BMW Megacity to Be Called i3

Although German manufacturer BMW has not officially released the information about its electric vehicle range (full details are expected to surface sometimes during the day), the first pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fall into place.

As hinted since a long time ago, the future range of BMW electric vehicles will indeed be called i. The range will be born with the introduction of the Megacity vehicle which, according to BMW sources, will be called i3. The model has been previewed in the form of the BMW ActiveE, with which it is expected to share most of the technologies.

The ActiveE, or at least its latest version, will be making its public debut at the Geneva Auto Show one week from now. The electric motor fitted into the car develops 170 bhp and a maximum torque of 250 Nm, enough to make the car capable of reaching 100 km/h in less than nine seconds. The range, provided by the lithium-ion batteries, is estimated at around 160 kilometres (100 miles).

Based on what BMW will learn from the field trials of the ActiveE and on what it has already learned with the MINI E, the i3 will be built.

The i3 will be followed in the i range by the production version of the Vision EfficientDynamics presented at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show. This vehicle will be called i8.

The full details of the i range will be released, as said, later today. Stay tuned for updates and a sneak peak into the future BMW vehicles.