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2013 Nissan GT-R and 2013 Alpina B6 mix it up on track and street

Here we have Autocar making an unforeseen comparison: the Nissan GT-R against the Alpina B6 at Brands Hatch and on public roads. Steve Sutcliffe clobbers the circuit in the 3,828-pound, all-wheel-drive sports car, then sees how well the 4,114-pound, rear-wheel drive grand tourer does against it.
Sutcliffe says there are quite a few similarities between the two cars, but that's really only on the spec sheet. The Nissan's got two turbos attached to its 3.8-liter V6, 542 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. The Alpina's got two turbos attached to its 4.4-liter V8, 532 hp and 528 lb-ft. But one's brief is to be a monster on the track, the other on the boulevard, and if there's anything the video demonstrates, it's each car's focus.

BMW i3 starts near $35,000; NA first deliveries January 2014

While in Germany at the first early pre-production drives of the hotly anticipated BMW i3, BMW people finally hinted at a price ballpark. Numbers being tossed around by pundits have actually been pretty close to what BMW is discussing internally - between $35,000 and just over $40,000. We have been assured now that the base price, should one choose to buy and not lease in the Euro zone, is just over 35,000 euro, with some big taxes included in that price. In the US, the starting price for the fully EV plug-in version should be $34,500 or right thereabouts. In addition to new pricing, we've also gotten our best-yet look at the i3, with the freshly uncovered spy shots you see here.
European deliveries begin in November of this year for the fully electric version of the rear-wheel-drive i3 with 168-horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. The e-motor mounted over the rear axle is supplied with energy by the 22-kWh lithium-ion battery pallet under the passenger compartment. Recharging happens in any of three ways: public or personal garage plug-in charge station (garage version not included in the price), the onboard system's Pro Eco mode that adds resistance to the drivetrain in a type of rolling brake energy recuperation, or through the normal brake energy and off-throttle coasting regeneration more common to EVs. Range on a full charge of this drivetrain is said to be upwards of 100 miles under hyper-miling conditions.
Perhaps the best bit of news is that the alternative, range-extending, two-cylinder 600cc engine supplied by BMW Motorrad for the hybrid version of the i3 - mounted in the rear together with the e-motor - will add only 2,000 euros in Europe and about $2,000 in the US. This is a range-doubling solution that could have brought a much higher price gouge, so thank you, BMW. The hybrid e-drive i3 version arrives a couple months after the full-EV launch version. Remember that, unlike the very similar system for the Chevrolet Volt, the system in the i3 supplies no mechanical torque to the driven axle and is only used as a generator (a system BMW first used last year in the 1 Series-based Active ). The US is seen as the clear number one market for the i3.

Chairman says BMW will make 100,000 electric vehicles a year by 2020

We know demand for the BMW i3 has been high, both in the US and Europe. It appears that BMW's crystal ball is showing a steady increase in interest between now and 2020. By that year, according to Norbert Reithofer, chairman of the board of management for BMW AG, the company expects to build 100,000 units a year. That's not quite as EVs many as Tesla is talking about for 2020 (500,000), but it would represent quite an increase from the roughly 20,000 units that the best-selling plug-in vehicles moved in 2013. Reithofer told Automotive News that plug-in vehicle production would steadily increase by 2018 before hitting full stride at the end of the decade. He also made sure to clarify that there was external pressure to make 100,000 EVs a year: "we will be forced to build them in a six digits figure to comply with stricter emission rules." The plug-in electric vehicles are just one part of BMW's effort to reduce emissions. In prepared remarks delivered at the company's annual accounts press conference (available in full below), Reithofer said, "Customer demand [for i3] is exceeding our expectations. ... We believe the electric motor is a future technology for zero-emission driving in urban areas. Battery technology will continue to progress. ... When it comes to emission-free long-distance driving, however, electric cars featuring hydrogen fuel cell technology offer great potential." He didn't say how many fuel cell cars BMW expects to make and sell in 2020, but BMW's collaboration with Daimler and Renault-Nissan is supposed to launch the "world's first affordable, mass-market fuel cell electric vehicles as early as 2017." Statement and presentation by Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Annual Accounts Press Conference 2014 19.03.2014 Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen! The core task of a company is to safeguard its future. This means we must ensure that our products and services are always inspiring our customers. We need to think ahead and continually take our business model to the next level. We also have to remain profitable so we can invest and bring new ideas to life. Our ambition of the BMW Group is: Always to consider the long term in all our planning, to follow our own path successfully, and to be a pioneer in our industry. Our business model is clear: Individual mobility in the premium segment.