Photo: BMW
If someone would have told car manufacturers no more than a decade ago they would soon be making money from the energy sector, by selling batteries and electricity, few would have believed them.
But a lot has changed over the past decade, and what started with the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Roadster turned into an industry that produces cars and batteries, stores energy and could ultimately transform the world.
BMW’s forays into this new world are just beginning. For now, the single pure electric vehicle they make is the i3, but the little city car is already working wonders for the Bavarians.
The technology developed for the i3, especially the batteries, are currently used, aside for the car per se, by the Deutsche Post Streetscooter delivery servic, on boats and even as stationary energy storage units for power generated from renewable energy sources.
So learning of the batteries and motors that drive the i3 making it into a city bus comes as no surprise.
BMW confirmed on Thursday that the electric drivetrain of the i3 will be soon used to power the Turkish-made Karsan Jest city bus, marking the carmaker’s expansion into yet another industry.
Thanks to the tech supplied by BMW, the Jest buses will be capable of driving for a total range of 210 km before needing to be plugged in (130 miles). That’s because they will use not one battery pack, but two, and combined they will both have a capacity of 88 kWh.
The motors that will spin the wheels will generate a peak output of 170 hp and 250 Nm of torque, enough to easily move the 26 passengers it can carry.
The German carmaker did not say when the rollout of i3-powered buses will begin, nor where will they be deployed. Karsan says both the European and U.S. markets are a target for them.
BMW’s forays into this new world are just beginning. For now, the single pure electric vehicle they make is the i3, but the little city car is already working wonders for the Bavarians.
The technology developed for the i3, especially the batteries, are currently used, aside for the car per se, by the Deutsche Post Streetscooter delivery servic, on boats and even as stationary energy storage units for power generated from renewable energy sources.
So learning of the batteries and motors that drive the i3 making it into a city bus comes as no surprise.
BMW confirmed on Thursday that the electric drivetrain of the i3 will be soon used to power the Turkish-made Karsan Jest city bus, marking the carmaker’s expansion into yet another industry.
Thanks to the tech supplied by BMW, the Jest buses will be capable of driving for a total range of 210 km before needing to be plugged in (130 miles). That’s because they will use not one battery pack, but two, and combined they will both have a capacity of 88 kWh.
The motors that will spin the wheels will generate a peak output of 170 hp and 250 Nm of torque, enough to easily move the 26 passengers it can carry.
The German carmaker did not say when the rollout of i3-powered buses will begin, nor where will they be deployed. Karsan says both the European and U.S. markets are a target for them.
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