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BMW NA president says i3 beats Tesla EVs thanks to lighter all-around footprint

Those waiting for a full-out brawl between Tesla Motors head Elon Musk and BMW North America chief Ludwig Willisch will have to wait a bit. For the bloodthirsty, there are signs of some healthy competition and a little bit of green-car sniping between the two automakers. Willisch, speaking at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month and responding to questions about Tesla, noted (without mentioning that company by name) that the production process of the German automaker's i3 plug-in was "greener" than any other. According to Business Insider, Willisch highlighted the fully recyclable materials used to construct the i3 as well as the hydropower used at the carbon fiber plant in Moses Lake, WA. Willisch also noted that the Tesla Model S is "very heavy on the braking. Our car feels just like a normal car. That's a big difference when it comes to driving," Automotive News said in a separate report. The latter model weighs about a third less than the Tesla, though it also has an EV range about a third as big. The BMW executive did allow that the Tesla did make a good proverbial "snowplow," not for its driving characteristics but for its ability to get more people conformable with electric vehicle technology. Musk was asked about the i3 in an August conference call and laughed before noting that the i3 had "room to improve." No word on whether Musk and Willisch will be sending each other Valentine's Day cards next month.

Recharge Wrap-up: Renault e.dams wins Formula E Marrakesh ePrix, S. Korean Tesla store opens this month

Renault e.dams has won the 2016 Formula E Marrakesh ePrix. The win at the season's second round gives the team a strong lead with 74 points. ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport and Mahindra Racing are tied in second place with 36 points. Renault e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi took first place in the race, with teammate Nico Prost finishing fourth. "We know we have an efficient car and we had to take advantage of that after we started further back on the grid than we wanted," says Buemi. "I was able to extract everything I needed from the car and it shows the team is working really well, so it's been a very positive start to the season." Read more at Green Car Congress, or from Renault. Navigant Research has ranked the EV charging companies. Of the 12 companies providing public charging networks and services, Navigant has named The New Motion, ChargePoint, and EV-Box as "leaders" in the field based on market share, breadth of products, and market adaptability. Following that group of three are a group of "contenders," including Chargemaster, Fortum, Innology SE, Greenlots, Clever A/S, EVgo, POD Point, and SemaConnect. Trailing those is Car Charging Group in the "challengers" category. Read more at Green Car Congress. BMW has entered the second phase of its ChargeForward program to study advanced EV charging. In partnership with Pacific Gas and Electric Company, BMW is inviting i3 and i8 owners in the San Francisco Bay Area to apply to participate in the second phase of the smart charging project, which aims to test technology that optimizes charging for the benefit of the electric grid. "By managing charging when a BMW i or iPerformance vehicle is plugged in – wherever the vehicle is plugged in – BMW can ensure that vehicles are efficiently charged to meet driver's communicated mobility needs while helping the grid reach greater levels of efficiency and sustainability," says BMW's Manager of Connected eMobility, Cliff Fietzek. Read more from BMW. Tesla will open its first Korean retail location this month. On November 29, Tesla plans to open a store in Starfield Hanam, South Korea's largest mall, in Gyeonggi Province. Tesla has also finished ground construction of a Supercharger station in the mall's parking area. Tesla is working to open another store in Seoul's Gangnam District, as well as charging stations around the country. Read more from The Country Caller.

Nissan Z Proto, next-gen Hyundai Tucson and a hi-po mystery Bronco | Autoblog Podcast #645

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and News Editor Joel Stocksdale. In the news this week, Ford has teased some sort of high-performance Bronco, Nissan unveiled the Z Proto, Hyundai revealed the next-gen Tucson and GMC teased the Hummer EV's "Crab Mode." Our editors break that all down for you, and share some insights and opinions before they turn to the cars in their own driveways. This week, they've been spending time with the 2020 Mercedes-AMG G 63, as well as the 2020 BMW Alpina B7. Autoblog Podcast #645 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Ford's beefed-up Bronco prototype stars in new teaser photo Nissan Z Proto previews the retro, rear-drive, turbo, manual future of the Z All the Nissan Z cars that got us to the Z Proto 2022 Hyundai Tucson debuts with striking styling inside and out GMC Hummer teases crab mode, reveal set for Oct. 20 Cars we're driving: 2020 Mercedes-AMG G 63 2020 BMW Alpina B7 Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: