In the 1960s , when the galvanic machine look more like a far - fetched scientific discipline fair experiment than a relatively convenient room of moving people and commodity , investing in electrification made slight mother wit . And yet , it ’s the early , rudimentary prototypes that pave the road for the current crop of EVs . For object lesson , BMW displayed a arresting amount of foresight when it built a distich of electric 1602s and tested them during a major sporting outcome .
BMW launched this ambitious project in 1969 and project to have a running paradigm quick in time for the 1972 Olympic Games , which were set to take place in its hometown of Munich , Germany . make grow an electric machine from scratch was ruled out for cost reasons .
The brand name ’s range was much smaller in the sixties than today , so break up the 1602 as a start compass point was almost a no - brainer . It ’s the predecessor to the mod - 24-hour interval 3 Series , and it was a pop modelthat play a sizable rolein found BMW ’s image as we make love it today .
BMW
great power for the galvanising 1602 get along from a DC bypass - wounding electric motor provided by Bosch and mounted in the space usually occupied by the manual transmittance . It was zapped into motion by 12 lead - pane shelling with a total capacity of 12.6 - kilowatt - hours . BMW could n’t buy an off - the - shelf bombardment pack from a supplier , so it did what it could : the batteries were standard 12 - V unit mounted on a pallet . But as primitive as it might sound , the seed of modern EVs had already been planted and the drivetrain featured a regenerative braking system .
The pack press about 770 Cypriot pound . For setting , the standard 1602 tipped the scale at around 2,070 pounds . The sum mass severely compromised performance : turn over 31 mph from a halt took eight seconds , and with enough tarmacadam , you could eventually get to a top velocity of 62 mph . Lead - acid batteries are n’t as dense as today ’s Li - ion batteries , so range was dismal : 19 miles in metropolis dealings and up to 40 miles when take at 31 mph . The accuse time was foresightful enough that it made more horse sense to swap in a in full rouse replacement than to wait .
These were less - than - shine figures , but they represent the best that could be done with the engineering uncommitted at the time . Converting a 1602 to electric force was still an achievement that BMW was proud of . The company construct two prototypes , and members of the organizing committee used them to get around during the 1972 Munich Olympics . The EVs also served as camera cars for various effect and as support vehicles for the marathon . Selling a regular yield version of the car to the public was only out of the query due to the dauntingly experimental nature of the project , however . At least one prototype remains , and it ’s sometimes displayed in the BMW museum .
BMW
BMW did n’t stop there . Leveraging the lesson learned during the 1602 project to make melioration , its engineers continued developing galvanic engineering in the seventies and the 1980s . Built in 1975 , and largely observe secret , the follow - up to the 1602 was base on the LS and power by a DC - series electrical motor linked to 10 lead - acid batteries . Advancements included a charge system with an reflexive shutoff mechanism . EV owners take this feature film for grant in 2024 , but it was considered a biz - changing innovation about 50 years ago .
In hindsight , the 1602 prototype set BMW on the path to electrification . Electric applied science has meliorate importantly over the past five 10 . The 2025 i4boasts up to 536 horsepower , up to 277 miles of driving cooking stove , and take 3.7 seconds to pass 60 mph from a stop .
BMW
BMW
BMW
BMW
BMW
BMW
