BMW is notorious for locating the 12 volt batteries in the trunk. The 2013 BMW Z4 is no different. The Z4 also has stationary roll bars behind the seats. In addition to the standard airbag locations, the Z4 also has door mounted airbags. Take a quick look through the pictures below.
So just how many plug-in electric cars are expected to be sold in the U.S. in 2012? (This doesn’t include hybrid vehicle) Last year in the U.S., just under 18,000 electric plug-in cars were sold. Halfway through 2012, here are the projections for the whole year:
| Chevrolet: | 20,000 |
| Nissan: | 15,000 |
| Toyota: | 14,600 |
| Ford: | 3,000 |
| Tesla: | 5,000 |
| BMW: | 700 |
| Mitsubishi: | 1,000 |
| Coda: | 1,000 |
| Honda: | 1,100 |
| Fisker: | 1,000 |
| TOTAL: | 62,400 |
That would easily more than triple the 2011 sales level, but still constitute just under half of 1% of the total U.S. car market in 2012. It would take 140,000 electric plug-in vehicles to make 1% 0f the 2012 U.S. car market. Check out the article on TheStreet.com; 2012 Electric Car Sales Forecast that breaks down the different models per automaker. You can also look at Top 10 Electric Car Makers on CleanFleetReport.com.
If you include hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles the number of vehicles sold increase!
Leave it up to the automakers to have new names for the different types of Hybrid and electric vehicles.
Keep in mind that the hybrid and electric vehicle market closely follows gas prices. When gas prices fall, so do the sales of hybrid and electric vehicles. This demonstrates that while there is consumer interest in hybrid and electric vehicles, demand is heavily influenced by the economic environment, rather than pure interest in the technology. Hybrid and electric vehicle sales are expected to account for 3.2 percent of total light-vehicle in 2012.
I quick look at the BMW F10 Body Structure. The A-Pillar, B-Pillar, rockers , and front half of the roof rails are made from heat-molded steel. Not surprising!
My trip started off at the Fremont Fire Department Administrative offices for some classroom training. The picture of the hydrant below was a gift from the Recruit Class of 01-1 in appreciation for the time, knowledge and training given. Something I thought was really cool!
I have said this many times on this site. Ron Moore is one fire service instructor you need to see in person whenever you get the chance. Ron has a passion for extrication and informing firefighters with useful knowledge to stay up to date with the continuous changes in vehicle technology. Wednesday was a full day in the classroom where Ron covered airbags, hybrids and electric vehicles, and the advanced steels in vehicle body structures.
Here is a question Ron asked during the airbag portion of class. What is the maximum number of airbags possible in a vehicle? What’s your answer? 9, 12, 15, 25 or infinity. There is no easy answer! Seatbelt airbags, center mounted seat airbags, door airbags, and the list goes on and on! Also remember that the “airbag” advertisement on plastic trim and seats is just that, an advertisement. The location of the airbag and or gas inflator has no direct relation to the advertisement.
The lead instructor, Brock Archer, arranged for a BMW ActiveE electric vehicle to be displayed after lunch for everyone to review and look at. I have a bunch of the pictures of the BMW ActiveE on the Boron Extrication Facebook Page. Make sure you check the images out and if you don’t already like our Facebook page, please do!
Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 of the West Coast Extrication trip! Part 2 will be on school bus extrication and Part 3 on advanced extrication techniques.
Well the West Coast Extrication trip is over, all that is left to get on the plane and head home back to Detroit. The bad part is it was almost 80 degrees today in Redwood and it snowed in Detroit last night. The plan is to break down the trip into a 3 part post. Brock Archer from AdvancedExtrication.com hooked me with a great exposure to West Coast Extrication. Which is not different from everyone else except they get to train in warm weather in February!
The first will be the classroom portion that Ron Moore from Firehouse Magazine presented. The second will be the school bus extrication with the scrap yard workers showing how fast they can rip apart a bus. The final part will be a rundown of the extrication techniques and evolutions covered over the two days of hands on training.
The BMW 7 Series ActiveHybrid F04 Emergency Responder Guide is avaible at Electric Vehicle Safety Training. Below are two images that provide a brief overview of the locations of all the hazards inside of the vehicle.
I found the image below on evsafetytraining.org and thought the comments that are listed on the Emergency Response Guide (ERG) were a little funny coming straight from a car maker. Most of the time Ron Moore and David Dalrymple are the ones making the the statements about old cutters being out gunned with new steels! Check out number 1.
