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Ferrari, BMW lend expertise to Olympic bobsled, skeleton, luge

LONDON — There are plenty of reasons why the sport of bobsleigh is sometimes referred to as Formula One on ice, but few as obvious as Italy's World Cup sleds. Resplendent in Ferrari red, and with a set of team sponsor Pirelli's P-Zero tyres painted on the sides, they are even liveried to look like racing cars. Ferrari, Formula One's most glamorous and successful team, have worked with the Italian federation, whose sleds run without sponsor branding at the Olympics, since 2010 and in the run-up to next month's Pyeongchang Winter Games. Former rival BMW, title sponsor of the World Cup, has long partnered the U.S. bobsleigh team, while McLaren teamed up with Britain's bob and skeleton athletes for the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia. "There's always the link between the Formula One companies, or any motor company, and skeleton and bobsleigh," says Rachel Blackburn, the engineer who has been involved in Britain's skeleton program since 2006 and who used to work for McLaren. "There's the Ferrari sleds and the BMW sleds ... when we were at McLaren it kind of made a good story," she told Reuters by telephone from her home in Dubai. That somewhat manufactured rivalry has died down in the years since Sochi, with McLaren no longer involved and Ferrari's presence low key. But the worlds of grand prix motor racing and sliding sports still have plenty in common. Bobsled, luge and skeleton are among the fastest of Olympic sports, with bobsleds reaching speeds over 90 mph. Drivers are subjected to gut-wrenching G-forces, and crashes can be fatal. And then there is the ongoing debate about cost controls, the direction of future rules, preserving a level playing field and obsessive secrecy — all endlessly recurring themes in Formula One. 80 mph on a tea tray Blackburn said skeleton, where riders hit 80 mph on what has glibly been compared to an oversized tea-tray, sits somewhere between Americas Cup yachts and Formula One cars in terms of speed and aerodynamics. "Applied engineering is far more interesting than the pure stuff, so when its applied to something that's fun and exciting it does make it a lot easier to solve problems," she said. "There is the Americas Cup, sailing, Formula One and the high speed ice sports as well. It's the same concept.

Recharge Wrap-up: BMW's electric truck, London's electric double-decker bus

BMW and transport and logistics company Scherm Group have put an electric transport truck into service in Munich, Germany. The 40-ton truck, made by Dutch manufacturer Terberg, will be used to move vehicle components between BMW's Munich plant and Scherm's logistics center cleanly and quietly on public roads. Using the electric vehicle saves 11.8 tons of CO2 per year. It charges in about four hours, and has a range of about 62 miles — enough to make the trip between the two facilities eight times a day. The truck will be powered completely by electricity from renewable sources. With this project, BMW "is showing that you can succeed on the global market with sustainable products made by innovative companies," says Bavaria's Minister for Economic Affairs, Ilse Aigner. Read more in the press release below. Discount supermarket chain Aldi is offering free charging in Germany. The company has installed fast-charging stations at 50 locations for customers to use while they shop. IKEA also has plans to install free charging at its stores in Germany, and other retailers will likely do the same. While offering free e-juice helps businesses garner the attention of its EV-driving customers, it could also help encourage people to buy electric vehicles. Many are disappointed by Germany's lack of EV incentives, despite the country's goal of having 1 million EVs in operation by 2020. Read more at Automotive News Europe. London will put an all-electric double-decker bus into service this year. London Mayor Boris Johnson announced the electric bus trial at the first ever Clean Bus Summit. The bus, made by BYD, will begin service in October. London has already deployed over 1,300 hybrid buses and retrofitted over 1,400 buses to reduce emissions since 2008. Mayor Johnson's goal is to cut buses' NOx emissions in half by the end of his term in 2016 compared to 2008 levels. Also at the Clean Bus Summit, a number of bus makers and banks committed to helping cities roll out fleets of ultra-low emission buses. Read more in the press release from London, and from BYD. The US Department of Energy (DOE) is funding biofuel projects to the tune of $18 million. The DOE will award the funds to six projects in an effort to reduce the price of algae-based biofuels to less than $5 per gasoline gallon equivalent (gge). The DOE has a goal to get the price of algal biofuels to less than $3 per gge by 2030.

2021 BMW M3 and M4 vs all the high-powered sport sedans and coupes

Should you have a found a way to get past that schnoz, you've probably digested some of the basic specs for the all-new 2021 BMW M3 sedan and M4 coupe specs. They're plenty impressive. There's also, basically, two sets of them thanks to the regular and Competition versions that differ in engine output and transmission type.  But how do they compare to other ultra sport sedans and coupes? Well, we were wondering that too, so we fired up the Autoblog Comparison Spreadsheet Generator 5000 (aka me chained to my computer in a dark basement).  Sadly, there are surprisingly few competitors for the 2021 BMW M3. Rival sedans include the Mercedes-AMG C 63 and the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, along with the Audi RS 5 Sportback sedan/coupe/hatchback thing. There's no more Lexus IS F, the Cadillac CT4 Blackwing has yet to arrive and Jaguar doesn't offer a spicy XE R.  Happily, there are more coupe rivals for the 2021 BMW M4, including the two-door versions of the AMG and Audi as well as the Lexus RC F. I also included the Ford Shelby GT350 and Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE. On paper, they align incredibly well. On the street and on a track, I can personally attest that these Americans are fully capable of keeping up and/or bettering the fancy-pants luxury brands (and let's not forget there are even more powerful, hardcore versions available). If they don't align in terms of price or prestige, whatever. OK, let's get to the spreadsheet. Let's start with the coupes and note that I didn't bother listing the dimensions for the M4 Competition and C 63 S as they are identical to their "lesser" siblings.  I won't bother burning words explaining what you can see on the chart. Instead, I'll point out a few things that stood out to me. First, BMW M comes awfully close to matching the output of AMG's twin-turbo V8 despite having two fewer cylinders. Similarly, Audi manages to better the 0-60 time of the M4 Competition and tie the C 63 S despite being WAY down on power. It's not like it weighs less. Magic? Second, and speaking of 0-60 times, remember the importance that transmission and drivetrain make with them. It's not just horsepower and torque. An automatic will be quicker and easier to launch than a manual, while all-wheel drive provides more instantaneous and beneficial grip.