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BMW, VW partner with ChargePoint for high-speed charging network

To promote their plug-in electric vehicles, a number of electric vehicle makers are working overtime to get a charging infrastructure set up. Tesla is famously setting up a network of Superchargers around the world, and today BMW and VW have announced they are partnering with ChargePoint to install almost 100 DC Fast Chargers up and down the US coasts. Installing additional Level 2 chargers is also part of the plan. The new DC Fast Chargers will offer the SAE Combo connectors, which is available on both the e-Golf and the i3. The fast chargers will have "up to two 50 kW DC Fast chargers, or 24 kW DC Combo Fast chargers," BMW says. They will be installed roughly 50 miles apart between Boston and Washington, DC in the east as well as Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego in the west. The 24-kW DC Fast Chargers will fill up an empty i3 or e-Golf to 80 percent in a half-hour or 3.5-4 hours from the Level 2 cords. Speaking at an announcement ceremony at the Washington Auto Show today, ChargePoint CEO Pasquale Romano said that infrastructure investments like this will get more people to realize that they can use an electric vehicle as their only car, and Jorg Sommer, VP of product marketing and strategy for VW North America, said that it's clear that, "The EV is perfect for the daily driver." BMW, Volkswagen and ChargePoint Join Forces to Create Electric Vehicle Express Charging Corridors on the East and West Coasts. · A goal of nearly 100 DC Fast charging ports will be installed to support long distance and metropolitan electric vehicle travel with the BMW i3, Volkswagen e-Golf and other electric cars, along heavily trafficked corridors on both coasts, supported by Level 2 chargers. · These publicly available charging stations will be added to the existing ChargePoint network and can be easily accessed using a ChargePoint® or ChargeNow card. Washington, D.C., January 22, 2015 – At the 2015 Washington Auto Show, two of the top automakers, BMW of North America and Volkswagen of America, together with ChargePoint, the largest electric vehicle charging network, announced an initiative to create express charging corridors along heavily-traveled routes on the East and West Coasts.

BMW M4 Concept leaked ahead of Monterey debut

Last month, we heard that BMW might be bringing a concept previewing its next M4 sports coupe to this year's Monterey festivities. Well, thanks to the folks at USA Today, we have absolute confirmation of this by way of some leaked images. And goodness, she's certainly a looker.
While a few of us still find some of the 4 Series' design to be a bit awkward, it's hard to not immediately warm up to the aggressive bits of this hotter M4 concept. It certainly looks the business of a proper sports car, and a worthy successor to the M3 coupe. Of course, a lot of this will likely be toned down for the production version, which we'll likely be seeing at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show in January, along with its four-door M3 kin.
The official M4 Concept details will be revealed later tonight, but for now, have a look at a few shots of the golden show car in our gallery of leaked shots, above.

BMW recalling a grand total of three X3s over instrument panel defect

We've seen big recalls and we've seen small ones. Some involve millions of vehicles, and some - like the Infiniti Q50 recall on which we reported just the other day - involve just a couple dozen. But this has to be the smallest recall we've seen yet.
"Due to a production process error" in the BMW X3, states the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the notice below, "the team seam on the instrument panel was not manufactured correctly." Big friggin' whoop, you say? Well, NHTSA points out that it could hinder the deployment of the airbag and send fractures flying everywhere.
The problem was discovered in a select few examples of the 2013 BMW X3 - both xDrive 28i and 35i models - manufactured in the later part of February this year. And by "select few," we literally mean a few - as in three. Three examples are being recalled. If you happen to be one of those three owners, expect to hear from your local dealership.