Photo: carnewschina.com
Even though the BMW i8 and M4 have already been revealed and both started production in Germany earlier this year, the engineers are still testing some prototypes on Chinese roads, as the following spyshots will show.
The thing is, China is very peculiar. It recently became the biggest BMW market in the world, overtaking the long-standing US one by a couple thousand units. Therefore, the Germans have to rethink their strategy so that their new leader is satisfied with their product.
That’s probably why the two cars are still being tested on Chinese roads to make sure they cope with the traffic and weather with absolutely no problems whatsoever.
While the M4 might not break any sales records as high-performance Bimmers are not a new thing in the communist country, the i8 might be a completely different story.
Since the government is trying to solve the pollution problem that is ruining the air over the biggest cities in the Asian country, the i8 could bring the best of two worlds to those customers that want performance with low CO2 emissions, being capable of running pollution free for up to 35 km on EV mode alone.
Powered by a hybrid powertrain making 362 HP and 570 Nm of torque, the i8 will do 112 mpg (2.1 l/100 km) and release only 59 grams of CO2 into the atmosphere for each km, nearly a quarter of what its immediate rivals (like the Porsche 911 and Audi R8) do.
However, considering the price tag the car will have in the States, starting at $135,700, we don’t even want to think about the ludicrous amount Chinese customers will have to pay.
Via: Carnewschina
That’s probably why the two cars are still being tested on Chinese roads to make sure they cope with the traffic and weather with absolutely no problems whatsoever.
While the M4 might not break any sales records as high-performance Bimmers are not a new thing in the communist country, the i8 might be a completely different story.
Since the government is trying to solve the pollution problem that is ruining the air over the biggest cities in the Asian country, the i8 could bring the best of two worlds to those customers that want performance with low CO2 emissions, being capable of running pollution free for up to 35 km on EV mode alone.
Powered by a hybrid powertrain making 362 HP and 570 Nm of torque, the i8 will do 112 mpg (2.1 l/100 km) and release only 59 grams of CO2 into the atmosphere for each km, nearly a quarter of what its immediate rivals (like the Porsche 911 and Audi R8) do.
However, considering the price tag the car will have in the States, starting at $135,700, we don’t even want to think about the ludicrous amount Chinese customers will have to pay.
Via: Carnewschina
Google News