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BMW adds on-street parking to DriveNow carsharing in SF

BMW is putting a new spin on the concept of the San Francisco treat. The German automaker cut a deal to clear out 80 street-parking spaces for its DriveNow car-sharing program in the notoriously parking-constrained City by the Bay. Bimmer is also more than doubling its all-electric ActiveE car-sharing fleet in San Francisco to 150 vehicles from 70. Starting later this month, customers will be able to access the DriveNow website or app to find, reserve and park the electric Bimmers on certain streets in San Francisco's Mission district. Once the car is ready to be turned back in, the vehicle's in-car screen will also indicate what "drop-off" zones the driver can use to end the reservation. It's all very high-tech, and BMW is looking to expand the program to other San Francisco neighborhoods like Bernal Heights, the Haight, Noe Valley and Potrero Hill. There's also a contest for users to name the 80 new vehicles, but it involves a really complicated lettering system. "New" here means new to DriveNow, since these ActiveE electric vehicles are really those that were, until recently, used by the Electronauts in BMW's EV leasing program. Since those leases are ending, the cars need to go somewhere. We think carsharing is a great home for them. BMW, which also runs DriveNow in the German cities of Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Dusseldorf, said in March that it was looking to add the service to as many as 15 more cities in Europe as well as another 10 in the US. BMW debuted DriveNow in San Francisco in August 2012, though parking the cars has always been an issue. Check out BMW's press release below. BMW Group's DriveNow Car-Sharing Service Expands to Street Parking in San Francisco. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and BMW Group board member Dr. Ian Robertson provided details about DriveNow at a news conference on ... Eighty All-Electric BMW ActiveE Vehicles Added to the DriveNow Fleet to Increase the Convenience of Finding and Parking Emission-Free Cars. San Francisco, CA – May 8, 2014... BMW Group subsidiary DriveNow, a flexible, premium car-sharing program, will expand to offer street parking in multiple neighborhoods in San Francisco, beginning in select areas of the Mission District and will add 80 electric BMW ActiveE vehicles to the existing fleet, increasing the total number of ActiveE vehicles in the San Francisco Bay Area to 150. DriveNow members will have the opportunity to name the 80 electric vehicles in a two-week social media challenge.

Recharge Wrap-up: No Tesla Gigafactory deal with California, BMW i3 recalled

Before the Nevada announcement was hinted at, a deal to incentivize a Tesla Gigafactory in California fell through. Tesla was looking for around $500 million in incentives, which the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development was willing to offer in tax breaks along with making the permit and environmental processes easier. According to Senator Ted Gaines, there still remained "a gap between what Tesla wanted and what California was willing to offer," the contents of which were undisclosed. California could still be chosen for another of Tesla's battery plants, should those ever materialize. Read more at The Desert Sun. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will consider allowing a bit of compliance flexibility to its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations for some automakers. CARB will hold a hearing to discuss giving intermediate volume manufacturers (IVMs) - carmakers that do between 4,501 and 60,000 new vehicle sales in the state - some leniency catching up to the larger manufacturers when it comes to clean vehicle production. The ZEV regulation changes take into account the amount of revenue IVMs have available for developing the cars, particularly plug-in hybrids. Read more at Green Car Congress or see the notice from CARB here. Certain units of the BMW i3 are subject to an airbag recall. For cars built March 31, 2014, the passenger airbag inflator may have been assembled incorrectly, which could keep it from deploying when needed. Owners will be notified by BMW, and the problem will be fixed for free. The recall also affects certain 2014 Mini Cooper models. Learn more at the NHTSA website. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is providing 200 electric vehicles to telecommunications company Orange in France. The cars, which will include the Nissan Leaf, Nissan e-NV200, Renault ZOE and Renault Kangoo ZE, will be used mostly for carsharing. Through the program, Orange employees can book a car for work or personal travel using a smartphone. The Alliance will also help Orange install charging stations for the new cars. The addition of the EVs to the fleet will help Orange achieve its goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 20 percent by 2020. Read more in the press release, below. Jianghuai Automobile Company (JAC) is delivering its first 100 EVs to the US. The shipment is part of a larger order of 2,000 cars to be sold by GreenTech Automotive in the US market. Read more at ECNS.

Next BMW M5 could go all-wheel drive

Franciscus van Meel had been a part of Audi AG management since 1996, in positions including chassis development and vehicle project director. In 2012 he was named managing director of Quattro GmbH - headquarters for personal favorites like the RS6 Avant and R8 - but he lasted just two years before being sent to lead an R&D division in Beijing. He returned from exile just ten months later but wearing a blue and white roundel, after being named to the top spot at BMW M. So it shouldn't be a surprise that when Auto Express asked van Meel about all-wheel drive on the next M5, he replied, "If we continue the power increases in the future... then probably the next generation M5 and M6 will have so much torque and power that we need to think about those solutions." It would make sense from a competitive standpoint, too - once the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG went 4Matic, that put the two of the three cars in the segment in the AWD column. And there's no "if" about a power increase: a recent report put next generation's output at 600 hp - that's 40 hp more than today - to power a lighter car. That report said there'd be the option of four-wheel drive, but AE takes van Meel's words as a definite sign that we'll see a more complex drive arrangement under the next M5. If so, then truth be told, van Meel is reiterating the thoughts of his predecessor from two years ago. The new M boss doesn't like the phrase "four-wheel drive," however; in clarifying those "solutions" he mentioned, he said that the car would be rear-biased to remain emotional, with the front tires kicking in to aid traction. Related Video: News Source: Auto ExpressImage Credit: BMW BMW Luxury Performance Sedan bmw m