Meet the ActiveE, BMW's first electric car

April 21, 2011 9:56 AM
Matthew Lynley
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German automobile manufacturer BMW unveiled the ActiveE, its first ride into the electric car market, at the New York Auto Show today.

The ActiveE, based on BMW’s 1-series car, is a plug-in electric vehicle that can drive about 100 miles between charges. It isn’t going directly on the market, like the Nissan Leaf or the Tesla Roadster — instead BMW will lease about 700 cars out for $500 a month over 2 years. BMW didn’t indicate how much the electric car would cost to purchase compared with other electric cars on the market.

BMW said the car can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about 9 seconds. The Nissan Leaf, another plug-in electric car, can accelerate from 0 to 60 in about 7 seconds based on independent testing. BMW is known as manufacturer of performance vehicles,  so some critics question why the company didn’t create an electric car with more power.

The ActiveE sports a 170-horsepower engine, whereas the Tesla Roadster can generate as much as 248 horsepower off its electric engine. The Tesla Roadster can also hit 60 miles per hour in just under 4 seconds, according to the company.

Drivers in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Boston and Connecticut will be able to reserve the ActiveE this summer.

  • http://profiles.google.com/88jeremylee Jeremy Lee

    Its easy to see why BMW did not go the same route as Tesla. It makes great combustion engine cars but it's battery technologies is way behind Teslas. Only 100 miles and 9 seconds 0-60? Compare that with Teslas 280 miles and much faster acceleration.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VYW7BNTBVUW2H7OOHDFICUG65M JamesF

    0 to 60 in 9 seconds from an EV? What the heck is BMW thinking? And only 100 (probably less I'm guessing given what happened with the leaf). Very poor showing in my opinion. Perhaps they should buy a stake in Tesla as well so they can learn how it's done.

  • http://profiles.google.com/andrewgrhogg Andrew Hogg

    I've owned many different BMW's over the years (328iC, 740iS, X5 4.4, 540iT), and have a Leaf due to be delivered this coming June, so I speak from a position of knowledge.I honestly don't know what BMW is thinking here. 1. Slow as all hell. Even the LEAF goes faster.2. Can't purchase, only lease. That smacks of “im testing this on you”.3. Going to be almost 2 years behind Chevy and Nissan4. Rear trunk space (not mentioned here but elsewhere) is close to zero.This is a marketing and research exercise for BMW. Any idiot worth his salt can see that. Given that premise, it would make far better sense for BMW to add in a much larger battery pack and allow the 100 miles plus much higher performance, and do so for the same lease price. Any loss taken over a paltry 700 cars pales in comparison to their overall budget for electrification.

  • http://twitter.com/blueandgold63 kent beuchert

    Apparently BMW either didn't learn anything from Tesla's Model S design, or they simply want to throw something out there. We DON'T need any more 100 (or less, mostly less) mile rangeelectrics. They are strictly niche vehicles for those well-heeled souls looking to gain responsibility.The Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt are dead end designs, best allowed to slowly pass away and out there only because of political motives.

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