The Mini E is not a production vehicle for sale to the public per say. However, 450 Mini E vehicles are currently in a field trial in the United States. There are two areas selected for the trial, Los Angeles and the New York and New Jersey Metro area. The Mini E has about a 156 mile range on a full charge so must of the vehicles will likely stay around those two areas. The Mini E trial is a lease purchase where the vehicles will be brought back BMW/Mini to gather valuable data from real world drivers. Just because there are only a few of the Mini Es out on the road doesn’t mean First Responders should take a few minutes to look at the Mini E Emergency Responder Quick Reference Guide. My hat goes off to BMW/Mini for taking the time to put together an ERG on a vehicle that is basically in the testing phase on the road!
Make sure you also visit the sources of the images in this post. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is working very hard on providing free training for First Responders on the the Electric Vehicle Safety Training website.
So you roll up on a MVA and you notice some rich guy crashed his high-end BMW. What you may run into is a BMW Security Vehicle that is a factory made armored car. Now I know the chances are between slim and none. However, you never know. Just look at the 3 BMW models below and tell me if they look like armored cars? Believe it or not, they are!
A spectacular way to go unnoticed.
Anonymity is a powerful security measure. BMW Security Vehicles are instantly striking and spectacularly elegant vehicles – but only because they look the same as the standard models. The security modifications are almost invisible.
From the armour plating and reinforced glass to the runflat tyres, all the security equipment has been designed to offer optimum protection while attracting minimum attention.
Just in case you think that these vehicles are only designed to stop a gang banger with a 9mm, think again. The High Sercuirty model is design to protect the occupant from a AK47!
The image below is a door from a BMW High Security X5
Another feature in the BMW High Security X5 is the cargo area is seperated from the paasegnger compartment by bullet proof glass.
The 2006-2011 BMW X5 has a highly rigid body structure for maxium occupant protection is made with Ultra High Strength Steel. The passive safety features in this vehicle are passed on via the engine supports and chassis along various load paths which diverts the energy away from the passenger cell.
The BMW X5 has front and hip/thorax airbags and standard with side curtain head airbags (pictured below). The seat belts have force limiters, belt tensioners and crash-active headrests at the front. There are roll-over sensors that active the curtain airbags and the belt tensioners in the event of an imminent roll-over.
The Mini Cooper was brought to the United States by BMW. The US introduction in 2001 of the First generation Mini Cooper (2001-2006) had two models, a 3-door hatchback and a 2-door convertible. The second generation Mini Cooper (2007 – present) has grown to several different models that include a 3-door hatchback, 5-door estate, 2-door convertible, and a 5-door SUV.
The Mini Cooper is made from a bunch of different steels. High-strength steel, tailored rolled blanks, aluminum door elements, and a magnesium carrier bar for the dashboard between the A-pillars. So if this car catches fire, be prepared for the 4th of July light show when you hit the passenger compartment with a fire stream. The door reinforcements are diagonally arranged and an aluminum extrusion-pressed. You can see this in the body structure image in the posting. The Generation 2 body structure is ultra-rigid and more advanced than the first generation.
2007-2011 Mini Cooper Body Structure
The Fifth generation of the BMW 3-Series is what is currently on the road with a model run from 2005-2011. The Six Generation is due out in 2012.
The B-pillars are reinforced with a tubular structure throughout the B-pillars for added strength. The tubular reinforcement is made of ultra-strong steel which is formed from hot steel and then heat-treated while still in the mold. Something to take note of is the cross section of reinforcement tube is variably contoured based on the space available. Together with the crash box tailored to the loads, which act on the body, this ensures maximum safety. The bulkhead support is made of multi-phase steel . The strength of the side structure is maximized with the doors, the reinforced b-pillars, the seat structure and the instrument panel between the A-pillars.
Other Safety features:
The 2011 BMW 5-Series body structure is an extremely stiff passenger cell with intelligent use of high-strength multi-phase steel and hot-moulded ultra-high-strength steel. The A and B-pillars are made from hot stamped UHSS. This would lead me to believe that there is some Boron in there. The rear roof reinforcement and C-pillar is made from dual phase steel.
Here is a quick look at the body structure of the 2010 BMW 5-Series.
BMW wanted to meet the requirements of any side crash test. So Ultra-high Strength Steel was used in many different parts of the body structure. The side frames are made with UHSS and the B-Pillar is reinforced with every one’s favorite steel, boron. The B-pillar reinforcement was made of hot formed boron steel. What is good to know about this reinforcement is the distinctly higher wall thickness in the center area than in the upper and lower ends. You may what to put that knowledge under your helmet!
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