It is official, the Project I Megacity of BMW is good to go by 2013.
The Megacity will be a 5-seater belonging to the Golf class. It will be made of lightweight materials, will be configured to have a rear engine and RWD. The project is also expected to set a new design philosophy for electric vehicles.
The Megacity will be entering the market standing on its own feet as a brand. Eventually, the brand will have its own ranger of cars to include sportier variants.
The carmaker believes that it is in the right path with the Megacity in terms of finding means to produce a car that is lightweight which dramatically improves its range and acceleration.
The Megacity’s range is expected to hit the area of 160 miles. This can be attributed to its carbon bodywork, excellent aerodynamics, and the regenerative braking that will be implemented.
The deceleration of the Megacity will be on high levels comparable to the Mini E. This will aid in battery regeneration. The Mini E is able to get as much as 20% of city range improvement because of its regenerative braking and BMW wants to carry this over to the Megacity.
The engine will be deriving its DNA from the 2nd generation system of the 1-Series coupe with hybrid Active E. This powerplant is more potent in terms of acceleration, range, and battery packaging than the one being utilized by the MINI E.
BMW wants to sell the Megacity packaged with its battery. This is in contrast with the moves of other electric vehicle pioneers. The carmaker believes that their battery pack will still have 85% of its capacity even after the lifespan of the Megacity. The battery pack can be very valuable for the used market to help companies power up their operations. This move with regard to battery packs is similar to the direction Nissan is taking.
