BMW 7er "Concept Active Hybrid"

[Centurion]

Thanks for clearing things out. I didn't known that the S400 and the 7er Hybrid would differ from the Ls600h in this way. I guess the difference explains why the Ls600h boot space is almost fully occupied by batteries powering the massive electric motor.

 

[Ultimate Car Guy]

Actually female members of a certain project are usually related to more "traditional female stuff" eg. marketing, PR, finance, interior design (eg. color & material choice etc) ...

It's not very common to see a female powertrian development top engineer.

Thats true and its a good achievement from her!

Actually, Peter Langen (former head of vehicle dynamics) is in charge of powertrain at BMW. Claus Borgmann held that position for 7 years. Now he replaced Wilhelm Becker as head of small models product line, so he's now responsible for the upcomming 1 series and 3 series.

 

[Deleted member 25]

Seems you know a lot about BMW's organigram, from where do you learn all that stuff UCG ?

 

[Ultimate Car Guy]

Seems you know a lot about BMW's organigram, from where do you learn all that stuff UCG ?

My firm is a consultant to the industry (financial), so i get access to all areas!

 

[EnI]

Thats true and its a good achievement from her!

I contacted my Munich friends, and got this info back:


Sandra Patricia Ghella-Schroeder is currently a Chief Design Engineer at BMW. Gali is her nickname.

So, that explains the fact Hussein was seeing her constantly in the Design department area.

Before that she was fully responsible for further development & production supervision of E60 5er, E63 6er & E65 7er. Meaning: she was a project manager responsible for facelifts of BMW large cars (5er, 6er, 7er).

Even before she was a development chief for N62 V8 engines. And even before she was an engine development engineer.




****

Top design engineer position is indeed very high in the Development department hierarchy.

Hat down!

Beside Verena C. Kloos (President of BMW DesignWorksUSA) I think this lady is the only one so high in BMW hierarchy. And even in top engineering position.

Guys, your BMWs are being developed by a woman.

****

I met her in Frankfurt years ago. She is a complete engine freak. At least then she was. If you think Scott or I are diehard BMW fanatics you should meet her. She's 100 times worse.


PS: Btw, Google says she was born in Venezuela. Having Italian & Spanish roots.

 

[warot]

I contacted my Munich friends, and got this info back:


Sandra Patricia Ghella-Schroeder is currently a Chief Design Engineer at BMW. Gali is her nickname.

So, that explains the fact Hussein was seeing her constantly in the Design department area.

Before that she was fully responsible for further development & production supervision of E60 5er, E63 6er & E65 7er. Meaning: she was a project manager responsible for facelifts of BMW large cars (5er, 6er, 7er).

Even before she was a development chief for N62 V8 engines. And even before she was an engine development engineer.




PS: Btw, Google says she was born in Venezuela. Having Italian & Spanish roots.

Honestly, I can only strive to have a career half as good as hers. That really is my dream right there.

 

[Sunny]

I haven't followed the Lexus at all so I wouldn't know. I would have thought it would be pretty good in the city though, since it's a full hybrid.

I read somewhere today that this hybrid is supposed to be a bit faster than the regular version. Maybe optimistic, so we'll see

Not really. Most tests have both LS600h and LS460 around the same ball park (6 sec 0-60 and 14 sec 1/4 mile). The hybrid actually has less power to weight ratio than the non hybrid one.

I think where battery technology is right now, these semi-hybrids are the way to go for big cars. You get nice torqey motors for a spurt of acceleration with out the need to lug around half a ton of battery that is needed for sustained operation.

 

[Sunny]

Just realized that this car is going to be a torque monster with almost 600lb-ft of combined torque. (compared to 612 for S600 and 480 for RS6).

 

[bmwblog]

I contacted my Munich friends, and got this info back:


Sandra Patricia Ghella-Schroeder is currently a Chief Design Engineer at BMW. Gali is her nickname.

So, that explains the fact Hussein was seeing her constantly in the Design department area.

Before that she was fully responsible for further development & production supervision of E60 5er, E63 6er & E65 7er. Meaning: she was a project manager responsible for facelifts of BMW large cars (5er, 6er, 7er).

Even before she was a development chief for N62 V8 engines. And even before she was an engine development engineer.




****

Top design engineer position is indeed very high in the Development department hierarchy.

Hat down!

Beside Verena C. Kloos (President of BMW DesignWorksUSA) I think this lady is the only one so high in BMW hierarchy. And even in top engineering position.

Guys, your BMWs are being developed by a woman.

****

I met her in Frankfurt years ago. She is a complete engine freak. At least then she was. If you think Scott or I are diehard BMW fanatics you should meet her. She's 100 times worse.


PS: Btw, Google says she was born in Venezuela. Having Italian & Spanish roots.

I'm impressed, I also heard many stories about her, ALL positive. She apparently inspires confidence among employees and like you said, total engaged when it comes to BMWs.

Hat down to her!

 

[EnI]

Hm ....

That guy next to Mrs. Ghella-Schroeder (the one "under the hood") looks very much like Michael Mauer ...

No, it can't be. No news he left Porsche for BMW.

But the resemblance is obvious.




Same eyes, same nose, same face lines, same hairdo, ... But I guess my imagination's running a bit too wild.

Michael Mauer, Head of Deisgn Porsche

 

[Deleted member 25]

Nope he's not him, eyes and face's shape are different, btw guys, could tell us who's who in that shot ? I only recognised the three Design gurus.

 

[klier]

I'm missing Karim Habib in that shot.....he's me new hero. A true God.

Just realized that this car is going to be a torque monster with almost 600lb-ft of combined torque. (compared to 612 for S600 and 480 for RS6).

Yeah, it's going to be REALLY killer.... 420 hp and 825 Nm .......siiiiiick ActiveHybrid will be faster than 760i

 

[Merc1]

Happening now.....












M

 

[PanterroR]

Daaaaamn!

You see what a good bumper can do to new 7er... F'n awesome!

 

[Potential]

I wonder if the 760Li when launched will receive the LED fog lights seen on this car. I hope so. Would be nice to see BMW further differentiate the Ultimate of the Ultimate Driving Machines...

 

[klier]

Yeah, that looks really, really good

 

[Merc1]

I'm surprised you guys didn't post any more pics since this morning......well "Merc1" to the rescue...here are a few more live shots:





Looks better in this form.

M

 

[Merc1]

Edmunds



Really, what were the chances that since Mercedes unveiled a hybrid S-Class that BMW wouldn't show a hybrid 7 Series? Apparently, not great, since that is exactly what BMW did.

The Paris show is the official debut of the new 7 Series line, but BMW saved all its stagecraft for the surprise Concept 7 Series ActiveHybrid. Seriously, BMW unleashed more smoke than we'd seen in quite some time.

Unlike Mercedes' big hybrid sedan, the 7 hybrid uses a V8 that is augmented by electric drive. (The Mercedes has a V6). The company claims that the setup will result in a 15 percent reduction in fuel consumption compared to conventionally powered cars in its class.

And BMW will produce the 7 Series hybrid, too. The company says that it will introduce a production version (without the garish body graphics) as early as next year. The X6 hybrid will arrive at the same time. -- Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit






2008 Paris Auto Show: BMW Concept 7 Series ActiveHybrid | Straightline Blog on Edmunds' Inside Line


M

 

[PanterroR]

I'm surprised you guys didn't post any more pics since this morning......well "Merc1" to the rescue...here are a few more live shots:

Why would we bother when we have our Auto-Shows-Live-Pictures freak!

Thanks man!

 

[Merc1]

YW. The really troubling part is that I can't stop....! There are so many outlets for such a large and important show like Paris.

M