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Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla opens 50th European Supercharger, BMW smart charging in Singapore

Southeastern Illinois College wants to create a biofuel processing certification program. The school is waiting to hear about receiving $750,000 from a US Department of Labor grant that would allow it to expand its Biofuels Education curriculum to include certification for manufacturing biodiesel and ethanol. There are currently no such programs in existence, and its development would require Labor Department approval as well as input from biofuel companies. Southeastern Illinois College believes that biofuel processing certification would be a large draw for potential students. Read more at The Southern Illinoisan. Tesla has opened the 50th Supercharger in Europe. In the year since the first on was installed in Norway in August 2013, Tesla has been building the network that, like it does in the US, will allow Model S drivers to go long distances for free. There are now 168 Superchargers open throughout the world. Find more in the press release below. BMW is partnering with Greenlots to bring an open standards EV charging network to Singapore. As part of BMW's 360 Electric program, Greenlots will install public chargers and manage the network that allows BMW i owners to find and use the chargers with BMW's navigation system and ChargeNow card. The 30 possible public chargers Greenlots plans to install will use the company's SKY Smart Charging platform. Greenlots will also install the BMW i Wallbox Pure charger at customer's homes and offices. Read more in the press release below. Plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales are forecast to reach 1.8 million a year by 2023, according to a report by Navigant Research. Right now, North America is the biggest buyer of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, but that should change as the Asia Pacific market is expected to outgrow it; still, the US alone is expected to have more than 2.7 million PEVs on the road in 2023. Urban areas are where we'll see the largest concentration, naturally, with Tokyo, Los Angeles and Paris having the most sales in 2023, respectively. With the increase in PEVs comes an increase in residential load on the electric grid, which is expected to rise by 33 to 37 percent. Read more at Hybrid Cars, or head to the Navigant Research website. Chinese automaker Dongfeng is now manufacturing its first mass-produced electric vehicle, the Aeolus E30. The small, two-seat urban EV has a limited speed of 50 miles per hour, but has a range of up to 100 miles.

Monsoon rains disrupt production for Ford, BMW in India

Even modern production techniques can be stymied by Mother Nature. This was demonstrated most recently in India, as torrential, monsoon rains caused a deluge that forced multiple automakers to suspend production. Ford, Renault, and BMW all halted work at their Indian facilities around the southern city of Chennai, also known as Madras. The annual rains disrupted public transport around the city, preventing employees from making the trek into city's factories. According to Automotive News, Chennai saw 48 inches of precipitation last month alone, which is more than Seattle, WA saw in all of 2014. While Ford and BMW closed things down for all of December 1, Renault just cancelled a pair of shifts at its Chennai factory. This is the second time in the past month that automakers in southeast India have been forced to stop production due to severe flooding, and things aren't likely to improve. According to The Weather Channel, forecasts call for thunderstorms over five of the next seven days, while the chance of rain won't fall below 80 percent until December 8. Ford, Renault, and BMW are far from the only automakers that could stand to be impacted by the rains. The city has been nicknamed "The Detroit of India" for its extreme automotive presence. Daimler, Hindustan, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, and Nissan all own factories in the region. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: STR / AFP / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing BMW Ford Renault

BMW bringing 9 Series concept to Beijing

It appears that BMW is ready to take another step upmarket with a new concept flagship luxury sedan at the Beijing Motor Show at the end of April. The showcar is said to preview the company's rumored 9 Series, a sedan that would be positioned against top trims of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, like the rumored S600 Maybach.
According to Automotive News Europe, the concept sedan wears styling language adapted from the curvaceous BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe (pictured above) shown at the 2013 Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance in May. It rides on BMW's new, modular platform - codenamed G11 - for the company's largest cars, an architecture also expected to be shared with the next 7 Series and future Rolls-Royce vehicles. It's rumored to bring the weight of the 7 closer to the 5 Series, which would be several hundred pounds lighter when comparing the base models of both current vehicles. We spotted the next-gen 7 Series testing over a year ago, and both it and the 9 Series are expected to go on sale in 2016.
Unfortunately, at the moment there is no official information about the concept. "We don't have any official news yet on anything in Beijing," Julian Arguelles, BMW USA spokesperson, tells Autoblog. However, it's heartening to think that BMW might be adapting the gorgeous shape of the Gran Lusso for production.