BMW Shows the Way Forward with New Vision EfficientDynamics

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed)
Sep 4th 2009 at 10:02AM

Who said that loving mother earth and fast cars were mutually exclusive? Certainly not BMW, which has staked its reputation on its EfficientDynamics initiative. Asserting that efficiency and performance can go hand in hand, BMW has been actively researching – and producing – cars that deliver the kind of driving experience for which the Bavarian automaker has become famous while utilizing less resources than ever before. And the company will unveil its new centerpiece for the program – called Vision EfficientDynamics – at the upcoming auto show in nearby Frankfurt.

The space age design speaks for itself, but under the hood BMW has paired a 163hp 1.5-liter three-cylinder turbodiesel with a plug-in electric motor and a dual clutch transmission. The result, according to the Bavarian engineers, is a 4.8-second run to 60 while returning 62.6 miles per gallon. Talk about the best of both worlds. Unfortunately it's just a concept car at the moment, but the show piece gives us an advanced look at what to expect from BMW in the years to come.

Gallery: BMW Vision EfficientDynamics