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BMW i8 images leaked


galleryImages of the BMW i8 in full production form have leaked ahead of its official unveiling at next week's Frankfurt motor show. The photos show it's kept a lot of the design from the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept -- which first appeared at Frankfurt in 2009, and has been a globe-circling showstopper in the years since.

The concept's scissor doors have made the cut, although they're no longer made of tinted glass. And the producton i8 also gets the standout rear flying buttresses -- on what is one of the best-shaped derrieres in the car world.

It sports different wheels, but arguably more handsome ones than the concept. And while the interior is understandably less space station and more current BMW cues, it retains the signature blue accents in the instruments cluster, and sculpted steering wheel.

It also carries over the concept's petrol-electric hybrid system, comprised of a 170kW 1.5 litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine -- the highest power: displacement unit in the BMW stable -- and a small 96kW electric motor that work in tanden to deliver a combined 266kW and 570Nm.

A six-speed automatic transmission delivers drive from the engine to the rear wheels, and the electric set-up looks after the front ones, with the weight distibuted 50:50 between front and rear.

BMW says the i8 can charge in 3.5 hours from a domestic powerpoint to give an electric-only range of about 35km, while a full charge and fuel tank will give between 500-600km, depending on driving mode. And offer fuel economy of a miserly 2.5L/100km.

The official 0-100km/h figure of under 4.5 seconds is helped by carbon fibre being used for the frame and passenger cell, along with being used as reinforcing in plastic components, plus lashings of aluminium -- keeping the weight trimmed to a slim 1490kg.

Watch the video here.

This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott