turns. True concept afficionados may also recognize this design from the Carver Concept, a three-wheeled vehicle first debuted in the early 90s by a Dutch company and which, considering the aesthetics, clearly influenced the CLEVER concept.

Project i will also likely incorporate much of BMW's motorcycle technology. The larger motorcycle engines, anything over about 850cc, will probably find new homes in some of these vehicles.

Two final notes: first, while the inevitable comparisons have been made to the SmartCar and Toyota's iQ, Kranz insists that Project i vehicles will be of premium quality and retain their BMW heritage. Second, while they may retain that heritage, the Project i vehicles may not retain the nameplate. It is currently undecided as to whether or not when the Project i vehicles premier that they will be wearing the BMW badge or will be under the name of a new subdivision of the company.