BMW and the city of Rotterdam have started the Electric City Drive project to cut CO2 emissions. A smartphone app tells hybrid drivers when they have entered the cities electric-only zones, advising them to switch to electric drive.
Geo posts are positioned around Rotterdam designating electric-only zones, which are picked up by the smartphone app developed by BMW. The app simply calls the driver when their hybrid has entered an electric-only zone – whether the driver chooses to respond and switch to electric drive, is voluntary.
According to development director Klaus Fröhlich, BMW could theoretically force its plug-in hybrids into pure battery operation when entering cities with high emissions by automatically switching off the combustion engine with the aid of GPS and navigation systems.
