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New BMW i3s gripping first to be fitted to all BMW and MINI models

The BMW i3s traction control system that is 50-times faster is to be rolled out across all BMW and MINI models – both electric and with combustion engines
BMW i3s traction spray
BMW i3s 50-times faster traction control system gives better traction and stability

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3 January 2018

THE BMW i3s new traction control system that is 50-times faster than conventional systems is to be rolled out across all BMW and MINI models – both electric and with combustion engines.

The new generation BMW i3 launched now summer but only arriving here in February 2018 sets standards worldwide for driving pleasure in a purely electrically-driven vehicle with the traction control response giving far greater driving stability in adverse road conditions and during brake energy recuperation.

This traction control is far more sophisticated than old systems that would inhibit wheelspin to provide a juddery escape from muddy grass car parks.

It has to be, not only for the 184hp increased output of the motor in the new BMW i3s, but is also adapted specifically to the instantaneous power delivery of the BMW eDrive system that provides for its 0-62mph acceleration of 6.9sec.

Used first in the new BMW i3s, the new system improves traction and driving stability in adverse weather and road conditions when pulling away, in active Brake Energy Regeneration phases and when accelerating out of tight corners.

For the i3s, BMW says traction during pull-away on snow and wet roads has been noticeably improved.

“DTC (Dynamic Traction Control) mode now boosts agility at higher speeds even allowing mild and safely controllable drifts on cornering.”

At the heart of this innovation is the control system’s 50-times-faster routine, made possible because the control process is now calculated directly in the powertrain instead of in a remote unit – like conventional driving stability systems – requiring long signal paths.

Peter Langen, head of chassis development at BMW, said: “With their high levels of torque and instantaneous responses to every movement of the accelerator, electric motors already make significantly higher demands on driving stability systems than conventional power units.

“That’s why the BMW engineers developed a new type of system geared squarely to the demands of electric mobility.”

The positive impact of these shorter control cycles is not reserved for purely electrically driven cars; indeed, this innovative traction control system also optimises traction, driving stability and driving dynamics in vehicles with combustion engines.

It will therefore be fitted in BMW and MINI models with front-, rear- and all-wheel drive to deliver noticeably greater assurance and driving pleasure when road conditions make pulling away difficult.

 

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