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Recharge Wrap-up: EV charging at IKEA, Tesla Model M just rendering

Despite rumors, Tesla will not be producing a "Model M" electric motorcycle. After a rendering of a Tesla motorcycle concept by a designer named Jans Slapins began circulating online, some folks mistakenly thought it was something Tesla intends to build. Slapins, though, has no relationship with Tesla, nor has he claimed to. As cool as it could be, Tesla hasn't stated an interest in producing an electric two-wheeler, and, as Green Car Reports explains, Tesla's batteries don't lend themselves to the size and shape of a motorcycle the way, say, Zero's do. Read more at Green Car Reports. Piaggio and KTM are partnering to develop an affordable electric commuter vehicle. The EU is funding the project in the hopes that commuters would choose such a vehicle over polluting, traditionally powered vehicles for their daily drives. The initial plan is to create two four-wheeled tilting vehicles for demonstration purposes. The two manufacturers will also receive support from Bosch and several universities. Read more at Visor Down. Total has opened a hydrogen filling station in Munich, Germany with both standard compressed and BMW cryo-compressed hydrogen (CCH2) technology. CCH2 involves storing the fuel on board at low temperatures and just 350 bar pressure. It allows for up to 50 percent more storage than standard 700 bar systems (and, subsequently, a greater driving range). Having CCH2 hydrogen available at a public station allows BMW to further its fuel cell research and development with real-world testing. Read more at Green Car Congress. IKEA will install free EV charging stations at all of its Canadian stores. Each of the 12 stores will offer, initially, two 60-amp chargers available on a first-come-first-served basis. Sun Country Highway will install the chargers by the end of this summer (that's right, you don't have to assemble them yourself). IKEA sees itself as a prime location for EV charging as most of its stores are located near major highways. All of Canada's IKEA stores get their energy from renewable sources. "Electric vehicle charging stations are an important step on IKEA Canada's continuing journey towards sustainability," says IKEA's sustainability manager, Brendan Seale. Read more from Sun Country Highway. Related Gallery News Source: Green Car Reports, Visor Down, Green Car Congress, Sun Country Highway Green BMW Automakers Tesla Alternative Fuels Motorcycle Electric Hydrogen Cars recharge wrapup

2015 BMW 4 Series convertibles recalled to fix airbag programming woes

A problem with the airbags on the 4 Series convertible has promoted BMW and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a recall for some 2,000 vehicles across the United States. The issue, according to the notice below, relates to the driver's side front airbag, whose timing for deployment may be off. And if the airbag doesn't deploy at the right time in the event of a crash, that's more likely to result in an injury. As a result, BMW of North America is calling in 2,067 vehicles – specifically the 428i, 428i xDrive, 435i and 435i xDrive convertibles of the 2015 model year and manufactured between October 22, 2014, and February 27, 2015. Those units will simply need to have the software in the airbag control module reset, and will begin undertaking that process in April.Related Video: Report Receipt Date: MAR 13, 2015 NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V148000 Component(s): AIR BAGS Potential Number of Units Affected: 2,067 Manufacturer: BMW of North America, LLC SUMMARY: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2015 428i Convertible, 428i xDrive Convertible, 435i Convertible, and 435i xDrive Convertible vehicles manufactured October 22, 2014, to February 27, 2015. Due to a programming error, the driver's front air bag deployment timing may be incorrect. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, "Occupant Crash Protection." CONSEQUENCE: If the driver's front air bag deployment timing is incorrect, there is an increased risk of personal injury in the event of a vehicle crash. REMEDY: BMW will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the air bag control module with corrected software version, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in April 2015. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417. NOTES: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Researchers halfway to cutting carbon fiber costs by 90%

Carbon fiber has been utilized for decades to build racecars, as a means to cut weight while maintaining strength. But until recently, the space-age material has been largely absent from the street on anything but supercars because of the expense to use it. Recently, BMW signaled a major shift in that trend when it starting using carbon fiber reinforced plastic panels on the i3 and i8. This relatively small scale start might be just the beginning; the German company believes that a breakthrough to inexpensively manufacture the lightweight stuff is just on the horizon.
MAI Carbon Cluster Management GmbH counts BMW, Audi, Airbus, the German government and many other organizations as supporters, and it's researching how to make carbon fiber cheaper to produce, according to Automotive News Europe. The company thinks it can reduce costs by 90 percent in the near future. "We've certainly reached a halfway point on our cost-cutting target for suitable carbon-fiber parts," said project head Klaus Drechsler to Automotive News Europe.
Unfortunately, it isn't entirely clear just what MAI Carbon is doing to make such a huge leap possible. However, a recent post on the company's website talks about a new form a carbon fiber using a thermoplastic matrix that could be cured in less than three minutes. That's compared to about 90 minutes in the traditional process with an autoclave.