BMW Launches Web Site for Future Electric Sports Car

By Henny Hemmes
Senior European Editor
Amsterdam Bureau
The Auto Channel

On the new website www.dontblogaboutthis.com, BMW will unveil a prototype that will be used to test a new fuel electric drive line for a future sports car, that is expected to debut in 2012 under BMW’s EfficientDynamics program.

The site does not give much information yet, and is primarily created to generate rumours and speculations and to rouse expectations for a new upcoming sports car.

There are two videos and some pictures of a prototype, which seems to be based on the 6 Series, but BMW says on the site, that ‘there is more than a 6 Series’ and that ‘this car is not in its final stage’.

What we see is a car with a front that resembles the EfficientDynamics concept that debuted last year at the IAA auto show in Frankfurt, Germany, and that it has a large track and aerodynamic wheels with low tyres. The video shows that there must be an electric motor, as there is no sound when the car accelerates. A small exhaust shows that there also must be a combustion engine.

The concept that was unveiled in Frankfurt has all-wheel drive and uses two electric motors one with 60 kW on the front axle and the other with 38 kW in the six speed double clutch that is connected to the rear axle. Energy comes from a battery pack with 98 individual cells en a 1.5 liter, three-cylinder turbo diesel engine with 120 kW and 214 ft-lb of torque. The total system’s output is 262 kw (356 hp) with a maximum torque of 5690 lb-ft.