BMW AG’s rechargeable i8 sports car is joining the list of green supercars. Ludwig Willisch, BMW’s North American CEO, said in a statement, “This is the supercar of the future: It has the driving performance of an M3, but gets more than 80 miles per gallon.”
At the upcoming Frankfurt auto show, BMW will show a production version of the plug-in hybrid i8 coupe, which will be commercialised at less than US$150,000 in the US in early 2014.
BMW’s carbon fibre and aluminum i8 uses electric power for the front wheels and a three-cylinder gasoline engine for the rear tires.
Its system delivers a combined 362 horsepower to speed the car from 0 to 62 miles (100 km) per hour in 4.5 seconds, while delivering an average of 94 miles per gallon, BMW said.