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Hertz Introduces a New Way to Rent BMW Motorcycles

When it comes to renting motorcycles, you typically don’t have that much freedom. There aren’t that many motorcycle rental services available and America, and those that exist either have a limited selection or rely on peer-to-peer rentals — which may be off-putting to some. A new service from Hertz, however, shows this may be starting to change.

Hertz Brings Hertz Ride to the U.S.

Last year, the Hertz Ride program finally arrived in the United States. The program — which allows customers to rent motorcycles at certain Hertz locations — was initially available in Riverside, California and Las Vegas. Over the past few months, Hertz expanded the program to two new locations in Long Beach, near Los Angeles, and New Jersey.

The Hertz Ride fleet is made up entirely of BMW bikes. There are six to choose from. The F 750 GS and R 1250 GS will work best for adventure rides and any tour that features on- and off-road riding. The K 1600 B, R 1250 RT and K 1600 Grand America will be most suitable for long-distance touring and road trips.

The R nineT Scrambler will be serviceable if you need to go off-road — but, despite its name, it is a better fit for city streets. It will be the best option of the six if you just need to get around town in Miami, Los Angeles or Vegas.

The program also allows customers to rent top-level riding gear — right now, riding apparel from Rev’It and helmets from NEXX, two top-of-the-line motorcycle apparel companies. If you like your gear, you can buy it once your rental period is over, and Hertz will ship it to you.

Hertz Ride also offers tours, although its American tour list is much more limited than European offerings. There’s only one U.S. tour right now — a 14-day, 2,100 mile round-trip tour of California. The tour package includes your bike, accommodations, meals and guidance from a tour leader. 

If the European tour options are anything to go by, your options are likely to expand in the near future.

Why the Hertz Ride Program Has Motorcyclists Intrigued

One of the reasons the service has drawn attention is how few motorcycle rental options there are across America.

Car drivers outnumber motorcycle riders by a significant margin and motorcyclists tend to be more vulnerable than other motorists — so while it’s easy to rent a car just about anywhere in America, motorcycle riders are typically limited to a handful of services or their local dealer.

This is typically a Harley-Davidson dealer that will feature a limited selection of bikes. Often, these dealers and rental services will only have motorcycles from big-name American brands like Harley-Davidson, and maybe the addition of a few Toyota or Honda motorcycles.

If you’ve ever wanted to rent a BMW bike, you’ve probably been out of luck. Now, there’s a service that’s effectively dedicated to letting customers rent BMW motorcycles.

While peer-to-peer rental services like Twisted Road exist and typically feature a much wider range of bikes to choose from, your options are limited if you want to rent from a business. Hertz Ride is a sign that this may be changing.

BMW To Launch iNext EV Models By 2023

According to an announcement made in Munich last year, BMW is ramping up its production of electric vehicles and plans on bringing them to market sooner than previously announced.

By 2023, BMW will significantly expand its lineup of electrified vehicles and add 25 new options for consumers after sustainable luxury vehicles.

Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming generation of new BMW EV models.

BMW’s New Electric Vehicles Getting Ready for Market

The new vehicles will be part of the BMW i sub-brand, which already includes vehicles like the i3 city car and i8 plug-in hybrid. More than half of the 25 new vehicles will be fully electrified, with many of the others being a hybrid version of existing models. 

Among the vehicles is the BMW iNext, which was announced in 2018, and is currently expected to arrive on the market in 2021. BMW is also expected to roll out the i4, the i3’s successor, sometime that year.

BMW also plans to launch a range of new plug-in electric hybrid versions of the BMW 3 series, 7 series, and X5. The company is also planning a China-exclusive plug-in hybrid version of the X1, as well as new hybrid versions of the 2 series and 5 series. A European and U.S. version of the hybrid X1 is getting ready for production.

Other EVs expected to arrive before 2023 include a fully-electric Mini, manufactured in England, and an electric version of the X3 crossover called the iX3 that is designed for the Chinese market.

BMW Press

The EV Timetable

Previously, the company had planned to have all of these EVs on the market by 2025 at the earliest. Now, however, BMW is accelerating its electric strategy, and plans to have the cars ready by 2023 

The accelerated timetable is based on the success of the company’s current electric and hybrid vehicles, BMW claims it will have doubled its sale of electric vehicles by 2021, compared to its 2019 numbers, and the continued growth of BMW’s EV sales numbers.

