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The Aficionauto gets his hands on Back To The Future BMW

When thinking about the cars of Back to the Future, Doc Brown's iconic DeLorean is surely the first one that jumps to mind. However, the latest video from The Aficionauto tracks down a more obscure but still rather cool vehicle from the series. Host Christopher Rutkowski heads to Connecticut for a difficult drive in Griff's screen-used 1976 BMW 633 CSI from the second film in the trilogy. Owner Jeff Chabotte bought the car in thoroughly neglected condition and spent weeks with his father and son bringing the futuristic Bimmer back to life. The slew of scoops and nacelles behind the seats might not be aesthetically beautiful, but they're authentic to the appearance in the film. For authenticity, Chabotte even keeps the busted taillight from Griff hitting it in the movie. As Rutkowski finds during his drive, Griff's BMW poses absolutely no threat of chasing down the DeLorean to 88 miles per hour. There's actually a pretty good reason for that, though. The interesting story involves how the producers procured this gray-market 633 CSI to be in Back to the Future II. Related Video:

Plug In 2014: BMW i DC Fast Charger is poised to change the EV game

It looks like it's just a blue box on a pole, but BMW's new i DC Fast Charger represents a much bigger deal than just the lowest-cost SAE Combo Charger on the market. BMW sees it as the key to getting more drivers into electric vehicles. As Robert Healey, the EV infrastructure manager for BMW of North America told us, "For [BMW], the future is clear. DC charging really is the future." "DC charging really is the future." – Robert Healey, BMW We spoke with Healey at the Plug-In 2014 conference in San Jose, CA last week about the promise of the new $6,548 DC fast charger. "The strategy is pretty simple," he said. "BMW wants to get as many DC Fast Chargers out there as possible. We're not in the charging business, we're in the EV business and to support the sales of our cars, we have identified some key areas: home charging, public charging and assistant services for EV drivers." That's why the first of the new blue boxes will be installed at the 285 i dealers in the US, many of whom already installed the cables needed for fast charging when they put in the Level 2 chargers, said BMW's Cliff Fietzek, manager of connected eMobility. Even if you haven't gotten a site ready for a DC fast charger, the installation costs for BMW's unit are lower because you don't need to pour concrete (for the wall unit) and the SAE Combo connector plug costs "significantly" less than the competing CHAdeMO plug, Fietzek said. One minor drawback to the BMW DC fast charger compared to the more expensive traditional, full-size DC fast chargers is that the 24kW BMW fast charger allows you to charge to 80 percent full in 30 minutes, while the bigger units can do the job in 20. The good news for EV drivers with SAE Combo cars (which, in the US, means the Chevy Spark EV and the VW e-Golf) is that any driver with a Combo plug car and a ChargePoint card will be able to use the BMW stations. In fact, BMW is talking with both GM and VW on where to install SAE Combo stations in the US so that there is minimal duplication of effort. In other places, BMW is working with other automakers, including Nissan, which uses a competing fast charging standard. "In Great Britain, we are installing triple chargers, the CHAdeMO, SAE Combo and the high-power, three-phase AC that can go up to 43 kW to support the Renault [EVs] and others," Fietzek said.

Here’s how 20 popular EVs fared in cold-weather testing in Norway

Electric vehicles are known to suffer diminished performance in cold weather, but some do a better job than others hanging onto their range capacity while cabin heaters and frigid outdoor temperatures sap power from their batteries. Recently, the Norwegian Automobile Federation put the 20 of the best-selling battery-electric vehicles in the country to the test, to see not only how winter weather affected their range but also their charging times. The major findings: On average, electric vehicles lost 18.5% of their official driving range as determined by the European WLTP cycle. Electric vehicles also charge more slowly in cold temperatures. And interestingly, the researchers learned that EVs don’t simply shut down when they lose power but instead deliver a series of warnings to the driver, with driving comfort and speed levels maintained until the very last few miles. Because itÂ’s Norway, the worldÂ’s top market for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles by market share, the test included many EVs that arenÂ’t available here in the U.S. But there are many familiar faces, among them the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Models S, 3 and X, Hyundai Kona (known here as the Kona Electric) and Ioniq, and Audi E-Tron. In terms of range, the top-performing EV was the Hyundai Kona, which lost only 9% of its official range, which the WTLP rated at 449 kilometers, or 279 miles, compared to its EPA-rated range of 258 miles on a full charge. It delivered 405 km, just enough to nudge it ahead of the Tesla Model 3, which returned 404 km. Other top performers included the Audi E-Tron, in both its 50 Quattro (13% lower range) and higher-powered 55 Quattro (14% lower) guises; the Hyundai Ioniq (10% lower); and Volkswagen e-Golf (11% lower). At 610 km (379 miles) the Tesla Model S has the longest WLTP range of all models tested and went the furthest, but still lost 23% of its range, though it also encountered energy-sapping heavy snow at the end of its test, when many cars had dropped out. The Model 3 lost 28% of its range. The worst performer? That goes to the Opel Ampera-e, better known stateside as the Chevrolet Bolt. It traveled 297 km (about 184 miles) in the test, which was nearly 30% lower than its stated WLTP range. We should also note that Opel, now owned by Groupe PSA, is phasing the car out in Europe and that Chevy recently upgraded the Bolt here in the U.S.