With the electric Mini-E program well under way and people lining up to get one, BMW is planning a line of near zero-emission vehicles called Megacity and says they could be on the road in a few years.

The line-up will include electric and high-efficiency gasoline vehicles, BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer said. Megacity follows the Mini-E to become the second car developed by project i, BMW's campaign to to develop low-emission city cars and a sustainable means of producing them.

"With the Megacity vehicle, we are pursuing a radical approach toward establishing a truly sustainable value chain - from development to production and sales," Reithofer said. "This vehicle will be the first of a range of near-zero emission vehicles. Customers will have the choice between a fully electric drive and a high efficiency combustion engine. Large-scale production could start in the first half of the next decade."

BMW is one of several automakers beating the electric drum these days, and most of the big players promise to roll out an EV within three years. BMW will put 500 Mini-E electric cars in driveways this year as part of a two-year field test.

But even as Reithofer hailed the Mine-E as a "milestone" and laid out his vision of a greener future, he tamped down EV expectations.

Reithofer didn't offer any further details on the Megacity when he announced it earlier this week at a press conference to discuss the company's financial performance. There has been no decision on what the car might look like - though there have been rumors the Isetta could come back - but the car almost certainly will draw on work already done on the Mine-E.

And although Reithofer touted the Mini-E as BMW's "first milestone towards electric mobility" and said it is "the car company with the largest fleet of electric cars," he downplayed expectations for the technology, according to a transcript of his address provided by BMW.

"Euphoria is not called for - not yet anyway," he said. "It will take years and years before electric cars will be a common sight on our roads."

Why? According to Reithofer, "electric cars do not meet all the different mobility demands." Batteries remain expensive - the Mini will cost $850 a month to lease - and subject to "open questions" about their life cycles and infrastructure needs. "Currently all manufacturers - and our society for that matter - are going through a learning process," he said.

BMW is counting on improvements in internal combustion engines to boost fuel efficiency in the short-term, with smaller turbocharged engines a possibility for M-models. It's also looking at hybrids, with gas-electric versions of the 7-Series and X6 going into production later this year. EVs are further down the line, and BMW is still betting on hydrogen to lead us to a cleaner, greener motoring future at some point.

Photo: Jim Merithew / Wired.com

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