PressClub South Africa · Article.
BMW i8 deliveries to customers in European markets starting in June. Performance and fuel economy specifications further improved – Real life fuel consumptionreaches small-car level – World’s first production car with innovative laser light technology.
Mon Mar 10 10:45:00 CET 2014 Press Release
Munich. With the completion of the development work and final preparations for production at the BMW Group plant in Leipzig, the launch of the BMW i8 approaches its peak. Delivery of the first customer cars will start in June 2014, beginning with the main European markets.
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BMW Group
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Author.
Edward Makwana
BMW Group
Munich. With the completion of the development work and final preparations for production at the BMW Group plant in Leipzig, the launch of the BMW i8 approaches its peak. Delivery of the first customer cars will start in June 2014, beginning with the main European markets.
Beforehand, special public events will be held in various
regions all over the world to meet the enormous interest in the BMW
i8. For this purpose BMW i agents will be equipped with separate
demonstration vehicles. The start of series production of customer
vehicles will commence in April. Customers have already been able to
place pre-orders for the BMW i8 in all major markets since autumn 2013.
However, demand for the BMW i8 is already exceeding the planned
production volume during ramp-up. As a result of this high demand, BMW
South Africa will now launch the BMW i8 and BMW i3 in March 2015.
Further improvements to the BMW i8 specifications
In parallel to the completion of the statutory type
approval the BMW engineers were also able to achieve a further
improvement of key driving performance and fuel consumption data.
Thanks to its novel powertrain concept BMW eDrive in plug-in hybrid
configuration, the i8 combines a 0–100 km/h sprint time of 4.4 seconds
with an EU test cycle average fuel consumption of 2.1 litres/100 km
and CO2 emissions of 49 g/km. The related electricity consumption was
measured at 11.9 kWh per 100 km .
Every-day fuel economy
substantially better than all conventional sports car concepts
Although the results achieved in the EU test cycle allow for
quick comparisons with other vehicles and despite their relevance
for a favorable taxation in many countries, the BMW i8 engineers hat
a particular focus on low fuel consumption in real life.
As a
result the BMW i8 shows extraordinary efficiency not only in
standardized testing procedures, but also in the practice of everyday traffic:
In typical everyday commuting, with the battery fully charged at
the beginning, the BMW i8 can return a fuel consumption below 5
litres/100 km around town. If the commute includes extra-urban or
motorway driving less than 7 litres are achievable.. Even in
longer-distance operation at higher speeds, drivers can keep their
average fuel consumption below 8 litres/100 km. Overall, the fuel
consumption of the plug-in hybrid model therefore works out around 50
per cent better than that of conventionally powered sports car models.
World’s first production car with laser light.
Introduction of the optional BMW laser headlights is
scheduled for autumn 2014, when the BMW i8 will become the world’s
first production car to offer this innovative lighting technology. BMW
laser headlights are around 30 per cent more energy-efficient than the
BMW i8’s standard LED headlights and provide considerably more
powerful road illumination, with a range of up to 600 metres. Highly
concentrated beams of light from high-performance laser diodes act on
a fluorescent phosphor material inside the headlight, which projects a
sharply focused beam of light onto the road. The laser headlights
produce a light similar to natural daylight and are therefore always
easy on the eye.
BMW eDrive: Sports car powertrain of the future.
The BMW i8’s plug-in hybrid system comprises a 170 kW, 320
Nm three-cylinder petrl engine with BMW TwinPower Turbo technology and
a 96 kW/131 hp, 250 Nm hybrid synchronous electric motor. The BMW
eDrive system also includes a lithium-ion high-voltage battery (with a
usable capacity of 5,2 kWh) and intelligent energy management that
uses the combined output of 266 kW to provide breathtaking performance
and maximum efficiency, while always taking into account the driving
situation and driver requirements. The excellent balance between
driving pleasure and fuel economy is aided by a low vehicle weight of
1,485 kg (DIN kerb weight) and an unusually good drag coefficient (Cd)
for a sports car of 0.26.
In zero-emission all-electric mode, the BMW i8 has a top speed of 120 km/h and a range of 37 kilometres within the EU test cycle. Depending on whether the plug-in hybrid sports car’s lithium-ion battery is recharged at a household power socket or BMW i Wallbox, or at a public charging station, charging times range from less than two up to three hours. In Sport mode the BMW i8 offers mid-range acceleration from 80 to 120 km/h in 2.6 seconds. The electronically governed top speed is 250 km/h.
Article Offline Attachments.
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BMW i8 deliveries to customers starting in June. PDF, EN, 222.8 KB
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Specifications BMW i8 PDF, EN, 63.17 KB