Following the news that BMW will manufacture 3 more models in China, BMW also announced they are setting up a research and development center in Shengyang, China.
BMW’s Shenyang R&D center is focusing on new energy source vehicles and its new brand: Zinoro, which is dedicated to the Chinese market.
I bet you have never heard the name of “Zinoro”. Here is some background information: Zinoro is a brand that BMW created solely for the China market. It is dedicated to electric vehicles at this moment, and it has already released their first product: the Zinoro 1E.
You see it right, it looks like the BMW X1 – because it is actually the X1, but with electric motor and battery packs installed inside. BMW claims the Zinoro 1E is the world’s first electric SAV.
The Zinoro has an 168 hp electric motor driving the rear wheels, which can reach the maximum torque of 184 lb-ft at 0 RPM. With a full charge, the range of the 1E can reach approx. 93 miles (150 km). When you use the charger provided by Zinoro, it takes about 7.5 hours to charge the battery to 80% full.
Because the electric motor and battery packs takes up some spaces in the trunk (there is a large bulge in after the 2nd row seat), the cargo volume of the 1E is significantly smaller than the X1, however you can still fit two large suit cases on both sides of the trunk.
We can see, currently electric vehicles become more popular in China, some of the major automobile makers are working very seriously on performance oriented electric cars. The reason that Tesla has absolute advantages in the US market, is because most of the auto industry giants have not put large efforts here at this moment. But who knows whether they are playing a big game now.
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