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Mini may not build electric cars in England due to Brexit

BMW will decide whether to build its new electric Mini in Britain or elsewhere by the end of September, its board member for sales told Reuters, in a test of the country's ability to continue to attract investment as it leaves the EU. Mini makes around 70 percent of its approximately 360,000 compact cars at its Oxford plant in southern England but the car industry is concerned about the effect any loss of unfettered access to the EU, its largest export market, could have on plants after Brexit. BMW is deciding between its English site, a plant in the Netherlands where it has built more of its conventional line-up in recent years, and its Germany plants at Leipzig and Regensburg for the new low-emissions variant. The firm's board member for sales told Reuters that the electric Mini investment, likely to be worth tens of millions of pounds, would come in the next three months and the board was currently considering a number of factors including Brexit. "One of the elements is what is the likelihood of a tax regime and if there's a tax regime, how would it apply," Ian Robertson said during an interview at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in southern England. "If you made the motor in a German plant and you then assembled the car in a British plant, and you took the cars back to the German market, then the duty that you would pay would be reclaimed," he said, in an example of the options companies are examining to plan for any duties or tariffs. The automaker is also looking into where the uptake of greener models is strongest and where the best supply chains are, he said. Britain could approve its first major electric battery hub in the next few weeks after officials in central England submitted proposals to ministers in May. But last month, the car industry issued its strongest warning yet on the need for politicians to strike a transitional Brexit deal after two-year talks to ensure unfettered trade is maintained. Uncertainty has also been heightened after a snap June 8 election which left Prime Minister Theresa May without a majority and has led to ministers in her administration hinting at different versions of Britain's likely post-Brexit future. Last year, May's administration helped secure two new models at Japanese carmaker Nissan's plant in the north of England after what a source said was a government promise of extra support to counter any loss of competitiveness caused by Brexit.

Tesla, BMW and Nissan meeting in secret to discuss charging tech

It's interesting what's happening in the electric vehicle field. It used to be that BMW and Tesla were competitors. Then – and of course they're still competing, especially in the public mind – they were working together on ... something. Maybe. And now, the Financial Times reports that the two luxury automakers are meeting with Nissan. Again, maybe. The scuttlebutt is that the three companies are interested in working together on something to do with charging electric vehicles, potentially a global recharging standard. Currently, when it comes to fast charging, BMW uses the SAE Combo standard, Nissan uses CHAdeMO and Tesla uses its own Superchargers. The meeting was prompted by Tesla opening of all of its patents the other day, FT says. Speaking during the recent annual shareholder meeting, Musk said he was "more than happy to have other manufacturers" use Tesla's Superchargers but that, "there is no other electric car that can accept anything close to 135 kilowatts." Let's assume the technical hurdle can be overcome. With any potential patent/licensing problems out of the way, these discussions with BMW and Nissan might be revolving around this other angle that Musk mentioned: "They (other automakers) just have to contribute to the capital cost, so figure out what percentage of the time are their cars using the Supercharger network and then they can make a contribution proportionate to their customer usage of the Supercharger network." That certainly sounds like something that could take some time to figure out. News Source: Financial TimesImage Credit: Elbilforeningen / Flickr Green BMW Nissan Tesla Electric supercharger chademo sae combo

Next-gen BMW 7 Series options include 'Sky Lounge' roof, leather engine cover

When it comes to luxury and technology, the theme of the next-generation BMW 7 Series appears to be 'everything, everywhere.' Two of the new options joining what will be an extensive list are the Sky Lounge panoramic glass roof, said to be a nod going all the way back to the Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo showed off at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. That is clearly about the light, but what about the leather? That's going to cover everything it seems, should the buyer choose. Auto Evolution says it's been told about a 3CM option code, which equates to a Leather Engine Cover. If it's offered, though, it won't be the first time BMW has done it, of a sort: the $10,800 Pure Impulse package on the BMW i8 wraps the engine cover in leather, but in the i8 the engine is in the rear, under the trunk floor, so we're really talking about a leather-floored cargo bay. No one knows yet what it would look like atop a conventional engine, and no one appears to have any clue, frankly, as to why it's even an option. The 7 Series will pack a bunch more besides within its new aluminum and carbon fibre platform and redrawn bodywork, the sedan is reportedly targeting a curb weight that's less than the current 5 Series. There'll be four sculpted seats in the cabin, with rear seats apparently offering the range of options available on the front seats, a redesigned iDrive system with a touchscreen LCD that reads gestures, wireless smartphone charging, Bowers & Wilkins audio instead of Harman Kardon, heads-up data sharing between passenger and driver via swipes, laser headlights and an i8-like key fob with limited self-parking functions. That's a serious goody bag of tech, which we expect to get our hands in at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Featured Gallery BMW 7 Series: Spy Shots View 9 Photos News Source: Auto EvolutionImage Credit: CarPix BMW Technology Luxury Sedan