BMW got automatic grill blocking

That's pretty cool. Good to see other manufacturer's improving the technology. Too bad Toyota didn't think of it first - would have saved us all some minor tedium each winter!

 

It's not a particularly advanced concept. Various fighters had this in WWII if I recall correctly. Sorry, don't remember which ones, just remember watching my temps while flying simulators and diving out of combat when the engine got hot because I knew the rads were going to slow me down.

 

I tend to be skeptical of concept cars. A nice technology demonstrator, we could have a little fun at BMW's expense:

BMW loses money on every one of those they make.
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Of course this is not a production vehicle and will never be sold in that form. In contrast, Toyota has sold over 1,000,000 hybrid electrics.

BMW is committed to diesel but realize they've missed hybrid-electric boat. They are scrambling to find an answer.

Bob Wilson

 

The Volvo S60 concept car uses a grill shutter to help it get better mileage.
Volvo S60 Concept Officially Revealed ? Automotive News & Car Rumors at Automobile Magazine

Must be similar to the BMW implementation. As was pointed out on the Prius-2G list, both Saab and Volvo had manual shutters in their cars back in the '50s-'60s. Going back even further, old Packards and probably many others had manual shutters as well. Would be interesting to think about how to do this on the Prius.

 

Hi Flyin..,

I like ED. I think it should be the standard base level that all cars should have by 2020. Its especially good for the Metropolitan driving efficiency. Its a modernisation of the age old (1915 Bendix?) starter motor that by using braking energy recovery, and combination of the starter and alternator pays for itself. It should result in longer alternator/starter electrical machine life (no brushes).

Its not a Prius in terms of efficiency, or even in terms of the US EPA. But, its a real benefit in slow and go driving.

BMW as usual, is ahead of the market.

The problem here in the US is that GM is calling the similar system (minus the grill blocking and turbo diesel) a "Hybrid". This system is essentially what is in the Chevy Malibu and Saturn small SUV Hybrid. They call it BAS, for Belt-Alternator-Starter. And they are charging something like $5000 extra for it, when in mass production its a $500 adder (big battery and elimitation of seperate starter motor) !! BOOOOGGGGUUUUSSS!!! If GM had made all Malibu's like this, then they would be matching BMW. Instead GM has to charge almost all the developement overhead on a measly few cars. There is no other way to say this - they set themselves up for failure, and failure was the natural outcome.

If you wanted to mild-hybridise an older performance car, for which you could get one of these big super-charger pulleys for it, this would be an ideal way. But remember, it only assists, and does not permit the engine to be off during application of electric power and the older car would not be able to reliably autostop and auto start. Sigma Automotive is planning on selling a system like this early next year. There is a thread on PC about it. They are calling it an "Electric-Charger", which is a take-off on the term "Turbo-Charger".

 

Curious since I don't remember seeing any press about this being standard in the models they sell in North America. I just checked this web site for North American BMWs and the technologies in that video appear to be only in the "concept" vehicles:
http://www.bmwusa.com/

I'm glad to hear these are standard in EU BMWs. It is a shame but the North American versions seem to lack these feature.

Bob Wilson

 

"Currently available in" or "Soon to be released in the EU" seems to be an
integral part of most if not all announcements of new automotive
technology. If we're lucky, it comes to the USofA a few years later.

Just why is this?

Isn't, or at least wasn't, the US the most lucrative car market? Why do we
have to wait?

Is it something to do with the American consumer -- uninformed, blasé, hide
bound, fickle? Or the size of the market? Or the extreme variations of
possible usage: frozen North to blistering deserts?

Again, why are we so often the last one's to get the latest and greatest in
automotive technology? Inquisitive minds want to know.

 

I acknowledge that of late, it could be argued that would be the last decade,
the Detroit 3 have not demonstrated a penchant for innovation.

But what about the European and Asian car makers, why do they hold back on
sending their leading edge gas engine techno-bits to the US market? (No need
to complicate this question with the "gas for the US, diesels for Europe" issue.)

Is this holding-back just a way of working out the kinks in a limited market
before sending it to the "big city," kind of like starting a Broadway-bound play
out in the hinterlands? I wouldn't think so. (After a while the EU/Asian market
would get pretty resentful of being used as a test mule.)

In many cases individual innovations offer a few percentage points of MPG
improvement. Is this the problem, US buyers demand unrealistic gains?
No, we didn't insist that the Detroit 3 make huge MPG improvements.

 

After watching from the 4:00 minute mark I see a petrol electric hybrid, you know, the sort of drive train the Europeans poo poo in favor of clean diesel. How can it be?

Grill blocking like this was on Mack and Kenworth trucks back when I was in primary school in the 60s.

 

'Moveable aerodynamic devices' may be illegal on racing cars, but they're a great idea. While they can be used to improve handling, as with spoilers that raise according to speed, they can also be used to improve efficiency. Managing the airflow around the engine according to cooling needs and external temperature should be simple enough.