On May 9, BMW launched the 3 Series Gran Limousine M Sport Pro Edition for INR 6.62 million. It comes with a two-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine of the 330Li M Sport Pro Edition which is mated with an eight-speed Steptronic sport automatic transmission and produces an output of 258 hp and maximum torque of 400 Nm at 1,550-4,400 rpm. It can accelerate from 0 -100 km/hr in 6.2 seconds. It is locally produced at its Chennai plant.
It comes with a curved display and connected drive technologies, a live cockpit plus 3D Navigation, a 12.3-inch digital instrument display behind the steering wheel, and a 14.9-inch control display. Its safety features include six airbags, attentiveness assistance, dynamic stability control (DSC) including cornering brake control (CBC), electric parking brake with auto hold, side-impact protection, electronic vehicle immobilizer and crash sensor, etc.
Connected
On May 8, NIO and GAC Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement on charging and battery swapping in Guangzhou, Guangdong.
According to the agreement, the two parties will promote the establishment of a unified system for battery standards, develop battery-swappable passenger vehicles and battery swapping stations compatible with both parties’ battery swapping systems, facilitate the launch of battery-swappable models with a battery pack built to unified standards both parties endorse, and advance the application of battery swapping solutions serving models from both parties.
Furthermore, the two parties will promote the interconnection between battery swapping operation networks and suppliers, boost the establishment of a unified system for battery swapping operation and management, build a larger-scale standard and unified energy infrastructure network, create a lifecycle management system for power batteries, and establish an efficient battery asset management platform and operations mechanism.
For cooperation on charging platforms, the two parties will leverage their respective charging facilities to achieve interoperability of dynamic data from the platforms. By the end of May, their charging facilities will be interconnected, enabling users to enjoy a range of charging services via charging maps in the corresponding APPs, WeChat Mini Programs, and in-vehicle systems.
From a NIO press release
On May 8, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that the Biden administration could take an "extreme action" and ban Chinese connected vehicles or opt to impose restrictions, but is first reviewing extensive public comments that were due April 30.
The Biden administration launched a probe in February into whether Chinese vehicle imports pose national security risks because vehicles "collect large amounts of sensitive data on their drivers and passengers (and) regularly use their cameras and sensors to record detailed information on U.S. infrastructure".
"We have to digest all the data and then figure out what action that we want to take," Raimondo said without detailing a timeline. "We could take extreme action, which is to say no Chinese connected vehicles in the United States or look for mitigation" including safeguards, guardrails or other requirements.
Also on May 8, Senate Banking Committee Sherrod Brown said that he had urged Commerce in a filing "to ban all Chinese internet-connected vehicles and smart vehicle technology that is designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied from China."
Raimondo said at a recent U.S. House of Representatives hearing she was concerned about Chinese connected vehicles that "could be collecting massive amounts of data on Americans, who they are, what they say in their car, where they go to, their patterns of driving."
In November, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers raised alarms about Chinese companies collecting and handling sensitive data while testing autonomous vehicles in the U.S.
(multiple sources on May 8, 2024)