It was 1973 when a terrible oil crisis hit the world. Unfortunately for the car industry, the technological paradigm of the time was completely different from the current one. Electric vehicles, although they set the tone for automobiles in the early days of the industry, never managed to succeed commercially. In a fight that, moreover, extends to the present day.
But that didn't stop many engineers from spending long hours thinking about alternative ideas to internal combustion engines for locomotion in vehicles.
One such case is the BMW 1602e. It was 1972 and Munich was the city chosen to host the Summer Olympics. BMW saw in this event the ideal opportunity to present the 1602e.
As the 1602 BMW's most compact vehicle at the time, its platform was perfect to house the group's battery pack and electric motor. With an electric motor of Bosch origin, capable of delivering 32kW of power (the equivalent of 43 horsepower), the BMW 1602 housed under the hood a set of 12V Lead Acid batteries that weighed a massive 350kg – very different from what they are. today the lithium ion cells.
RELATED: BMW X5 xDrive40e, the weightlifter with a dancer's appetite
Despite these credentials, the range of the 1602e extended to an astonishing 60km. An interesting value, but despite everything – despite the oil crisis… – it would not be enough to approve the large-scale production of the model. However, the 1602e served as an official means of travel for the Olympic delegation and also as a support car for the filming (it did not emit exhaust gases for the athletes).
BMW's electric vehicle development program since then has never stopped, eventually culminating in the most mature products we know today in the BMW i range. Stay with the commemorative video of four decades passed between the 1062e and the i3, which BMW made a point of sharing.
