BMW Announces i DC Fast Chargers And ChargeNow DC Fast Programs

BMW is continuing its plan to make the transition to electric vehicles as simple as possible. The i3 is already a huge step in the right direction, as it introduces a Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic chassis, aluminum sub frames and a small gasoline range extender all at a relatively low price. The main goal is to get people into electric vehicles by taking as much of the compromise out of the equation as possible. Well, BMW is now going one step further with the introduction of the i DC Fast Chargers and the ChargeNow DC Fast Program. BMW developed the i DC Fast Charger with the help of Bosch Automotive Service Solutions. The i DC Fast Charger is a small (31-by-19-by-12 inches), 100-pound box that owners can mount to a wall that will charge the battery up to 80 percent in 30 minutes. The i3?s Fast Charger will set you back to the tune of $6,548, which is cheap in comparison to most DC Fast Chargers. A standard charger will ?fill up the tank? in about 6 to 8 hours. With that in mind the Fast Charger seems worth the premium, especially considering it?s a slick-looking, smallish unit that will fit nicely in most garages.

ChargeNow DC Fast is a program BMW has developed with the help of NRG eVgo, and will offer unlimited, no cost, 30-minute charging for i3 drivers in California until December 2015. This will help reduce range anxiety considerably on long trips through The Golden State. To access the ChargeNow DC Fast program, i3 owners must equip the DC Fast charger option, and sign up for a ChargeNow Card. Doing so will give owners access to all eVgo DC Fast chargers across California. Even at a price though, the ChargeNow program will help dramatically in the implementation of electric vehicles as primary cars for households. It still takes a bit longer than stopping at a gas station, but if placed properly, these ChargeNow stations can provide some resting time or even some sightseeing on long trips. This in tandem with the i DC Fast Charger in the home and the i3 becomes a very useful and eco-friendly option.

Click past the jump to read more about BMW’s new i DC Fast Chargers And ChargeNow DC Fast Programs.

BMW Announces i DC Fast Chargers And ChargeNow DC Fast Programs originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 1 August 2014 09:00 EST.

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Source: http://feeds.topspeed.com/~r/topspeed/~3/Ro3mzANNzX4/bmw-announces-i-dc-fast-chargers-and-chargenow-dc-fast-programs-ar164618.html

Art Bisch Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut

Clint Bowyer is chasing a win, but knows that points matter too

Finding the right balance of weighting wins and points in the Sprint Cup Series has been hard at times. While ultimately, wins do matter when it comes to Chase qualification, points are pretty important too. Through 15 races, 10 drivers have a race win. That means six drivers are currently going to qualify for the Chase based off their points position.

Could more drivers win? Sure. At the current rate, it's possible that more than 16 drivers could have wins. But given the pattern of repeat winners in the Cup Series ? the last four races have been won by drivers already with a win�? it's unlikely to happen.

Clint Bowyer knows the importance of points. He also knows the importance of wins. He wants a win to get into the Chase, but wins certainly aren't everything.

?I wasn?t one of the ones that was saying, ?It?s all about winning, it?s all about winning,?" Bowyer said Friday at Kentucky. "Common sense tells you to look at the past history and the math shows you that points are always going to prevail. He who has the most points is always going to win the championship. You?ve always been able to race your way into the Chase and I think it still will today, but right now we need a win.� We?re at the point in our program with our 5-Hour Energy Toyota that we?re desperately in need of a win and we need to throw it all out there and go for it and try to get ourselves a win somewhere. We were definitely in the hunt and after one in Sonoma.� We had a lot of confidence going in out there and we had a fast race car and by all means we were chasing a win big time.?

Right now, Bowyer is in the Chase. He's one of the six winless drivers who would make the Chase at this point, but he's not in comfortably. He's fifth of those six and 23 points ahead of Kasey Kahne and 25 points ahead of Tony Stewart. If he was in the top 10 in points, a win may not be as big of a priority. But Bowyer is 14th.

Both Stewart and Kahne are powered by Hendrick equipment, engines that Bowyer also acknowledged have been far superior to the rest of the Sprint Cup Series field. For non-Hendrick cars to currently catch up, it's all about finding the right balance.

(And no, there aren't 37 Hendrick-powered cars, Bowyer was having some fun. There are 11, and five of them are ahead of him in the standings.)

?Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick split me going down the front straightaway at Michigan and cleared me and raced each other�? had a heck of a race getting into (turn) one afterwards. I guess that?s my best way to explain superior. Once I got in the corner I could join the battle again and it was a lot of fun.� You have to enjoy that because it always comes full circle and in all fairness to the sport and everything that we do�? the engines are something that we all get to enjoy from time to time and right now that Hendrick camp, which there is like 37 of them anymore seem like they are enjoying it quite a bit.?

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/clint-bowyer-is-chasing-a-win--but-knows-that-points-matter-too-172834430.html

Tom Bridger Tony Brise Chris Bristow Peter Broeker

Dirty debris: Keselowski tries to clean off grille and is passed by Earnhardt Jr. for win at Pocono

Brad Keselowski's engine was getting hotter with every single lap. If he didn't try to get the debris that was clogging his grille off the front of his car, he didn't think his engine wasn't going to make it to the end of the race.

But he was leading late in Sunday's race at Pocono. He had no one in front of him and Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind him. There weren't going to be many, if any, opportunites to get behind another car to get the airflow off the front of his car and the piece of trash to fall off.

Danica Patrick's lapped car was his only hope. With five laps to go, Keselowski caught Patrick off turn one. He tried to get the nose of his car up near the back of Patrick's slower car, which was wounded by a flat tire incident earlier in the day. But as he tried to get behind Patrick, he lost too much speed off the corner ? and didn't even get the debris off. Junior capitalized and passed Keselowski to lead the last four laps for his second win of the season.

