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BMW Electric Cars!
BMW have stolen a march on their competitors by simply utilising existing technology rather than starting from scratch.
They have joined forces with Californian company AC Propulsion to use their highly developed and tested system which can be easily incorporated into Minis.
Using the drive system that AC Propulsion had developed for their own production car the tZero, BMW have already made several hundred cars and will now look to further develop the system in a more cost effective way for the mass market.
The system is quite unique in that it uses a single set of harware components to both charge the battery and control the motor. It also uses existing battery technolgy by combining over 5000 laptop type batteries which can be charged at varying rates, for example an overnight charge or a very rapid 2.5 hr boost charge.
The rapid charge in particular will open up avenues for providing charging facilities at various outlets.
BMW are currently working on developing new battery technology to complement the system.
www.bmw.co.uk |
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