Usually, there’s merely two options if you want a car, buy or lease. Automobilwoche now reports that BMW is considering a different approach for their Mega City Vehicle. BMW Board Member Ian Robertson mentioned with Automobilwoche that the Car-to-go program Daimler runs to rent out Smart vehicles on a short-term basis was “quite an interesting approach.” Referring to the Mega City Vehicle, he went on: “We don’t want to sell the car but its use.” BMW will test a similar approach in another model this year, likely the 1-series Active E.

This consideration makes sense as the technology used for the Mega City Vehicle makes for such tremendous development and production costs that it would be either too expensive to buy and lease or not profitable. Another … CONTINUED

In just 7 days BMW will roll out the production vehicle for the BMW Electric mobility evaluation program. Having had international success with the MINI E programme in the US,UK, Germany and China. BMW roll out the first electric modern BMW in the shape of the 1er Coupe. Using feedback from the MINI E programme BMW have made gains in progressing it’s plans for electric mobility.

BMW is considering adding artificial sounds to its upcoming full electric vehicles to make them safer to pedestrians. German rivals Audi and Mercedes-Benz say that they already have started developing brand-specific sounds while Nissan and Infiniti have revealed the solutions they will use to ensure that their EVs don’t pose a danger to people when traveling at low speeds.

Inside is an updated summary and insight into BMW’s Project-i sustained mobility project/thinktank, now and into the future. In addition to the production VED (i8) and all-electric Megacity Vehicle, Project-i will spawn a range of 2 to 4 wheel concepts.

BMW AG has officially filed a registration for a new trademark and logo for their project-i vehicles such as the electric Megacity car and hybrid Vision EfficientDynamics sports car. The trademarks i1, i2, i3, i4, i5, i6, i7, i8, and i9 have also been registered.

Autonews recently posted a great summary of BMW’s project i and Megacity electric vehicle, expected in 2013, including analysis of vehicle structure, materials, manufacturing, recycling, and consumer financing.

The mobility of the future is under construction in Leipzig. The BMW Group is expanding its plant in Leipzig to make it the first location in Germany equipped to handle the large-scale production of zero-emission electric cars. In the period up to 2013, around €400 million will be invested at the plant in new buildings and machinery for the production of the Megacity Vehicle (MCV). Some 800 jobs will be created in the process. The plant expansion was launched on Friday by German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel and Dr Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, together with the Prime Minister of the German state of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich, and the Governor of Washington state in the US, Chris Gregoire.

“By producing the … CONTINUED

BMW is not expecting to earn any profits with its first generation electric vehicles, such as the upcoming Megacity Vehicle, until possibly the second product cycle. BMW’s conventional drive cars will subsidize the company’s foray into electrical cars.

Project i now has an online presence. The BMW Group has launched a website for Project i, the think tank program for developing environmentally conscious solutions for congested city motoring. The site is located at www.project-i.com and will feature information and news on BMW’s automotive sustainability development. Facebook and Twitter pages for Project i have also gone online.

The internationally oriented, English-language website provides a detailed overview of the approaches and solutions regarding the challenges of sustainable mobility - from the basic vision of electric vehicles on specific test vehicles like the MINI E and the BMW ActiveE to the revolutionary LifeDrive concept of the Mega City Vehicles.

In addition to the official website, twitter and facebook pages for Project i have also been launched at www.twitter.com/bmwprojecti … CONTINUED