Through attractive digital experiences, BMW Group aims to enhance the driving experience and encourage its customers to use their vehicles more efficiently. Recently, three pilots based on relatively small but positive incentives have been completed. The insights from these are promising.

“Our initiatives in collaboration with cities include mobility research and piloting solutions, making driving and traffic more efficient, while reducing congestion,” says the BMW press release. “Mobility behavior is an essential aspect for cities, especially regarding driving and parking vehicles in urban areas.”

“That is why we research how to make the mobility behavior of our customers more city-friendly, tailored to their individual needs. Through strategic collaborations, such as with the city of Rotterdam, both parties gain deep insights into what the city needs and which solutions work well with drivers. Our research shows that mobility behavior can be effectively influenced by nudging, or in other words, the positive motivation of people,” BMW adds.

‘My Travels’

The research project named ‘My Travels’, conducted throughout the Netherlands in the second half of 2024 with BMW models, provided a report to users about the length of their trips made and offered information on realistic alternatives such as travel by foot, bicycle, or public transport.

The results showed that simply gaining insight into one’s own travel behavior, including trip length and alternative travel options, provides incentives to choose an alternative mode of transport rather than the car. This result aligns perfectly with Rotterdam’s goal to free up roads for those who genuinely need to use them.

Additionally, the BMW Group implemented a pilot using a gamification approach to reduce the environmental footprint of its products during use. Real-world data from a representative BMW and Mini fully electric fleet show that driving in the efficient driving mode generally results in an average energy consumption reduction of about 7%.

‘Mini Artwork Challenge’

The ‘Mini Artwork Challenge’ pilot aimed to stimulate drivers to switch to this mode. It was conducted in the first quarter of this year on the latest-generation fully electric Mini models, Countryman and Cooper, to explore whether gamification can encourage more energy-efficient driving behavior.

In this pilot, the virtual artwork, an AI-generated image, grew larger the more the user drove in the efficient driving mode. The pilot results show that this encouraged participants to increase their share of trips in the efficient driving mode by 60% compared to the baseline phase.

Project ‘COOL’

Finally, the research project ‘COOL’ (CO₂ Optimal Charging) was a field experiment that started in April 2025. Its goal was to provide plug-in hybrid and EV drivers with insights into charging behavior and the associated CO₂ emissions.

“By using a simple, insightful app that shows CO₂ emissions per kWh of the local electricity mix in real time and alerts the user when they drop below a certain threshold, we help drivers decide when to charge their vehicles,’ says BMW.

In total, 355 drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid BMW models participated in this project, which brought at least two valuable results. Gamification increased CO₂-improved EV charging by 6%, suggesting that even participants who are already environmentally conscious are still willing to take additional steps to reduce their CO₂ impact by charging their vehicles.

“The city of Rotterdam and BMW Group will use the insights gained to develop more sustainable, user-oriented mobility concepts that improve both individual mobility and the urban mobility ecosystem,” the press release concludes.