Light years ahead: BMW ConnectedDrive Roadster

You would expect BMW to know a thing or two about how to build a proper roadster. After all, the Bavarians have been doing it for over 75 years. The carmaker has made some brilliant ones in that time — apart for Amit’s stricken Z4 which is an exception to the rule.

But, with its latest creation, rather, concept, it seems the manufacturer has been to the future and come back with this; the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive Roadster.

This intriguing looking two-seater, with its sliding doors like the Z1, stretched bonnet, 20in alloys and flowing lines, is set to be unveiled at the Geneva motor show. Apart from those stunning looks with the aggressively angled headlights and boomerang taillights for a more sculptured feel, the most interesting thing is that it’s been styled with a brand new design language which might just change the way BMW treats its surfaces and materials.

Created by design director Adrian van Hooydonk, the Vision’s “layered” design is said to “demonstrate the bond between the driver, passenger, vehicle and the surrounding environment.”

Its interior is lit up with three different coloured fibre-optic lights that represent the flow of information, ranging from safety features to the car’s infotainment systems.

BMW even used a fancy word to describe a blue light which envelops the passenger area to help promote “active social exchangement between the driver and passenger”. Exchangement! That’s one for the wheels dictionary.

The Roadster will have a plethora of sensors and cameras planted all over the place to monitor the environment from all angles, so you don’t need to use your eyes, we presume. They’ll be able to recognise pedestrians and other vehicles it shares the road with and pass the details on to the driver and passenger.
 
It will have an advanced 3D head-up display and a programmable instrument cluster that will be able to provide the chap behind the wheel with lots of information. But, it seems it’s taking this layering idea and milking it for all it’s worth.

The dash will also be layered with the important stuff like how fast you’re going sitting in the foreground, and less important details sitting in the background.

Also, your passenger will be getting an information display of his or her own and they’ll be able to control basic functions such as the music and navigation, and with a touch of a button, will be able to pass these details onto the driver.

Apparently, this demonstrates the “interaction between the driver and the passenger and shows how networking with the environment can reach new levels”.

What lies under the bonnet is still a secret but we won’t be surprised to find a similar unit to that of the EfficientDynamics concept car — a three-pot 1.5-litre turbo diesel mated to a double-clutch transmission and aided by electric motors on each axle. But, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Flashy, fibre-optic lights seem to have a lot to do with this car and we hope to be zipping around in one in the future.  Let’s hope it isn’t light years away.

Charged and ready

BMW is set to unveil the ActiveE, an electric car based on the 1 Series in Geneva next month. Featuring a restyled bumper and bulging bonnet, it gains three lithium-ion batteries which replace the engine block, tranny and fuel tank.

Two sit under the back seats and another in the vacant transmission tunnel. Its electric motor produces an equivalent of 168bhp and 250Nm of torque — enough to launch the car from 0-100kph in 9.0secs, while top speed is limited to 145kph.

The ActiveE can recover around 20 per cent of its driving range when you step off the throttle thanks to the KERS system.