BMW Retooling Leipzig Factory to Build Electric Vehicles

BMW showed off its concept ActiveE, an electric vehicle based on the 1 Series coupe at the auto show in Detroit in January.

Think they’ll ever make another Bourne movie? You never know, CIA agent Jason Bourne could be called out of retirement. Perhaps he’ll find out that his mentor didn’t really kill himself and is out for revenge. Anyway, if they do decide on a fourth blockbuster, I’m hoping that the film will include our hero zooming around some European city in an electric BMW vehicle (the Bourne movies always feature BMWs). The German automaker announced this week that it’s modifying its Leipzig factory to manufacture electric vehicles.

It’s a refreshing bit of green auto news, especially in light of the recent Toyota recall of 133,000 Prius vehicles.

In the coming years BMW will churn out electric vehicles like the ActiveE (see more photos below) and the Megacity, a subcompact city car that’s due off the line in 2013 and remains something of a mystery. The folks at Automobile Magazine have a bit more:

Although details of the car are still under wraps, we have learned from BMW that the car will use a considerable amount of carbon fiber in its structure to help save weight. In fact, BMW's formed a joint venture with several fiber companies to weave the carbon fiber composites in Wackersdorf, Germany.

And from BMW:

“The BMW Group will build the car of the future in Leipzig with high-tech innovations from Bavaria,” BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer said in a statement. “The main reasons behind this decision are the qualities that Germany has to offer: we have a tried-and-tested production network here and high levels of education and outstanding competencies at our disposal.”