BMW, Aston Martin, Tesla, London Taxi, Recalls, Mission Motorcycles.

BMW i5 plot thickens: BMW CEO Harald Krüger announced a new model joining the ranks of the electric i-series “soon,” as he spoke to German weekly Zeit. It will be bigger than the i3 and has been spoken of as i5 previously. Furthermore, the i3 will come with longer range next year.
handelsblatt.com (in German)

Aston Martin RapidE: The British carmaker officially unveiled a prototype of its adumbrated electric sedan. Already by 2017, the RapidE Concept could launch boasting 735 kW, especially with the help of investor ChinaEquity. Even Chinese president Xi Jinping graced the electric revelation.
autoexpress.co.uk, europe-autonews.com (ChinaEquity), youtube.com

Fall from grace? Consumer Reports used to be one of Tesla’s biggest supporters. Yet, it has taken back its unreserved recommendation following a survey among 1,400 Model S drivers, who said reliability does not match performance. Nonetheless, 97 percent of all buyers would buy a Tesla again.
consumerreports.org, forbes.com

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Electrified black cab: London Taxi Company of Coventry has revealed its TX5 plug-in hybrid. As the company is owned by Chinese Geely, president Xi Jinping stopped by for the presentation. Set for launch in 2017, Geely plans to produce around 36,000 units, also for export (we reported).
autocar.co.uk

Double recall: BMW is asking 923 i3 in the USA to return to the garage due to possibly faulty passenger airbags that will be replaced. At the same time, Toyota recalls 6.5 million cars worldwide, among them also models which are offered as hybrids, as it needs to fix a defect in the power window switch.
bmwblog.com, autoblog.com (BMW), auto-motor-sport.de, reuters.com (Toyota)

Has Apple played a part in the end of Mission Motorcycles? Potentially yes, although indirectly, Reuters suggests. Before bankruptcy, quite a few top engineers had left the electric motorbike builder for Apple. Mission Motorcycles had to give up last month (we reported).
reuters.com