Live from Munich – BMW has just announced that the Megacity brand will be known as “i”. Two models are already planned and we’ll see both later this year. First up will be the i8 in 2013. The car will be built in the Leipzig plant. The i3 will be following the i8 shortly after 2013 and will be the three and five door hatchback we’ve seen in sketch for since last year. The i8 will be over $150,000 and have performance that rivals some supercars. However it’s the i3 that’s likely more interesting to the MINI owners. A compact 3 and 5 door hatchback, the car will be space and energy efficient to the highest order. 100% electric and built entirely out of carbon fiber and aluminum both will be revolutionary for mass products automobiles. However even the compact i3 will be pricey. Expect this to be easily double the price of a base MINI. (live gallery after the break) BMW has also announced a new venture called BMW i Ventures. Located in NYC the new company will allow BMW to operate as a start-up and work with software companies to create new location based services (LBS) offerings. The first partnership is with My City Way. The press conferenced has wrapped and we’re now into Q&A. It’s a big day for BMW and it’s new brand BMW i. Get used to lower case letters and an entirely new range of cars. We’ll be in Munich later this week to talk to BMW about the announcement, the future of in car technology and much more. Look for more soon. Source - MotoringFile
Can't say I'm excited by any of this. 100% carbon fiber and aluminum, plus prices twice (or more) of cars with similar features, means I'd be very, very worried about any kind of accident in a car that is already costing me a fortune. But, I am so not part of the target market. I guess for me the best case is that BMW learns from the work on these cars, and puts that knowledge into cars I would want to own - particularly in lowering curb weight.
I am sure BMW Marketing identified the potential market for this, but for the life of me I don't see who that would be.
I was expecting to open this and find that they were splitting off a small econobox brand for BMW iSetta:lol: These guys probably Luxury4Play.com Mind boggling amounts of money :crazy:
Honestly it would surprise me if they sold this car in the States. I think it's just a way to lower their CAFE ratings in Europe, but it also makes sense as an investment towards future production uses of carbon fiber. Lexus made a similar argument with the 10-year development of their LFA, which is what the i8 sounds similar to.
Electric anything doesn't interest me unless it comes from a fuel source on board. I can't wait until hydrogen and/or something like what the Chevy Volt was supposed to be-a clean burning engine only powering a generator for the electric drive motors.