BMW i8 sold out, BMW i3 may need production increase

[B C]

Well the BMW electrics are off to a more successful start than I imagined they would. All of the first year i8's have been sold and the i3 has 10,000 orders.

I wish they didnt have the blue accents and wished the wheels were styled differently. I like electrics, so here's to hoping BMW and Tesla can one day join forces and do incredible things.

 

 

 

via Carscoops 1 & 2

 

We knew BMW’s new i3 got off to a good start, but it looks like the more expensive i8 plug-in hybrid sports car is doing well too. According to the carmaker’s global sales chief, Ian Robertson, BMW has already sold the 2014 supply for the i8.

However, the executive didn’t say how many units of the i8 sports car (due to be introduced in mid-2014) will be sold next year. The BMW i8 is priced from €126,000 in Germany, while in the UK it has a base price of £99,125. In the United States, BMW will offer the i8 from $135,700.

Robertson told Reuters news that there are nearly 10,000 orders for the i3 electric car, for which deliveries started in mid-November in Germany. The BMW i3 will arrive in U.S. dealerships in the second quarter of 2014.

As a reminder, the BMW i8 features a plug-in hybrid powertrain featuring a 1.5-liter 3-cylinder twin-turbocharged petrol engine developing 231 PS (228hp) and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque that drives the rear wheels via a 6-speed automatic gearbox and a synchronous electric motor developing 96kW (129hp) and 250 Nm (184 lb-ft) of torque that turns the front wheels via a two-stage automatic transmission. There’s also a 5 kWh lithium-ion high-voltage battery with liquid cooling.

The car’s combined system output of 362 PS (357hp) and 570 Nm (420 lb-ft) allows it to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) in 4.4 seconds and reach a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). Average fuel economy is estimated at 2.5 l/100 km (113 mpg UK, 94 mpg US) – obviously, including the use of the battery.

 

“If demand holds, which is what it’s looking like, we will soon have to invest more,” BMW chief financial officer Friedrich Eichiner said at a press conference in Amsterdam, according to a Bloomberg News report. He added that the company will adjust capacity according to demand and that sales forecasts for the i3 are for more than 10,000 units next year.

The BMW i3 will be priced from €34,950 ($47,160) in Germany when it goes on sale on November 16. The car will launch in the U.S., China and Japan in the first half of next year. In the United States, the i3 will start from $41,350 (€30,655).

The first i-badged BMW is powered by an electric motor developing 125 kW (168 hp) and 250 Nm (184 lb-ft). It offers an everyday driving range of 130 – 160 km (approx. 80 – 100 miles) that can be increased by 20 km (12 miles) in Eco Pro or EcoPro+ modes. However, for those with range anxiety, BMW will also offer an optional two-cylinder range extender petrol engine developing 34 hp. The unit maintains the minimum charge level and boosts range to around 300 km (185 miles).

If the range extender is not enough, BMW will also offer i3 customers the option to book a conventional BMW model for several weeks a year as a backup.

 

[Brian.]

Agree'd. Hopefully they run brushless motors.

[KaiserRolls]

I understand that an electric car is super futuristic i-robot type shit.....

 

but why are the cars so unbelievably ugly.

 

BUT - I do see lambo doors on the first ugly bmw.....

 

so we know who will like that.

[DrLeadFoot]

I agree with Snap about the look of the i8. 

 

i3 looks like a modern day isetta.

[Earl]

The numbers coming the 3 cylinder in the i8 blow my mind!