“Green” is the new “mean”. Whereas a few years ago most automakers focused on tooting their performance credentials, now the trend is to be eco-friendly. Even BMW, the maker of the M3, M5 etc., is jumping on the “green” bandwagon. Albeit a little late to the EV party, the Germans plan to make up for it with a dazzling entrance.
Today, the Munich-based automaker announced that it is holding a press conference on Friday, July 29, to preview its “i” sub-brand. Unfortunately, that’s about all BMW is willing to reveal about the conference, so we don’t exactly know what the company has in store for us: a startling presentation of the new models or one mundane speech after another from the firm’s executives?
Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
What we can tell you is that BMW is planning to show the first two models of the “i” series at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
The first one is the i3, a pure-EV plug-in city car that was previewed a year ago through a sketch of the Megacity concept. The second model is the i8, a plug-in hybrid sports car based on the Vision EfficientDynamics concept unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.
This past year BMW has bombarded us with a ton of teasers about the i8, including a role in the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster, Mission Impossible 4. The Bavarians also revealed that the concept’s diesel engine will be replaced by a gasoline unit since the company wants the i8 to be a world model, and diesel is mostly relevant in Europe.
Both models are based on a construction concept that uses an aluminum chassis to house the powertrain, while the passenger cell consists of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic The i3 and i8 will be launched in 2013, will be manufactured at the firm’s Leipzig plant and share the same component sets for the electric motors, power electronics, and high-voltage lithium-ion batteries.
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