BMW i Project
Four years after first displaying the i8
Spyder Concept, BMW will finally put it into production. The official press
release states that the upcoming i8 roadster will be added to the firm's
portfolio of hybrid and electric vehicles, which will expand and will include
an updated i3, with an increased battery capacity and longer range.
Details on the two cars are scarce at
the time, but development of electrified BMWs will include a total of seven
models, which will be either purely electrically powered, just like the i3, or
plug-in hybrids with an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. These
will be introduced "from 2016 onwards", as the Group explains, and
will be joined eventually, "in the coming years", by a plug-in hybrid
MINI.
Besides its new range of electrified
vehicles, Munich will continue to focus on the development of hydrogen fuel-cell
technology. Its current test cars are able to achieve a range of up to 700 km.
The BMW Group looks up to the future and
promises to "ensure a leading role in automated driving". The firm's
"Project i 2.0" will "cement its position as technological
leader in this field" and focus on high-def digital maps, cloud and sensor
technology and artificial intelligence.
BMW has already made a first step into
this direction with the new 7-Series. The flagship sedan is equipped with five
radar sensors and a stereo camera. These enable it to maintain a safe distance
to the vehicle ahead to speeds up to 210 km/h on motorways, and it
can drive itself into the garage, at the touch of a button, with Remote Control
Parking.
