These are the first two official photos of the production-ready 2014 BMW i8 which will be publicly unveiled on September 10 at IAA in Frankfurt.
It was only yesterday when BMW released ateaser clip with the plug-in hybrid i8 and now the cat is pretty much out of the bag as the first two official pics depicting the car have surfaced the web. Showing several similarities with the concept unveiled two years ago, the production model loses the see-through doors and gets more down-to-earth alloy wheels.
Open the scissor doors and you will notice right away the interior doesn't stray away too much from current BMWs but there are digital instrument clusters and a blue circle around the logo on the steering wheel.
BMW has already announced the i8 will come with a three-cylinder, 1.5-liter TwinPowerTurbo gasoline engine delivering 231 HP (170 kW) and 236 lb-ft (320 Nm) of torque transferred to the rear axle. An electric motor outputting 131 HP (96 kW) and 184 lb-ft (250 Nm) will drive the front wheels and enable the i8 to have a combined output of 362 HP (266 kW) and 420 lb-ft (570 Nm).
Tipping the scales at less than 1,490 kg (3,285 lbs), the 2014 BMW i8 production version will need about 4.5 seconds until 62 mph (100 km/h) and will reach an electronically-capped top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h). It will have an average fuel consumption of 2.5 liters / 100 km (94 mpg US or 113 mpg UK) with CO2 emissions standing at 59 g/km. On electric power it can reach a top speed of 75 mph (120 km/h) and should have enough juice for a range of 22 miles (35 km).
Source: autowp.ru