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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.

BMW i8 Spyder gets production nod

BMW could be poised to expand its i8 range, beyond the hardtop version of the plug-in hybrid supercar. A report from Bimmerpost is claiming that the i8 Spyder, which we showed you in concept form at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show, will be heading to production.
The website claims the open-roof fuel-sipper was shown to BMW management last Friday as a production-intent model. Other than that, there's not a lot to tell here. The i8 Spyder should feature all the same mechanical and aesthetic features found on the i8 Coupe, just without the confining nature of a roof. It's unclear when we'll see a production i8 droptop make its debut, although this certainly strikes us as the kind of car that should arrive at the Geneva Motor Show.
While an i8 Spyder does seem like a logical leap for BMW's i sub-brand, we're going to keep this one filed under the rumors category until we hear more.

2015 BMW i8: Autoblog Technology of the Year finalist

Traditionally, nominations for the Autoblog Technology of the Year award are earned for specific developments - a new-think powertrain, a uniquely developed material, a groundbreaking smartphone app, or what have you. In the case of BMW's marvelous i8, it so bristles with novel applied sciences and fresh features that we broke with tradition and nominated the entire car.
We just couldn't help ourselves. Oh, we could've focused on the i8's carbon-fiber monocoque, or its well-resolved plug-in-hybrid powertrain that incorporates a tiny 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine and an electric motor, or its seamless through-the-road all-wheel drive. This is a car that will even have frickin' laser beams for headlights - at least it will for our friends in Europe (and it will in the US, should our legislators ever catch up).