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BMW i8 Intelligent Lightweight Explained

BMW i8 1 photo
Photo: BMW
The BMW i8 videos keep on coming, the Germans outdoing themselves with the latest part of their explanatory clips, regarding the intelligent lightweight construction.
As you already know, the i8 is built using Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer, a hybrid between traditional carbon fibre and a composite that resembles plastic, to make it as light and strong as possible, in order to reduce the kerb weight of the vehicle.

Other intelligent solutions were introduced on the i8 too, like Gorilla Glass for the rear window (a super light and resistant type of glass usually found on smartphones), magnesium dash support structure and many many others.

On the other hand, the car had to be able to protect the people inside it, in case of an accident. Therefore, BMW had to innovate in this area too, creating an extremely robust passenger cell working in perfect harmony with the eDrive systems installed on it.

Overall, they created a sub 1,500 kg sports car that has 362 HP and 570 Nm of torque coming from a 1.5-liter 3-cylinder turbo unit and an electric motor. It reaches 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.4 seconds and takes up 2.5 l of fuel for every 100 km it covers. Enough said.

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