Only 3 weeks ago I wrote an article about how car manufacturers’ web sites did little or nothing to attract buyers interested in low CO2 cars - How easy is it to find cars with low CO2 emissions online? At the time, amongst other cars, I found it extremely difficult to find information on CO2 emissions generated by BMWs.

Shortly afterwards, I was returning from a meeting in a colleague’s new Mini - so basically a BMW. When he stopped at a traffic light I was amazed to discover that the engine cut off automatically, starting again as soon as he depressed the clutch to put the car into gear again. He explained that this cut-off system had just been introduced by Mini and so, like the good investigator I am becoming, I headed off to parent company BMW’s site to see what they were up to.

The good news is this: BMW have introduced their ‘EfficientDynamics Intelligent Energy Management System’, their way of reducing CO2 emissions whilst maintaining the performance that their cars are so well known for. Let’s put aside the ‘engineer our way out of a problem’ argument for a moment, and look at what BMW have managed to do - and what they still are not doing.

This new system uses various clever techniques to reduce BMW cars’ CO2 emissions:

  • ‘Brake Energy Regeneration’ uses the energy generated when braking to power the car
  • A highly efficient air-conditioning system and electric rather than engine-powered steering
  • The auto stop-start system that I encountered in my colleague’s mini

It doesn’t sound like much, but look at the facts: BMW 318d SE: 123 g/km of CO2 emissions; 320d:  128 g/km - both of them under the current EU target of  130 g/km. No, it’s not the 104 g/km of a Prius, but it’s hugely impressive for a BMW.

What I don’t understand, however, is why they aren’t trumpeting this fact from the roof tops. Nope. For BMW, life continues as normal, even though they have made dramatic progress overnight in the fight to reduce CO2 - after all, they had further to come than many. To me they have an instant sales message, and with a little more work, they can even produce cars that are free to drive in central London, and yet they say nothing. A mystery.

A final point however - time to talk about engineering as a solution. BMW seems to have set out their stall as far as reducing emissions are concerned. They won’t compromise on performance, even if it limits the CO2 reduction they can achieve. They are determined to keep producing powerful cars, whilst doing all they can to improve their efficiency. So even if the introduction of EfficientDynamics has had an immediate effect on BMW CO2 emissions, I doubt that any future advances will be so dramatic, and the last thing I would recommend is that we all go out and buy a BMW to celebrate - unless, of course you want to sheel out for the hydrogen 8 series. I have no problem at all with that.