They're doing it again. Somebody out there has come up with yet another rendering of what the new electric Isetta from BMW might look like. In contrast to the other ones we've shown you, this looks more like the BMW of today rather than the Isetta of yesteryear. The fancy speculative drawing appeared on AUTOCAR.co.uk along with conjecture that the city car could be powered by a rear-mounted petrol (or possibly diesel) engine in addition to the battery model. It could even have a BMW motorcycle engine. Since there is a strong possibility the car will be based on the underpinnings of the Mila Alpin concept and that its maker, Magna, is currently hard at work on a plug-in hybrid, we feel this seems a likely powertrain option as well.

The article goes on quote BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer as saying, "co-operation [with another car maker (*cough* Mercedes)] is possible" and added that the decision would be made by the end of 2008 "whether to go it alone". With a target production date of 2012 we expect an officially official announcement and drawings any day now.

[Source: AUTOCAR.co.uk]

Porsche's CEO may be threating to shutdown production of his vehicles in Europe if new mandatory CO2 emissions standards come into force, but BMW is ready to push ahead. In spite of their reputation as a builder of performance cars, BMW already sells more than forty percent of their vehicles with diesel engines. The BMW M models get all the attention, but most of the volume cars even with gas engines are equipped with smaller four and six cylinder power-plants.

In remarks at the Geneva Motor Show CEO Norbert Reithofer, said that the Munich-based manufacturer is moving ahead with technology to make their cars cleaner and more efficient. The EfficientDynamics technology that will premier on the 1-Series, with start-stop control of the engine, and regen braking will expand to other models. They are also switching all their engines to a new engine management system that will further enhance efficiency. In addition a mild hybrid system being developed with DaimlerChrysler will debut in 2009, and the full Two-Mode hybrid is coming as well. Finally, he also confirmed that BMW diesels will be offered for sale in the US market in 2008.

[Source: Just-Auto - subscription required]