The advanced production is also likely in part due to BMW’s new scalable vehicle architecture, which allows the company to swap in a BEV or PHEV powertrain into any vehicle that uses the new architecture.

BMW hasn’t said yet whether or not it will remain committed to further electric vehicle development in the near future — but if current market trends hold, and EVs remain as profitable as they’ve been for BMW, it’s likely that we’ll see even more EVs be announced in the near future.

Businesses across the automotive industry are pivoting to electric, resulting in large-scale production of everything from electric trucks to e-buses — EV market growth suggests that there is definitely room for additional BMW EVs.

BMW Prepping 25 EVs for Launch by 2023

The quicker arrival of the new electric vehicles, which were planned to arrive on the market by 2025, is likely a good sign for those wanting more EVs from BMW. 

The 25 new cars include both hybrids and fully-electric vehicles and demonstrate the flexibility of BMW’s new architecture, which could make developing new EV variant models even easier in the future.

A few of the cars that are planned for launch will be exclusive to the Chinese market, but there’s no reason to believe that they won’t eventually be exported to the US and European markets.

BMW vs. Uber: Who Will Be the Next Amazon of Transportation?

Uber has disrupted the transportation industry, but it may not dominate the roads of tomorrow thanks to BMW’s recent innovations.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, announced plans for Uber to become the “Amazon of transportation,” but BMW may interrupt these plans with their own services and vehicles. As Uber becomes more than a carpooling app, the German automakers are becoming more than a manufacturer.

BMW announced a slew of projects to compete with Uber in 2019, and since then, both companies have been significant signs of progress.

But who is in the lead, and why does it matter for BMW?

Doing It All

What does being the Amazon of transportation mean? It means being a service that does it all, from ferrying people around to delivering food to making the vehicles of the future. It’s a bid to get into every aspect of transportation.

Though it began as a ride-sharing app, Uber now offers a variety of services like Uber Eats, a food delivery system, and Uber Freight, an app that matches carriers and shippers.

BMW has announced competitive offerings with the help of auto company Daimler. The joint venture includes things like Reach Now, a mobility solution that provides ride shares, bike rentals and public transportation planning.

BMW and Daimler’s transportation services compete directly with Uber, who’s also been incorporating more than just cars into their offerings. While the details of their approaches may differ, both companies are looking to provide a variety of transportation solutions to customers.

The Race for Driverless Transportation

BMW and Uber are looking into more than just connecting drivers with passengers. Both are joining the race to put safe, efficient driverless cars on the road.

Uber’s shaky acquisition of self-driving vehicle company Otto shows they’re serious about pursuing driverless technology. But they’re not alone. BMW hopes to release its self-driving electric car, the iNext, in 2021. 

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year, BMW also showed off a concept for a driverless vehicle interior, focusing on maximizing passenger comfort. In line with this philosophy of relaxation, they also premiered the i3 Urban Suite, a modified BMW i3 that allows passengers to lounge in a hotel-like experience. The Urban Suite needs a human driver for now, but the cabin arrangement could easily apply to a driverless car as well.

Uber has begun testing driverless vehicles in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. For now, they will be in manual mode, driven by a person. But they hope the data collected by these tests will bring them closer to operational self-driving vehicles.

Who’s Ahead?

Both Uber and BMW are running towards big goals in the future of transportation. The companies are not just pursuing a more varied array of services, but more advanced technology as well. The determining factor in who emerges as the new king of the road may be whoever can make these technologies a practical reality first.

Uber is quite literally reaching for the skies, as it unveiled a concept for a flying taxi at CES 2020. Working prototypes won’t be ready until 2023, and after that, it’s unsure when they will be available to the general public.

BMW’s focus remains on the ground, with much of their CES concepts aiming to provide passengers with a more enjoyable ride, with or without a human driver.

Features like their smart windshield will require a 5G connection, but this isn’t a far-off reality. BMW’s iNext, set to release next year, will support 5G connectivity.

Both companies’ concepts are lofty, and both seem to be making strides in achieving them. But BMW looks closer to bringing their new technology to the road, with the iNext coming out soon while Uber has yet to announce a release date for its self-driving cars.

As for their current transportation solutions, BMW’s Reach Now already has more than 6 million users, so they may soon catch up with Uber in the ride-sharing field.

If Uber doesn’t show significant progress in the coming years, BMW might beat them to their goal of being the Amazon of transportation.