BMW 1602 Elektro-Antrieb, forerunner of the BMW i3 and BMW’s first electric vehicle
The BMW BMW 1602 Elektro-Antrieb was the predecessor of BMW’s current range of electric or hybrid vehicles, and laid the foundation for what was to become an ongoing effort to improve electric technology in automobiles, being the first electric vehicle in the history of the BMW company.
Introduced to the public a year before the 1973 oil crisis, two of them were in the opening parade of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, with the same exterior appearance as the BMW 1602, but concealing a major change under the bonnet, a dozen standard 12V lead-acid batteries developed by Varta.
The Varta-designed battery, which added an extra 350 kilograms of weight to the car, powered a Bosch-designed motor with a power output of 12 kW / 32 kW . The enormous weight of the assembly greatly penalised the car’s performance, so that acceleration from 0 to 50 km/h was about 8 seconds, and it hardly reached 100 km/h, so that, as is to be expected, it did not encourage the company to seriously consider going into series production.
El BMW 1602 Elektro-Antrieb fue el predecesor de la actual gama de vehículos eléctricos o híbridos de BMW, y sentó las bases de lo que se convertiría en un esfuerzo continuo por mejorar la tecnología eléctrica en los automóviles, siendo el primer vehículo eléctrico de la historia de la compañía BMW.
Presentados al público un año antes de la crisis del petróleo de 1973, dos de ellos participaron en el desfile inaugural de los Juegos Olímpicos de Munich de 1972, con el mismo aspecto exterior que el BMW 1602, pero ocultando un cambio importante bajo el capó, una docena de baterías estándar de plomo-ácido de 12 V desarrolladas por Varta.
Characteristics of the BMW 1602e
- Production: 1972
- Electric motor: 32 kW (43 hp)
- Range: 30-60 km
- Weight: 1,330 kg
