Sad, sad times at BMW these days. We understand electrics are going become more and more popular in the future but how in the world is it that the company who coined "The Ultimate Driving Machine" is pushing slow and heavy electrics in the USA over their best performance cars? Is there really a bigger market for people to be guinea pigs for an unproven all electric car for 24 months at $499 a pop (plus downpayment of $2,250) than for an M3 GTS, CSL, or even the new diesel M cars? Ultimate what?

We think BMW will find enough insane hippies in California alone to make this happen. BMW is calling the lessees "Electronauts" as they state they are adventurers and explorers. What can you really explore with a 100 mile range? What kind of adventure or excitement can you have in a car that takes 9 seconds to get to 60 other than someone with a real Ultimate Driving Machine honking for you to move the hell out of the way?

BMW's take:

BMW Electronaut /i-'lek-trə-nät/ n.
A BMW ActiveE driver; one of 700 adventurers and explorers. A front runner of innovation, and an advocate for sustainability. A surveyor of the present, and a proponent of the future — the future of mobility.
BimmerBoost's take:

BMw Electronaut /i-'lek-trə-nät/ n.
Not a real BMW driver; one of 700 politically correct brainwashed hippies thinking they will save the planet by running a vehicle off an electric grid still mostly powered by fossil fuels. Blind to present diesel technology, a proponent of smugly telling all their friends they are saving the planet - soon to dethrone Prius drivers as the most pompous eco hippies on the road.
If interested in joining this cult, please check out http://www.bmwusa.com/ActiveE

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