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Information

BMW Announces Induction Charging Pilot Program for U.S.

Every so often, car companies will announce pilot programs that consumers can participate in. This is to ensure that the program they want to offer resonates well with their consumer base, while also giving people access the latest in the car industry.

Sometimes pilot programs look like a new rental program that is only scheduled to operate for a certain length of time. It may come back in the future, depending on how successful it is.

BMW has announced a U.S. pilot program of their own. BMW owners in Germany have already enjoyed the program, so now US owners will get to participate as well.

Read on to learn what the program is and how you may be able to qualify. It could end up transforming how you use and interact with your BMW.

What It Is

When consumers raise their voice about a concern or need they have, brands do their best to listen and meet those needs. One of the biggest concerns that many car owners have is how their car can leave a smaller carbon footprint.

Going green has been an issue that’s gained speed and traction in recent years. The car industry is one of the biggest players in green initiatives, since cars run off fossil fuels that damage the environment and can’t be replaced.

That’s where the new pilot program comes in. The U.S. Induction Charging Pilot Program is meant to transition BMW owners to cars that charge off of electricity, making the process easier and more approachable.

How to Qualify

BMW plans to roll out this program in California, opening it to 200 participants over 13 counties. These participants must go through an approval process, so not everyone will qualify.

The brand is looking for BMW owners who meet the following criteria:

  • Must own a garage
  • Must live on a qualifying local electrical grid
  • Must complete a 36-month 530e sedan lease

This is an excellent way for BMW consumers to try out the world of electric cars without having to spend all the money upfront on a car they’d permanently keep. They could try the car out with the driving lifestyle and see if an electric car is a good match for their needs.

How It Changes the Future

Cars that run on gasoline hurt people and the environment at the same time, even though people can’t see the immediate effects. Air and noise pollution, along with toxic oil runoff from roadways and the limited fossil fuel resources all add up when so many people buy traditional cars.

BMW’s pilot program helps change the future by making it easy to try out. Participants will have a CarPad installed under their car and a GroundPad put in their garage for free. When they park their car over the pad, it wirelessly charges their car by using magnetic induction.

The car fully charges after just fours. It saves owners time, instead of making them stop at a gas station every few days to refuel.

BMW i3 Charging
BMW i3 Charging

One of the biggest hurdles people have to make when going green with their cars is making the leap into electric vehicles. It’s intimidating for someone who’s never done it before, but BMW owners who qualify for this program can try it out for free and change the future of how they experience their car.

Tech

BMW Considered Most Trusted When It Comes to Driverless Tech

More people trust BMW to build self-driving cars than any other automaker, says a survey by car-tracking company Satrak. The brand from Bavaria earned the top spot over competition that included tech companies like Tesla and Uber, as well as more traditional auto marques.

More than half of people surveyed, 52%, said they would trust a self-driving vehicle from BMW. That number handily trumps the next-closest result, 39%, which went to Volvo. Also competing for the top spot were BMW’s neighbors Mercedes and Audi.

Age and Wisdom Defeat Youth and Guile

Despite offering one of the most advanced autopilot features on the market, up-and-comer Tesla only earned a 19% trust rating. It’s possible the low score is due to questionable performance from these types of systems.

Uber, who have never actually marketed a vehicle, finished a single point short of Tesla with an 18% trust rating. Google, which has invested heavily in robotics and is already testing self-driving cars in California, got only a 3%.

Location, Location, Location

Consumers seemed more inclined to trust well-established automotive brands than upstarts that might offer some experience in the high-tech end of driving automation. While the three German brands represented all performed well, Great Britain earned the highest trust rating of any country, with a score of 48%. Germany was second at 41%. Apparently, none of those polled had ever driven an MG or Jaguar.

Brands from parts of the globe less well-known for cars did not fare so well. Skoda, a Czech brand, scored a 15% trust rating, beating out French brand Citroën by a single point. When compared from a geographic standpoint, Czech cars earned a low 7% to France’s 13%.

What Will Self-Driving Bimmers Be Like?

To call BMW — or any of the brands included in this poll — low-tech is really unfair. The entire automotive industry has thrown itself at producing self-driving cars. Many brands, BMW included, have promised to deliver these game-changing vehicles by 2021.

The blue and white brand has been committed to self-driving tech for some time now. They sent a 330i around the Top Gear track under its own control as far back as 2007, and more recently taught their cars to drift themselves.

Having a reputation as a luxury brand gives BMW access to a large market of consumers interested in features like autopilot. Their line of i cars, which is expected to receive a refresher soon with the new all-electric i8, will make the perfect marketing vehicle for self-driving tech, no pun intended.

There is still a large body of consumers to win over, and BMW will have to compete with other manufacturers expected to deliver similar offerings around the same time. These include Ford, Toyota/Lexus, Tesla and Audi, to name a few.

For now, however, it seems their public is in agreement. BMW really does build the ultimate driving machine.

Press Release

Amazon’s Alexa now speaks to your BMW

Amazon Alexa brings BMW Connected into your home.
“With the availability of BMW Connected as an Alexa skill in USA, customers will for the first time be able to manage their personal mobility agenda and operate vehicle from their homes. The integration between Alexa and BMW Connected is underlining BMW’s promise to constantly integrate BMW Connected into new touch-points and to expand its digital services,” says Dieter May, Senior Vice President Digital Services and Business Models at BMW Group.

The first version of BMW Connected, available in the U.S. since March 2016, focused primarily on journey management and remote services. Now, BMW Connected is literally coming home. With the availability of BMW Connected as an Alexa skill on all Alexa-enabled devices, such as the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, it is now possible to use voice commands to check the vehicle’s battery charge and fuel level, for example, as well as lock the vehicle remotely. The BMW Connected Alexa skill allows users to learn about their next scheduled trip, find out what time to leave, and send the destination to their BMW.

“We’re excited to work with BMW to bring their Alexa skill to customers,” said Rob Pulciani, Director, Amazon Alexa. “Never before have BMW and Alexa users been able to control their connected cars using hands-free voice control from their home — and now with the BMW Alexa skill, customers can use Alexa voice technology to lock their car doors, check their fuel level, and more without lifting a finger. We can’t wait for customers to try it out.”

The skill works by using the activation word “Alexa,” followed by the invocation name “BMW,” which allows users to access the relevant functions, e.g. “Alexa, ask BMW when I should leave for my next appointment.” The vision of BMW Connected integrated with Alexa was first revealed earlier this year at CES 2016 in Las Vegas. The vision has now become a reality, and we expect to continue to release more innovative Alexa updates in the coming months. Today, users in the U.S. can access BMW Connected through enabling the Alexa skill and linking their BMW Connected account in the Amazon Alexa app.