It's Earnhardt Jr.'s first multiple-win season since 2004, when he was with his father's team, Dale Earnhardt Inc. and won six races. That season, Junior was in the hunt for the championship until a 25-point penalty for a swear word and a crash at Atlanta derailed his season. This year, you're a fool for thinking Junior's not a legitimate threat for the title.

"The car was real hot, we had a real fast Red's Apple Ford and just got a big piece of debris on the grille and had to do something," Keselowski said. "It was blowing up. Tried to make a move to get in behind (Patrick) and use the air to pull the debris off and when she went into the corner she got loose and I just chased her up there and lost too much momentum."

"I should have just passed her but I had to do some kind of move. The car wasn't going to make it. It was already starting to blow up and it was all I could do."

Earnhardt Jr. knew that was his only opportunity to get past Keselowski. After Keselowski outraced Junior to the lead on the race's final restart, Junior hung with him, but never got close enough to make a pass. And heck, he had trash on his grille too. But it wasn't as large as the piece on the front of Keselowski's car.

"He didn't want to let me by but I didn't know if his motor was going to make it," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's unfortunate for him. He had me beat, I couldn't get to him ? just real hard to pass here. But I've lost some in some strange ways so it feels good to win one like that."

Earlier in the season, Junior and Keselowski were battling for the win at Las Vegas. Junior and team were trying to stretch the fuel as much as possible and wound up just a bit short, allowing Keselowski to drive past in the final corner for the win.

And because of Keselowski's Vegas win (and Junior's win in the Daytona 500), both drivers were able to play the race smartly. If Keselowski was winless, the race may have played out differently, but in this case, the win and assurance that he'll be in the Chase with the new win-and-in format favored the pragmatic route. Yes, his car ultimately made it to the finish line, but with his water temps skyrocketing as the race ticked down, it was a true risk/reward scenario.

Heck, Keselowski still had a chance for the win after he was passed by Junior. But because the clean air provided to the leader of the race throughout Sunday made such a difference, Keselowski wasn't able to catch up to the back bumper of Junior or even get the trash off his grille.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/dirty-debris--keselowski-tries-to-clean-off-grille-and-is-passed-by-earnhardt-jr--for-win-at-pocono-204257480.html

Luiz Bueno Ian Burgess Luciano Burti Roberto Bussinello

Silly Season Update - Ducati Confirmed, Suzuki Announcement Imminent, And Will Aprilia Be Back Sooner?

The Danish physicist and father of quantum physics Niels Bohr is reputed to have said "Prediction is hard, especially about the future." Just a few days after our comprehensive silly season update was posted, at the World Ducati Weekend event, Andrea Dovizioso, Andrea Iannone and Cal Crutchlow all confirmed they would be staying at Ducati for next season, throwing our predictions into disarray. None of the Ducati riders were leaving for Suzuki - or in Cal Crutchlow's case, a satellite Honda - meaning that the Japanese factory was forced to make a few adjustments to their plans. And not only Suzuki: since the Ducati announcement, more of the pieces of the 2015 MotoGP puzzle have started to fall into place. Time to revisit what we know so far, and what we expect in the next few days.

Source: 

http://solomoto.es/1/aleix-maverick-el-team-suzuki-de-motogp#.U81-1fmSyrA

http://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/60477/Aprilia-2015-in-der-MotoGP-Mi...

http://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/60448/Andrea-Iannone-Ducati-bietet-...

http://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/60456/Jonas-Folger-Ich-fahre-2015-b...

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/aK7vskt7lJQ/silly_season_update_ducati_confirmed_suz.html

Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg Eddie Cheever Andrea Chiesa

The latest from Germany

The reports that Bernie Ecclestone is offering $33 million to settle the criminal trial in Germany are just plain weird. There have long been rumours that Ecclestone was looking for a financial settlement, but it has always looked to be rather unlikely. A fine is OK for a parking offence, but only a politician could […]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/the-latest-from-germany/

Menato Boffa Bob Bondurant Felice Bonetto Jo Bonnier

Raikkonen favourite to taste victory in Belgium

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/08/raikkonen_favourite_to_taste_v.html

Walt Ader Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr

Carbon Fiber Brough Superior Moto2 Bike To Make Debut At Silverstone

Despite some early promise, there has been much complaining of a lack of innovation from chassis builders in Moto2. the bikes have followed the same basic layout as all modern race bikes since the late 1980s: aluminium twin spar chassis and conventional suspension arrangements.The only real interest has come from wildcards. At Le Mans, the French Promoto Sport team raced their Transfiormer chassis, with some solid results. Beyond that, the bikes have been pretty much identikit.

At Silverstone, another interesting wildcard will get its first public running. The British round of Moto2 will see the Brough Superior make its debut in a competitive race, after making an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year. The bike is a rebrand of the design by John Keogh and Taylormade Racing, discussed on MotoMatters.com last year. The bike uses a monocoque chassis design made fully from carbon fiber, with integral fuel tank. The front suspension is a single wishbone with damping in the forks, while the rear swingarm is also fully carbon fiber. The radiator has been moved to the rear of the bike, to allow the machine to be narrower and free up space in front of the engine.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/O3ql_lG3y3Y/carbon_fiber_brough_superior_moto2_bike_.html

Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain

A team-building exercise?

The Mercedes GP Petronas team is riding high in Formula 1 at the moment – except for Toto Wolff, who ended up yesterday in hospital in Vienna after he crash heavily while taking part in a 100km cycle ride. The drivers were not involved this year but rather the entire engineering group and according to […]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/a-team-building-exercise/

Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen

Indianapolis 500 Practice Day 5

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2014/05/indianapolis-500-practice-5.html

Alan Brown Walt Brown Warwick Brown Adolf Brudes