BMW Will Debut Production i8 Plug-In In 2014
By Danny King November 17, 2011
BMW will debut a production version of its i8 plug-in hybrid sports car (left) in 2014, the year after it launches the production version of its previously announced battery-electric i3 city car (right), BMW North America CEO Ludwig Willisch said in a presentation at the Los Angeles Auto Show. He said the i8, which in its auto show concept form has an electric motor driving the front wheels and a three-cylinder turbocharged engine powering the rear, will get about 78 miles per gallon. BMW hasn't said whether it has plans to market either car in the United States.
The automaker, which in February launched its new "i" sub brand specifically for electric-drive cars, did say, though, that it will start leasing its ActivE 1-Series (below) battery-electric vehicle to U.S. customers next month. The ActivE is the successor to the Mini-E, the all-electric version of the BMW sub brand of vehicles that were first leased to U.S. customers in 2008. It also is a precursor to the i3, which was previously known as the Megacity. That model, which BMW said in July would start production in 2013, will have a single-charge range of about 100 miles and will be able to fully recharge from a 220-volt charging station in a little over four hours, Willisch said.
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