If you are BMW, that is to say, you work for the BMW engineering department then you are considered a master engineer. However, BMW is also known as the master of unreliability consistently ranking at the top for the worst-built premium luxury cars. That’s why we, The Daily Car Blog, often refer to BMW as premium luxury rubbish. And when they attempted to change our ways, we blacklisted them from our email list. But are they justified in trying to silence anyone from saying so? Trying to silence this publication is like trying to silence a screaming donkey. You can hear the Donkey, but you don’t necessarily understand what it is screaming about.

Nevertheless, turns out that BMW hybrids and EV models have been catching fire. As a result, the company is being investigated by U.S. safety regulators. The reason for the growing rise in hybrids and EVs isn’t because BMW suddenly became guilty over the state of the environment. The company, indeed the automotive industry, has been polluting mother earth for nearly 104 years now. The reason why hybrids are becoming mainstream is because of new environmental laws placed upon the automotive industry.

These environmental laws are being set by governments from across the globe who want to improve air quality, reduce pollution, and cut greenhouse emissions. Automotive companies are therefore required to meet these environmental laws. If they do not then they face heavy financial penalties. That is why many are releasing Hybrids and EVs.

But it turns out BMW is cutting corners to pack EV/hybrid batteries with better energy density. In terms of development and efficiency, battery technology is 100 years behind the ICE engine. However, the race is on to produce more efficient batteries that are cheaper, lighter, and pack more energy density. But if you push faster and harder too quickly then something will eventually break.

And this race is coming at a cost, pushing battery technology quickly does meet those pesky environmental laws but it also leads to fires as is the case with BMW. As a result, BMW has stopped sales of several plug-hybrid models in the U.S and in Europe. If you want a Hybrid buy a Toyota or Honda, they have a significant headstart over any other automotive company and their Hybrid technology is proven not to catch fire.