ELECTRIC CONVERSION

摘要

It's been hard in recent years to tell how seriously BMW takes electric cars. In 2009, BMW-owned Mini put 600 experimental electric Mini Coopers into test fleets, but the cars were clunky and the program was beset with logistical problems. GM and Nissan have both been selling electric cars for nearly a year now; BMW, meanwhile, is preparing to launch another test f leet—1,000 "Ac-tiveEs," 1 -series coupes converted to run on batteries. Then, in July, things seemed to change. The carmaker announced two production plug-in vehicles scheduled to arrive in 2013, an indication that the automaker is going electric in earnest.