autoevolution
 

BMW i8 Spyder Debut in Beijing with eDrive Designation

German automaker BMW has put an interesting spin on the green car industry, having announced their first production electric car will be a sportscar of sorts. After last year’s i8 Coupe Concept, the Auto China 2012 in Beijing (23 April – 2 May 2012) was the venue chosen for the debut of a new concept, the i8 Spyder.
BMW i8 Spyder 29 photos
Photo: BMW
2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept2012 BMW i8 Spyder Concept
This plug-in hybrid is closer to the production form than the previous concept, and presents a number of interesting technological innovations. The most impressive is the new powertrain, which uses a 1.5-liter turbo engine to power the rear via a dual-clutch transmission, while an electric motor with 129 hp motivates the front axle.

Each unit can power the car independently, or they can both be used to provide an output of 349 hp and peak torque reaches 550Nm (405.6 lb-ft).

The other big announcement made by BMW is the fact that they’ve trademarked “eDrive”, the new designation for the drive technology of all future electric and plug-in hybrid cars.

Now, it might seem trivial that the i8 has two motors, but it’s not simply a question of slapping as many engines as they could. For instance, the traction control has two work with adjustable settings in FWD, RWD and AWD. Now that’s a job for a BMW!
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories