BMW Marks 50 Years Since First EV With Light Show At Headquarters

BMW’s electric journey kicked off at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich where two 1602 Elektro-Antrieb (Electric-Drive) sedans were on display looking virtually identical to their combustion-engined counterparts. However, gone was the ICE as the EV duo used a dozen of 12V lead-acid batteries that weighed 350 kg (771 lbs) to feed a Bosch-developed electric motor producing 32 kW peak and 12 kW continuous power.