One of the well-known challenges to designing – and successfully selling – fully-electric vehicles is driver concern with range and re-charging options. EV engineers are trying to develop cars that go further on a charge and that fulfill consumers’ everyday driving needs.
While designers can use average commuting times, distances and road surfaces to develop the next EV, engineers at BMW have taken a different approach: they are crowd-sourcing their data. If you download the BMW EVolve App, and participate in their program, you’ll drive a virtual EV each day. And each day you’ll be asked about your charging preferences, be able to see how much remains on your charge and various other kinds of EV-driving related data.
What’s the goal? BMW asks the question,
Are we ready for EVs?Can they be fun? Are they even functional? To learn more, we’re inviting users to become Collective Engineers. By sharing driving data through the BMW EVolve app and the EV Dashboard on this site, users can find out if an EV fits their lifestyle and how one will impact both their wallet and the environment around them. The collective data will help BMW engineer the next generation of BMW EVs.
The idea of crowd-sourcing data to help develop EVs that consumers will rely on is pretty smart, so we’ll be watching for the results of BMW’s information gathering app, and hoping for a great new EV. Find out more about the App and the program at BMW’s website.
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