New BMW i brand is born electric

There are times when a carmaker innovates to such an extent that its current range of brands are not enough to accommodate a new product. At other times, a new brand just becomes the demand of the marketing and PR departments that needs to find new ways to sell their cars. In what seems to be a combination of both, Munich-based carmaker BMW has announced the launch of a new brand, one that will focus specifically on developing cars for low-emission urban transport.

The range will kick off with two new cars in 2013 – the BMW i3 and the BMW i8. We have already seen the i3 previously as Megacity Vehicle concept, and it will be the BMW Group’s first series-produced car for urban areas to be driven by electric power alone. The BMW i8, meanwhile, will be based on the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept study. Its plug-in hybrid drive blends the sporting ability of a high-performance machine with the fuel consumption and emissions of a small car.

What is special about both the cars though is the construction concept they are built around. Labelled as the LifeDrive architecture, the skeleton of the cars will be based on an aluminium chassis that houses the powertrain, and the passenger cell consists of high-strength but extremely lightweight carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP).

The BMW Group has also said that it will significantly expand its range of mobility services over the years ahead under the i Brand, which will include vehicles and services developed since 2007 as part of project i, a BMW Group think tank exploring sustainable mobility solutions. To achieve this, a Venture Capital company was founded in New York City, BMW i Ventures, with an investment totalling up to 100 million US dollars.

Is someone thinking ‘smart’? About time, Munich, is what we think!

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