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BMW X7 rumored to get BMW's best interior, 130,000-euro price

Spanish outlet Motor.es has some info on the coming BMW X7, the sport activity vehicle that will take the Munich brand to the penultimate SUV segment. Unnamed sources said BMW has been working on both the X7 and the future Rolls-Royce all-terrain vehicle for almost two years, and that in BMW guise it will ride on the CLAR (CLuster ARchitecture) platform that will make an appearance later this year under the new 7 Series. The Rolls-Royce, on the other hand, will get its own aluminum spaceframe. The two vehicles will share components, though, which are now being tested. Running gear and engines will borrow from the X5 and X6 tool chests, with rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations mooted and engines ranging from the TwinPower 3.0-liter six-cylinder to an uprated version of the 6.0-liter V12 in the 760iL. The 4.4-liter V8 is mentioned as the middle child and perhaps the base for an X7 M, should one be made. A plug-in hybrid offering could swipe the unit from the X5 xDrive40e PHEV, good for 55MPGe in that current application. The interior, we're told, will be the nicest seen on any BMW, said to surpass that of the new 7 Series. We'll have to wait two years to find out how close all of that is to the mark, but the tidbit that might need some salt sprinkled on it right now is the predicted price: Motor.es says 130,000 euros in Europe, to start. That's not the first time a sky-high price has been predicted, but a leap that far beyond the six-figure mark would readjust all of our expectations for the vehicle when an X5 cost 53,700 euros in France and an X6 costs 70,900 euros. Other outlets predict US pricing to start from around $60,000; the X5 costs $53,900 here, the X6 is $59,600.

BMW details Concept X5 eDrive ahead of New York debut

Already weighing more than most other types of vehicles and with the space to accommodate the extra equipment, crossovers and SUVs arguably make for one of the more ideal platforms to transform into a hybrid. And there have been a handful of them - like the Audi Q5, Infiniti QX60/Nissan Pathfinder, Porsche Cayenne/Volkswagen Touareg, Lexus RX450h/Toyota Highlander and Cadillac Escalade/Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon - but by and large the majority of hybrids on the market are sedans and hatchbacks. BMW, however, looks poised to join the minority with the X5.
The Bavarian automaker showcased the X5 eDrive concept at Frankfurt last year, and as promised, has now revealed the followup it will present at the New York Auto Show in just a few days. The new Concept X5 eDrive, as BMW has now revealed, pairs a 2.0-liter turbo four good for 245 horsepower to a 95-hp electric motor to deliver a combined 340 horsepower. Its lithium-ion battery can power it for up to 20 miles and at speeds up to 75 miles per hour before the gasoline engine needs to kick in. All that without sacrificing the vehicle's utility, maintaining an almost perfectly flat loading floor with 40:20:40 split-folding rear seats, and without sacrificing much on performance, either: with a 0-62 time of seven seconds flat, the X5 eDrive concept is quicker off the line than the production X5 with the 2.5-liter turbodiesel and just a tenth off of the 3.0-liter turbodiesel.
With the full technical details now released (you can delve into it all in the press release below), the only question remains when BMW will actually put the X5 eDrive into production. Given its appearance in New York, though, we gather that whenever it does reach showrooms, it'll reach American ones as well.

Not just 'our logo on a sail': Automakers gain technology from America's Cup

HAMILTON, Bermuda - From water taxis that "fly" on hydrofoils to aircraft wings and cutting-edge car steering wheels, the America's Cup has produced technology with potential far beyond its "foiling" catamarans. With their focus on carbon fiber and aerodynamics, the teams that fought for the America's Cup attracted partners including planemaker Airbus and automotive groups BMW and Land Rover, who were keen to learn from them. One area where this is likely to have an impact is in harnessing "foiling" technology, where the America's Cup boats "fly" above the water on foils, cutting water resistance. "Foiling in small electric boats will most likely appear on rivers in major cities. We are just at the beginning of the foiling adventure," Pierre Marie Belleau, head of Airbus Business Development, who managed its partnership with Larry Ellison's Oracle Team USA, told Reuters. The space-age catamarans used in the 35th America's Cup, which ended in victory for Emirates Team New Zealand this week, can sail at maximum speeds of 50 knots (57 mph) and have more in common with flying than sailing."CARBON FIBER RELATIONSHIP" For Jaguar Land Rover, which sponsored British sailor Ben Ainslie's attempt to win the cup, the relationship is a strategic one with a focus on technology and innovation. "We don't just get our logo onto a sail," Mark Cameron, JLR's Experiential Marketing Director, said by telephone, adding that the carmaker would be providing more designers to help Land Rover BAR with technology for their next campaign. "This is a dynamic sport that is developing fast. ... It's moving quickly just like the car industry is moving quickly. It's all changing," Land Rover produced a special steering wheel for Ainslie to use in the America's Cup, with in-built gear shift paddles that allowed him to adjust the catamaran's "flight" levels. The relationship is similar between BMW and Oracle Team USA, with the German automaker focused on areas including the electronics in the wheel used by skipper Jimmy Spithill, the development of carbon fiber used to make the boat and its components, and the aerodynamic testing. "We like to think of ourselves more as a partner than a sponsor. We have a very strong carbon fiber relationship," Ian Robertson, who is the BMW management board member responsible for sales and brand, told Reuters between races. "This is a dynamic sport that is developing fast. ... It's moving quickly just like the car industry is moving quickly.