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spotlight

Spy Shot BMW i8

BMW BMW News BMW i Series BMW i Series News BMW i Series 2014 BMW I8 BMW I8 News BMW I8 2014 Coupe Best Coupe Cars BMW Coupe Range Green Cars Prestige & Luxury Cars Spy Shots Car News

A new BMW dream machine is on the way.

1 / 5

BMW Group is going flat-out on its plans for a range of electric cars - from the baby i3 right up to the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

2 / 5

The i8 will be the hero car for the i lineup - just as the M3 always leads for BMW M - and is developed from the Vision EfficientDynamics concept coupe that starred at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.

3 / 5

Carparazzi caught the i8 during cold-weather testing in northern Sweden and reports that it has more than enough punch for a 4.8-second sprint to 100km/h and some entertaining sideways slides on a frozen test track.

4 / 5

The i8 will have a $200,000-plus pricetag when it arrives, most likely sometime in 2013.

5 / 5

Paul Gover

17 March 2011

3 min read

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Paul Gover

17 March 2011

3 min read

It's the plug-in hybrid i8, a supercar for the future beyond 2014. BMW Group is going flat-out on its plans for a range of electric cars - from the baby i3 right up to the Rolls-Royce Phantom - and has a whole new sub-brand under the MegaCity badge to headline the shift.

The i8 will be the hero car for the i lineup - just as the M3 always leads for BMW M - and is developed from the Vision EfficientDynamics concept coupe that starred at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. Carparazzi caught the i8 during cold-weather testing in northern Sweden and reports that it has more than enough punch for a 4.8-second sprint to 100km/h and some entertaining sideways slides on a frozen test track.

The i8 will have a $200,000-plus pricetag when it arrives, most likely sometime in 2013, and Carparazzi reports that BMW could dump the thrifty diesel engine used for the concept car in favour of a turbocharged small-capacity four-cylinder petrol motor to work as part of its hybrid system.

Paul Gover

Paul Gover is a former CarsGuide contributor. During decades of experience as a motoring journalist, he has acted as chief reporter of News Corp Australia. Paul is an all-round automotive...

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