BMW i3 With 55 kWh Battery Highlighted At Electronica Show … By Linear Technology & LION Smart

November 14th, 2016 by James Ayre

In a demonstration of what could be possible if certain auto manufacturers were more willing to develop and push electric vehicles, a BMW i3 outfitted with a 55 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack capable of being charged in just a quarter of an hour was showcased at the recent Electronica Show in Munich, Germany.

The 55 kWh BMW i3 in question was of course not developed by BMW itself, but is rather the work of Linear Technology and design partner LION Smart. The demonstration i3 was put together by the firms in order to showcase “the industry’s first wireless automotive battery management system (BMS).”

While I mentioned a 15 minute charge time above, it seems likely that that quote relates to an 80% charge rather than a 100% charge, as noted by Push EVs in its coverage.

Here’s more from that coverage: “By using Kreisel Electric liquid cooled battery cell modules. … This electric car has an estimated range of 400 km in real world driving. Kreisel Electric battery cell modules show us again what is possible to do today with current battery technology. First we saw the improved Volkswagen e-Golf, now it’s BMW i3 time. A BMW i3 with a realistic 400 km range that can be charged in 15 minutes is immune to range-anxiety.”

As some of the commentators here on CleanTechnica seem to think that I’m biased against the German auto manufacturers, I’ll use this opportunity to note that I think that it would be great if BMW was offering a serious electric vehicle (EV) offering — such as the one put together by Linear Technology and LION Smart.

But BMW doesn’t. And neither does Volkswagen or Mercedes-Benz. My criticism of the German firms is down to them intentionally dragging their feet on the matter in order to preserve their current profit margins (and lucrative maintenance businesses), their apparent lack of vision, the unearned arrogance and entitlement, and the fact that at this point most of the companies’ cars aren’t very reliable and not really worth what they cost (in my opinion).

Editor’s Note: On some of those topics, see:

What’s Actually New In The Electric Car World?

What Goes On In The Minds Of Auto Execs?

50 Tips For Slowing The Electric Car Revolution

If one of the companies was on the verge of releasing an extremely compelling, mass-market EV full of state-of-the-art features, as Tesla is, then I would have a very different opinion.

Check out our new 93-page EV report, based on over 2,000 surveys collected from EV drivers in 49 of 50 US states, 26 European countries, and 9 Canadian provinces.

Tags: BMW i3, Kreisel Electric, Linear Technology, LION Smart

About the Author

James Ayre 's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy. You can follow his work on Google+.