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Overheated dog rescued from BMW by concerned bystander

Dogs, cars, and summer heat do not mix. Hundreds of dogs fall ill and die each year from heat exhaustion when left in cars on hot days, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. In Grand Bend, ON, a passerby rescued a small dog from such a fate when he smashed out the rear window of a car and pulled the dog to safety. According to CTV, two unnamed individuals attended a festival on Saturday, June 11 celebrating the unveiling of a new band shell in Grand Bend. They allegedly left their small dog locked in their car in a parking lot. Temperatures across Ontario on June 11 approached 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and even with the windows cracked and the sunroof open, the dog was in obvious distress. Will Costa was also attending the festival when he heard an announcement over park loudspeakers calling for the owners to report to the parking lot to rescue their dog. "When I heard the announcer, I couldn't believe it," Costa told CTV. "It was so hot." Costa and a few other festival attendees moved to the parking lot to see what was happening, and saw a small crowd surrounding a man attacking a BMW with a large rock. After twenty minutes of work, the man with the rock finally shattered the BMW's passenger rear window and retrieved the suffering dog. The owners didn't show up for nearly another hour. "The dog was completely soaked," said Costa. "The owners didn't show up for another fifty minutes. I believe in another fifty minutes it could have been fatal." The crowd gave the dog water and called the police. Costa told CTV that the owners were confused and embarrassed when they finally arrived, and were told by responding officers to report to the local police station. There is no report yet of warnings issued or charges filed against the owners. Related Video: News Source: CTV, AMVA Auto News Weird Car News BMW Safety Videos heat

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.

2016 BMW 7 Series spied for the first time ever

Ladies and gentlemen, Bimmerphiles and automotive voyeurs of all stripes: here is your next-generation BMW 7 Series. Captured in photographs for the first time ever while doing a spot of cold-weather testing in Sweden, this newly slim 7er will most likely debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2015 and launch in the 2016 model year.
Sources indicate that BMW is targeting a much lighter curb weight for the 7 Series, and will use learnings gained with the i3 and i8 development to add carbon fiber-reinforced plastics in the construction. In return we'd expect the new model - which uses the internal model designation "G11" - to offer improvements in handling, acceleration and fuel economy. As with the current 7 Series lineup, expect the engine range to include turbocharged inline-six engines, one or more V8s and a V12 option.
It's fair to say that, with the car's debut still years down the road, that BMW will work to launch with an impressive suite of in-car technology, too. A completely new version of iDrive shouldn't be ruled out. These shots mark the beginning of a long journey to 2015, and we expect to have loads more information to share in the coming months and years, so stay tuned.