Friday, November 28, 2014



October 31 is no longer known as Halloween, or All Saints' Eve or even as that day when all children simultaneously develop huge cavities. It's now known as the day before Christmas/holiday advertising begins. Seriously, as of November 1, it seems like companies across the country and from every industry have declared open season on holiday ad campaigns. It's all premature enough that we're already feeling our inner Grinch showing, but at least some of the ads are better done than others.

Among them are new spots from BMW, which has arrived with this mini-campaign of three 30-second, Christmas-themed spots. There's a cameo from Santa Claus, who's at the helm of a sleek M6 Gran Coupe in one spot, while a 3 Series Gran Coupe slices through a slalom of Christmas trees in another. The final spot, called "Road Home", doesn't focus so much on the brand's "Ultimate Driving Machines," as it does the trip home for the holidays.


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

BMW's new street lights will charge your electric car | Autoplex BMW

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Street lights are already brimming with electricity, so it stands to reason that they'd make great charging points for electric cars, doesn't it? BMW certainly thinks so. It has developed Light and Charge LED street lights that could keep your EV topped up (Beemer or otherwise) using existing urban infrastructure instead of dedicated power outlets and charging stations. It should be cheaper for cities to implement, of course, but it could also take a lot of the anxiety out of driving a gas-free vehicle -- you could theoretically park on any street knowing that your car will have more energy when you come back.This isn't the first stab at EV-friendly lamps. Companies like Intelilight have explored this technology before. However, BMW may be one of the first to put these smarter street lights to good use. The automaker is launching a pilot project in Munich next year, and it has the corporate clout to spur other deployments. It'll be a long while before you can assume that there's a always an EV charger at hand, but the concept is now a little more realistic.