BMW Megacity Range to Be Called i

Yes, that's right, if you plan on buying a Megacity vehicle manufactured by BMW years from now, you may safely say you will be driving an iBMW... Because, as of this week, the future line of electric and low-fuel consumption vehicles from Germany has a name.

According to e90 forums, the German manufacturer has decided on the names it will give to the vehicles currently under development. Ever since they were announced, it was known that they would not be part of the BMW or MINI ranges, but would form a brand of their own.

Many have said that the name of the new BMW brand will be iSetta, a possibility which moves closer to reality now that the car maker registered the i1, i2, i3, i4, i5, i6, i7, i8 and i9 names. It's not clear if this means there are nine Megacity vehicles, or BMW is just trying to protect itself from confusion in case somebody else registered one of the letter-number combination.

The first Megacity vehicle will be built on an aluminum chassis which will hold the batteries, electric motor and management system. On top of this platform, that BMW calls Life-Drive, a carbon fiber body will be fitted in order to save weight.

According to the latest information available, the model will be similar in size with Volkswagen's Golf and will probably used the same (or a derivative) powertrain used on the ActiveE concept which was presented by BMW a while back. The system comprises a new synchronous electric motor which develops 170 bhp and a maximum torque of 250 Nm.