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BMW Coins Electronaut Term to Distinguish ActiveE Drivers

It sounds like something dreamed up under the Kennedy administration, but Electronaut is actually a term BMW has come up with to identify the 700 drivers who will get the chance to lease its new ActiveE, the latest development of BMW's fully-electric platform based on a 2012 1-series coupe.

According to BMW, "Electronauts are adventurers and explorers; they are front-runners of innovation and advocates for sustainability." Or to put it another way, they're beta-test guinea pigs in the final round of component testing prior to the market launch of BMW's electric sub-brand, BMWi. Electronauts will also be dishing out $499 per month for two years for the privilege.

A total of 1100 BMW ActiveE vehicles will be delivered around the world in what BMW open calls a field trial. Of those, 700 will come Stateside in select metropolitan markets, including New York, Hartford and Boston on the east coast, and Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco on the west coast. BMW will effectively be data-mining the driving habits and operating parameters of the drivers and their cars in order to optimize its first BMWi vehicles, the i3 and i8, which should arrive sometime in 2014.