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BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R is ready for racing at Pebble Beach

Alongside the awesome Concept M4 GTS, BMW brought out a proper flight of fancy with an R version of the 3.0 CSL Hommage Concept shown earlier this year at Villa d'Este. This stunner pays tribute to the German brand's legendary 3.0 CSL racer from the 1970s and BMW's 40th anniversary here in the United States (and looks a lot better than the previous concept, to boot). Wearing the M brand's iconic livery, the original 3.0 CSL Hommage's styling has been given a hefty makeover with race-derived components. The fascia gets a much more aggressive front splitter, while prominent side pipes highlight the lower section of the car's profile. The side vents look great with the M color scheme and feed air towards that gigantic wing. Like the non-R Hommage, BMW has lined the spoiler in LEDs to tie the taillights together. The concept's race-derived cabin is futuristic, like the standard Hommage. This car, though, neatly integrates the traditional M color scheme into its sculpted, white leather seats. Above the DTM-like steering wheel, the R's dash features more information than the regular 3.0 CSL Hommage. The coolest interior feature, though, is actually part of the driver's kit. The race helmet's visor doubles as an augmented reality display, meaning the Hommage R's pilot is essentially wearing the head-up display. It displays basic vehicle information, and like something out of Forza Motorsport, will even show the ideal line through a turn. We've got a lot of images of the new Hommage R. Below, you can see stock images of the new concept, while our live images are available up top. You can also scroll down for the official press release from BMW. BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R. The perfect fusion of driver and machine. Munich/Pebble Beach. In August every year car enthusiasts from all over the world gather for the Concours d'Elegance in Pebble Beach to immerse themselves in the fascination of both automotive treasures from years gone by and pioneering studies for times to come. The BMW Group has come up with something very special this year with the world premiere of the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R – a car that celebrates both the 40th anniversary of BMW in North America and the heady racing success of the BMW 3.0 CSL in 1975. 1975 was the year the Bavarian manufacturer founded BMW of North America, its first official sales company outside Europe.

Recharge Wrap-up: BMW i3 goes against Mercedes B-Class ED, Tesla good for business

Car and Driver has published a comparison test pitting the 2014 BMW i3 against the 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-class Electric Drive. The test not only measured the quality of the driving experience, but also all the quantitative details that are especially important when looking at electric vehicles. For instance, the Benz's real-world MPGe surpassed its own rating, but it still couldn't match the BMW. The B-Class, though, won in the range department. We won't spoil all the results, or Car and Driver's overall pick, but you can head over to the article to find out for yourself. Tesla's expanding business, including the Gigafactory being built in Reno, NV, is encouraging growth in the locales and associated businesses. Some of Tesla's suppliers are talking of relocation, wanting to be close to the action stirred up by the electric automaker's expansion. It makes good business sense to be in the same neighborhood as Tesla. "We can react quickly, and our engineers are constantly working with Tesla," says Futuris General Manager Sam Coughlin. Brookings Institute fellow Jennifer Vey says, "The land around Tesla is being redeveloped and reimagined. It's a mash-up of an anchor campus, startups, housing and transit, in a physically compact area where companies can cluster and connect." Read more at San Jose Mercury News. EVs are doing even more to reduce energy use clean up the air, according to new analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists. According to findings, 60 percent of Americans now live in areas where EVs do more to reduce emissions than hybrids, up from 45 percent in 2012. Average electricity use is now 0.325 kWh per mile, down five percent from 2011. EV performance - in terms of mileage and emissions - is improving compared to traditional fuel vehicles, based on the sources of electricity in various regions. Read more from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Zipcar's carsharing network has launched in Paris. Zipcar is expanding across Europe, and has already established itself in Austria, Spain and the UK. According to Zipcar France's General Manager Etienne Hermite, "In a highly populated city, Zipcar's model has been proven to remove up to 15 personally owned vehicles from the road for each Zipcar in service, reducing parking demand, congestion and emissions." Zipcar European President Massimo Marsili hopes that most Parisians will eventually be just a short walk from a Zipcar.

BMW now wants to build 'ultimate machine driver'

The lines between the auto industry and Silicon Valley have been blurring for a while now. Google, for example, is hiring people from deep within the automotive world to spruce up its autonomous driving project. Apple is doing the same, and Tesla's sort of on both sides. More examples are easy to find. That's why it's no surprise, really, that there's a movement happening behind the scenes at BMW to reinvent the roundel. Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show this week, BMW board member Klaus Froehlich told Reuters that the Bavarian automaker is refocusing its sights on Silicon Valley. The goal, Froehlich said, is to have half of BMW's research and development staff to be computer programmers. Their mission: to build the AI that will maneuver upcoming self-driving BMWs. In other words, after 100 years of building what the company calls the ultimate driving machine, BMW is shifting over to the ultimate machine driver. We should've seen it coming with that autonomous driving video last year. Many automakers are working on autonomous cars these days, and this is all nothing new for BMW, but Froehlich's comments show an increased focus on cars that will drive you. "For me it is a core competence to have the most intelligent car," Froehlich said. "Our task is to preserve our business model without surrendering it to an Internet player." Some of the tasks that Froehlich sees for an expanded software team will be developing better cloud connection, so that a self-driving car can get messages from a central network. It means perhaps licensing BMW's plug-in powertrains to smaller companies that maybe can't build their own but have other strengths that BMW can access. By developing its own staff and working with partners – the same strategy automakers have used for years – BMW is trying to get ready for the autonomous future. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images Green BMW Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles Electric Future Vehicles bmw i research and development klaus froehlich