Tag: BMW

New Electric Car Chargers Will Add 100 KM Range In 3 minutes of Charge

It is apparent that EVs (Electric Vehicles) are the future means of transportation. Not only are electric cars better for the environment but they are also powerful enough to compete with an IC (Internal Combustion) engine powered vehicle. The only limiting factor in their adoption is their limited range and the time they take to charge. America based Tesla is a pioneer in the personal electric car industry but German automobile manufacturers are also catching up fast. BMW and Porsche as a part of their “FastCharge” consortium showcased a super fast EV charger.

How Fast: 450kW fast!

The new charger that was showcased by the company is set up in Jettingen-Scheppach, Bavaria in Germany. It can pump out current at 900 volts and 500 amps which is equivalent to 450 kW. Most notably, this charger is compatible with Europe’s standard Combined Charging System (CCS) that Tesla has also agreed to support. BMW showcased a research i3 electric car which was able to charge with 350 kW of power. Porsche also demonstrated their Panamera based electric car which charged with a record 400 kW. In comparison to the current industry standard, the Tesla Supercharger can charge a car at 120 kW. However, Tesla had previously announced that their next generation Superchargers will be able to output double the charge as their current models. The next-gen Tesla Superchargers will start rolling out in 2019.

Also Read: Samsung Files Patents For New Notch Designs

The Porsche test vehicle was equipped with a 90 kWh battery pack and it also had a special cooling system. The 400kW charger was able to add a range of 100 Kms to the car in a mere three minutes. While the BMW i3 was able to charge from 10 percent to 80 percent in 15 minutes. These results are definitely surprising but are currently in their testing phase. Though Porsche’s upcoming Taycan will be able to support 350 kW of charge which will be up for grabs from the coming year.

December 15, 2018
Google and BMW Tussle Over Domain Name Alphabet.com

Reports suggest that Google’s new parent company, Alphabet might have encountered an issue with German automaker BMW. Apparently, BMW also owns the same name and the domain as Alphabet.com and does not plan to sell it to Google anytime soon.

Image Source: New York Times

Yesterday Google had announced its administrative restructuring by launching Alphabet as a parent company above all other companies owned by Google. This move is said to have been designed, so as to, separate the core products from the far reaching projects such as Fiber, Calico etc. Alphabet was launched along with its domain name as abc.xyz.

Reports also suggest that BMW is looking into whether Google’s Alphabet has infringed on its trademark or not. However, no legal action has been announced just yet.

Alphabet.com has been down due to increased traffic while it has been noted that BMW isn’t the only company with Alphabet as its trademark. Reuters has reported over a hundred companies in the Unites States with the same trademark.

While it has been suggested that it is necessary for companies to own the .com domain, it is not important for finding a company’s online presence. Larry Page has stated earlier, that Alphabet won’t be introducing products under its own name and that it wouldn’t be a public facing name like Google. So this might not be a huge problem for the new Alphabet, after all.

August 12, 2015
Apple’s Electric Car to be Based on BMW i3

The news about Apple‘s electric car project is gaining traction day by day and according to a latest report, the company is negotiating with BMW to use i3 electric cars as a base for the project. Similar reports surfaced in March this year, but BMW denied such claims.

BMW i3

BMW’s i3 is an all-electric car which can run for 80 and 90 miles on a full charge. At a recharge rate of 20 miles per hour, it takes four hours to charge the car from a public charger. The body is made from carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, which reportedly attracted Apple in the first place. The carbon fiber polymer can be of great use in the manufacturing process of iPhones and iPads. BMW used carbon fiber polymer to reduce energy consumption, so it can also be used to extend the battery life of Apple’s devices.

If Apple enters the car market with its electric car project, it would not only face Tesla (currently one of the major players in electric cars), but also Google, BMW and every other car manufacturer trying to break into electric cars.

As we earlier reported, Apple is hiring new staff from automobile companies to start its electric car project, called Project Titan. The recently hired include Doug Betts, a former VP for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Steve Zadesky, a veteran product designer and former Ford Motor Co. engineer.

Source: [tw-button size=”small” background=”” color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://9to5mac.com/2015/07/24/apple-bmw-negotiations/”]9to5Mac[/tw-button]

July 25, 2015