[scoobysaurus]

Originally Posted by am3r1ka

Highly doubt it sold well here. In person I've probably only seen 2. The GT sits in an odd place amongst the competitors in the US.

The only direct competitor I can think of is the discontinued R-class.

[Sedoy]

Originally Posted by glennQNYC

The question I have is what sacrifice in storage/utility do I need to make to accommodate this system? Where is the 48v battery going? What storage space is going to be used to hold this battery? Storage space is very, very important to me.

So the 48V battery is integrated inside those extra large grills, so no additional storage needed...

[upsidedownfunnel]

Originally Posted by glennQNYC

This is attractive to me because my car is my office, so I idle (for heating or cooling) much much more than the average vehicle owner. This system seemingly would allow me to heat or cool the car without idling the engine all the time.

The question I have is what sacrifice in storage/utility do I need to make to accommodate this system? Where is the 48v battery going? What storage space is going to be used to hold this battery? Storage space is very, very important to me.

That's assuming a few things:

1) BMW fits an electric A/C compressor in the car. Not all mild hybrids have electric compressors so would still need the engine to spin for it to work.

2) Mild hybrid batteries are by design very small. Much smaller than a full hybrid. I doubt they'd have enough capacity to power a car's A/C for more than a few minutes.

3) There'd have to be an electric water pump for the heater to work for longer periods of time. The B58 cars are going back to mechanical pumps with only an aux turbo pump that is electric.


Because of these limitations, you're unlikely to really see any compromise in storage. The starter/generator/booster motor is an integral unit that replaces the current engine starter and alternator. The battery is also very small and you will not notice it.

What you're hoping for is a real hybrid like a 330e or something like that. Those have large enough batteries to actually run an electric A/C compressor for long periods of time. Though, I'm not sure if BMW uses electric accessories, they do exist in Mercedes and Toyotas. Cars like the Prius can run the A/C for long periods of time with the engine off.

[BM dnobagaV]

It replaces the alternator? Hmm. What will the reliability/cost be for the 48V years down the line?