Wow, and I thought the Tesla Roadster was a good looking electric ride. We’ve seen sneaky spy shots of BMW’s carbon-fibre/aluminium plug-in hybrid before, but it’s now taken centre stage in Germany. Slated for a 2014 release, the i8 has an electric-only range of 34km at the moment, but its 220 horsepower petrol engine will hit 100kph in under 5 seconds. Oh, and it’ll include a similarly-Tron-esque dashboard display and mobile app. Pics and video!
BMW also showcased its all-electric town car concept which is expected to arrive in 2013. Previously known as the ‘MegaCity’ concept, the i3 is built using the same material as its sports car sibling, and has a 170 horsepower EV engine with projected range of 160km, and a 150kph top speed. [BMW via Autoblog]
keith
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 2:19 PMHow come Tesla can get 200+km’s but all the other Electric car manufacturers have woeful ranges?
Richard
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 2:46 PMIts only a concept car, so its not necessarily about this being a feasible vehicle so much as it is to turn heads. Thats not to say the technology won’t find its way into production vehicles down the line.
attila
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 3:37 PMThe i8 is a hybrid, so it is obviously going t have a smaller (electric) range.
With the i3, it comes down to how many batteries they want to stuff in there, how many seats (4 v 2) and how many other battery sucking toys are built in.
Matt
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 4:11 PMAgree with attila, also the Tesla is based on the Lotus elise, which weighs almost nothing (circa 800kg). The i3 concept will most likely seat 4 (or 5) and is a 4WD. The telsa is tiny and seats 2
YES PLEASE
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 6:48 PMYes please
Tom
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 7:18 PMThey had the i8 on show at the Melbourne motorshow. I’m not really fussed how it runs, but if electric super cars are going to look like that? Hell yeah. The lines on that thing are gorgeous!
moloko
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 12:26 AMThe Porsche 918 Spyder is alot nicer than this ugly piece of crap.
aaron
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 12:24 PMNegative
Osiris Fox
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 1:33 PMI like the look… not going to enjoy getting severe lacerations from the mostly glass doors when getting t-boned at an intersection though.