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BMW strategy gets green with future i8 Roadster, PHEV Mini

Recent concepts like the Vision Next 100 have signaled BMW's plan to become a leader in automotive tech in the near future, but the Bavarian automaker added some concrete details to that strategy during the company's annual press conference. The business promises there are updated i models and more plug-in hybrids on the way, and a vehicle called the iNext could bring an autonomous EV to the road early next decade. Before we see any completely new vehicles, look for BMW to refine its current green models. Later this year, the i3 will get a larger battery capacity, which will increase the hatchback's range. After seemingly endless teasing, the BMW i8 Roadster will finally arrive in 2018, according to a slide during the conference. The company will also launch a plug-in hybrid Mini, but it didn't give a specific arrival date. At the beginning of the next decade, BMW will also introduce a fully autonomous i model. At the beginning of the next decade, BMW will also introduce a fully autonomous i model, which it currently calls the iNext. "BMW iNEXT heralds the next era of mobility," company CEO Harald Kruger said. "This symbol of our technology leadership will demonstrate how we will bring the future of mobility into series production." BMW refers to its research into autonomous driving as Project i 2.0. Just as the initial development of the i models led to better EV tech and innovations in carbon fiber, the new undertaking should result in improvements to networked motoring and driverless tech for the iNext. The company plans to focus on high definition digital maps, sensor technology, cloud technology, and artificial intelligence. The company's product plan for the i range doesn't show any vehicles between the i8 Roadster in 2018 and the iNext early next decade. Perhaps the new model is the fruition of the many rumors about a family-oriented i5. As BMW eyes the future, it still sees the combustion engine as an important tool for the present, and there are still more traditional models to look forward to. Without offering any details, BMW promises more M models are under development. The larger X7 CUV will also arrive soon, and there'll possibly be even more crossovers, too. "We are also taking an in-depth look at the additional potential of this highly attractive segment," Kruger said.

Toyota launches BMW-powered Verso in Europe

BMW makes some sweet-revving engines, but its own vehicles aren't the only ones running BMW engines. So do the latest from Rolls-Royce and Mini, of course, as well as a handful of Peugeots and Citroëns thanks to its joint engine program with PSA. Wiesmann uses BMW engines, as did the famous McLaren F1. And now we can add one more to the list.
That would be the Toyota Verso, a Corolla-based minivan which Toyota builds in Turkey and sells in Europe and a few other markets overseas. The Verso is also now officially the first beneficiary of the partnership between Toyota and BMW as the Japanese automaker has released the MPV with BMW's 1.6-liter turbodiesel four.
The 111-horsepower engine is coupled to a Toyota transmission and joins the Verso range as the fourth (and least powerful) engine in the lineup, alongside the 122hp 2.0 diesel and the gasoline options with 1.6 liters and 160 hp and 1.8 for 180. Future collaborations between the two automakers will include fuel-cell development, a new joint sportscar platform, lightweight bodywork research and a new generation of lithium-air batteries. See the press release below for further details.

Police arrest 'Fastest Lap Around Manhattan' driver [w/video]

Don't speed. Don't drive recklessly. Don't try to break the unofficial record for a lap of Manhattan. And if you go against this reasonable advice, do not, under any circumstances, record it and post the video on YouTube. If you do, you'll end up like Christopher Adam Tang - under arrest and facing a bevy of charges relating to the video.
Tang posted the video, which showed him lapping Manhattan in 24 minutes last Wednesday, and it quickly went viral. Now Tang, who went by the online moniker AfroDuck, is in cuffs. According to a local CBS affiliate, he was picked up at his home on Wednesday evening by police, who also seized the car used in the video, a 2006 BMW Z4.
What isn't clear is how Tang was caught. His video seems carefully done in that there are no outwardly visible signs that point to him, while the video itself is clearly sped up. While the NYPD hasn't come out and said that Tang was caught due to its extensive surveillance systems around the city, police commissioner Ray Kelly did point out that the new systems "will assist in this type of investigation." Let that serve as a warning to anyone that tries to break the 24-minute barrier. Scroll down to watch the full video.