BMW has announced that they are now taking pre-orders for the BMW i3 and BMW i8 in Japan. The i8 plug-in hybrid supercar is scheduled to arrive in Japan in summer of 2014.
Extremely wide and low, the BMW i8 is a sports car at first glance. With nearly perfect 50:50 front to rear weight distribution, the i8 has the basis for the characteristics of a classic sports car.
The intelligent plug-in hybrid system uses a 131 hp electric motor on the front axle, and the rear axle is driven by a BMW TwinPower 1.5 liter 3-cylinder engine with 231 hp of peak performance. Together the pair accelerates the BMW i8 from 0-62 mph in 4.4 seconds.
Depending on what the driving situation demands, all four wheels can be powered simultaneously, or instead front, or rear, or all-wheel drive can be utilized.
Top speed in fully-fledged all-wheel-drive mode is 250 km/h.
The i8 has a variety of driving modes: Comfort, Eco Pro, and Sport and the eDrive button optimizes the vehicle properties of your BMW i8 according to the current driving situation.
In pure electric mode, an all electric range of 35 kms is possible.
In the COMFORT mode, the fully-charged BMW i8 starts electrically. Purely electrical driving up to approximately 60 km/h is possible in the city; even pulling away from traffic lights and overtaking are purely electrical.
The ECO PRO mode allows the BMW i8 to maximize its efficiency. The acceleration, engine settings, heating and cooling systems are all adjusted to be as efficient as possible. Pure electrical driving is possible up to a maximum of 60 km/h.
SPORT mode activates vehicle settings specifically suited to sporty driving. The combustion engine and the electric motor work together to provide driving torque with full dynamics, the accelerator’s characteristic line is programmed to react instantaneously and the driver gets the full impact of the electric motor’s boost function.
By pressing the eDrive button, the i8 demonstrates its pure electric performance. This button can be used in COMFORT and ECO PLUS modes. In COMFORT mode with eDrive, the BMW i8 drives without help from the gasoline engine until the battery is almost completely discharged.