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BMW's new strategy: Electric everything

Mercedes isn't the only car maker determined to beat Tesla before it gets huge. Sources speaking to German business daily Handelsblatt claim that BMW is in the midst of planning an executive shuffle that will also include a big shift in its electric vehicle strategy. While the company would still offer ground-up EV designs like the i3, the new strategy would greenlight electric versions of some of BMW's most important vehicles, including the 3-series sedan, X4 crossover, and iconic Mini. If the leak is accurate, management is likely to approve the change at the end of September. We've asked BMW for its take on the report, although it declined to comment to Handelsblatt. It wouldn't be shocking to see the Munich crew change tack, though. While Tesla has received hundreds of thousands of Model 3 pre-orders, i3 sales dropped in 2016 – the upscale (if oddly-shaped) EV just isn't as hot as it once was. If BMW electrifies some of its most popular cars, you wouldn't have to choose between a super-efficient, eco-friendly EV and the familiar designs of the brand's mainstream driving machines.The story originally appeared on Engadget, your guide to this connected life.Related Video: Featured Gallery Mini Vision Next 100 Concept View 38 Photos Green BMW MINI Electric Hybrid engadget

Mini Seven Special Edition looks back to the days of Austin

Mini is back at the game of special editions with the Seven, the first of its kind for the third-generation Hardtop. Named after the original Austin Seven – one of the two original Mini models, alongside the Morris Mini Minor – the new style pack is available on both the two- and four-door and the Cooper and Cooper S models. But where past Mini special editions have been largely homogenous, the new Seven has a surprising array of options, especially as it relates to colors and upholsteries. Owners can choose from four different paint schemes – Lapisluxury Blue (shown above), Pepper White, Midnight Black, and British Racing Green. The options continue in the cabin, where owners can select the Seven-specific Diamond Malt Brown fabric/leather upholstery, or they can go with straight leather in Cross Punch Carbon Black, Lounge Satellite Grey, or MINI Yours Lounge Carbon Black. There are four dash trim options, too, with standard Piano Black, and optional Dark Cottonwood, Fibre Alloy, and Off-White. Below the trim strip, owners can have either a Malt Brown color line or Carbon Black. A set of 17-inch, two-tone alloys are standard, and regardless of which exterior paint you opt for, you're stuck with a Melting Silver roof. The decreasing-width stripes match the roof and have what Mini claims are Malt Brown rules, but we're seeing red trimmings in these photos. Heated front seats, a panoramic sunroof, Comfort Access, a Harmon/Kardon stereo, park-distance control, power-folding, auto-dimming mirrors, and a 6.5-inch Mini Connected system are all standard features as part of the Seven package, while additional options will be available, like on any other Cooper or Cooper S. Mini's press release, for example, specifically calls out the larger 8.8-inch Mini Connected XL and adaptive dampers as available options. Mini will announce prices for the Seven package nearer to its late summer on-sale date. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Mini Cooper five-door exists and has been spotted

The two-door Mini Cooper is getting two additional portals in its next generation. A coming five-door Cooper S with central exhaust has been spotted out testing, the idea presumably being that it will pose a better challenge to other small, premium hatches in the segment like the A1 Sportback from Audi. Based on the same UKL platform that will support the production version of the BMW Concept Active Tourer, the wheelbase has been lengthened to make more room for rear passengers.
It should be revealed on the auto show circuit at some point next year, getting buyers ready for its production in 2014. We'll find out then if it gets a special name and how it fits in with - or perhaps replaces - the Clubman.