Daimler, BMW set to adandon hybrid JV – report
July 15, 2009 by Matt Brogan
A report published in Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport says that due to current harsh economic times BMW and Daimler may part ways on their hybrid joint venture.
The pair had been collaborating on hybrid systems for some years now but by all accounts the deal is off as BMW chases “a better offer elsewhere”.
And although BMW may be looking for an exit, it has been suggested Daimler wants to keep the partnership alive. So far several vehicles have benefited from the partnership including the S400 Hybrid and ML450 Hybrid.
The report also indicates that BMW may be put off by Daimler’s new-found commitment to pure electric vehicles, and although BMW has its fair share of EVs planned, Daimler is reportedly keen on bypassing hybrid vehicles to move directly to electric power – a move that would leave BMW with the bulk of the hybrid development responsibilities and costs.
There’s no word yet on who BMW’s new hybrid partner may be, but rest assured, we’ll keep you posted.
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Good. As I wrote yesterday about the Corolla Hybrid, if oil’s gonna run out then oil’s gonna run out so there is really no point in doing hybrids. The better quick fix is diesel and if BMW are going to pass the hybrid and go straight to full electric, good for them. I just hope that we see their hydrogen technology soon. What ever happened to that?
Alex, Hydrogen is not the way forward at the moment. If we compare the hurdles of Hydrogen vehicles at the moment (cost of vehicles, production of fuel cells, transportation, storage, production of hydrogen, cost of converting petrol outlets, who produces the hydrogen – will we remain at the mercy of big oil) to those of electric cars (cost, range, charging)the issues with electric vehicles are alot cheaper and easier to resolve. Charging can be adopted through refit’s to parking meters, charger ports in car parks, an extension cord in your home garage. Range is improving constantly and Tesla’s Model S is set to reduce the cost significantly. The most hydrogen will ever be is the replacement form of power generated with-in a P-HEV.
For the environmentalists who say that electric cars are not clean as they are powered by coal. A) CO2 produced by coal is lower than oil and B) This isn’t just an environmental issue, but the issue of how do we propel ourselves when oil runs out. For now, the solution appears to be EV’s
Sorry Nick but I disagree. Things will need to go to hydrogen eventually and I believe that it’s just a matter of somebody putting there hand up and starting. You can’t put things off forever just because they are going to take work, especially when you’re talking about something as big as how the world travels everyday.
I think all it needs is for somebody to start selling hydrogen at normal service stations because what they need is for hydrogen to be available to everybody, then people will buy the cars that will almost certainly be available soon after there has been an infrastructure set up for them. It worked in LA.
There may be problems, there may be expenses, but that doesn’t mean you go with second best forever just because it’s easier and now is the time when the choices are made. They will pick one and it will last for ages and I feel the electric car will always be slightly too compromised. As I’m sure you know, they’ve already built hydrogen cars that’s ideas simply mimic that of a petrol or diesel car and they’ve received excellent reviews, so it’s not even as if we are going to go through thirty years of fine tuning before they are any good.