Take off: Electrified wingsuit flight powered by BMW i.

Electromobility from BMW i is conquering the third dimension. As part of #NEXTGen 2020, the BMW Group is presenting the first electric drive for a wingsuit, with which the centuries-old human dream of flying can be realized in a completely new way. The innovative drive module and the completely redesigned wing suit were created in a cooperation between BMW i and Designworks with the professional wingsuit pilot Peter Salzmann from Austria. His premiere flight with the Electrified Wingsuit by BMW i was captured in an elaborately staged video documentary. The spectacular film, which will be shown for the first time in the run-up to #NEXTGen 2020, impressively shows how BMW eDrive technology is able to sustainably change the individual mobility experience, not just on the road.

Wingsuit flight powered by BMW i.

At #NEXTGen 2020, the BMW Group will be showing in a variety of ways how the company is driving change in the global automotive industry. Initiatives and engagements are presented in which a close exchange with initiators from other areas of society leads to new perspectives. In addition, the BMW Group will present the latest product innovations as well as technological developments and vehicle concepts for the future of individual mobility.

fifth generation of BMW eDrive technology

One focus is the technology field of electromobility, in which the BMW Group is one of the world's leading providers with its development and manufacturing know-how and the largest selection of models with electrified drives. Since the market launch of the all-electric BMW i3 in 2013, the components of the electric motor, power electronics, charging technology and high-voltage battery have been continuously developed. The fifth generation of BMW eDrive technology is already used in the new BMW iX3, which is characterized by optimized energy efficiency and power density as well as a particularly compact design.

Compact drive, optimized design, unique flight experience.

Now the many years of experience and the development competence concentrated at the BMW i brand in the areas of electric drive and battery technology have been used in a completely new way. The result was an extremely powerful, at the same time compact and lightweight drive and energy storage package for a unique flight experience with the Electrified Wingsuit by BMW i. Two jacketed carbon propellers, the so-called impellers, each with an output of 7,5 kW and a speed of around 25 min^-1 and a total output of 15 kW that can be called up for about five minutes form the fly unit of the Electrified Wingsuit by BMW i. The drive unit and the specially developed wingsuit were designed in cooperation between Peter Salzmann and a creative team from Designworks. The subsidiary of the BMW Group has strongly shaped the design of the BMW i brand from the start and uses its creative skills not only in the automotive sector, but also on behalf of numerous international customers from other branches of industry.

Around three years passed from the idea of ​​a wingsuit flight with an electric extra boost to the premiere in the Austrian Alps, during which the aviation pioneer Peter Salzmann and his partners at BMW i and Designworks worked together on the details of the suit and drive. The electric double propeller drive including energy storage was precisely integrated into the front of the wingsuit. The tests in the wind tunnel of the BMW Group's aerodynamic test center in Munich were an important part of the development program for the project.

Jump from the helicopter, flight with BMW eDrive technology, landing by parachute.

The trigger for the Electrified Wingsuit by BMW i project was Peter Salzmann's endeavor to take wingsuit sport to a new level. The 33-year-old Austrian is a skydiving trainer and has also made base jumping and wingsuit flying his profession. In addition to jumping training, his repertoire also includes film stunts and shows. When he jumps from rocky peaks or from airplanes, Salzmann uses the textile layer of his wingsuit stretched between arms and legs as a paraglider, which makes it possible to generate a horizontal flight movement from the falling speed and the air flow. With every meter of descent, up to three meters of level flight can be achieved. Wingsuit pilots can reach speeds of more than 100 km / h.

The aim of the electric drive is to increase the performance of wingsuits in order to achieve better constant gliding and thus be able to cover longer distances. When activated, says Salzmann, the pilot experiences immediate acceleration and can fly at speeds of more than 300 km / h. For the premiere flight with the Electrified Wingsuit by BMW i, Salzmann and two other wingsuit pilots were transported by helicopter over the mountain peaks of his Austrian homeland. Immediately after jumping from a height of 3 meters, all three flew in formation in the direction of a mountain range. With the help of the electric drive, Salzmann accelerated faster than his companions and was then able to climb over the summit, only to meet the other two pilots after a wide curve, who had flown around the mountain in gliding flight. Then the three wingsuit pilots opened their parachutes and landed at the agreed destination.

After the successful start, Peter Salzmann and the experts from BMW i and Designworks are continuing their development work on the world's first electrically powered wingsuit. The Austrian is firmly convinced that the future belongs to the electric drive not only on the road, but also in the air. For him, the Electrified Wingsuit by BMW i project is perfect proof of the previously undreamt-of possibilities that can become reality with the help of electromobility.

Of course that had not happened yet!

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Electrified wingsuit flight powered by BMW i.

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