BMW USA website announces that the first hybrid sportscar, BMW i8, will launch this July. Initially rumored to debut in Spring, the high-tech i8 will arrive at dealerships mid-year but won’t be sitting in showrooms for long.
At the 2013 LA Auto Show, Ian Robertson, Head of Sales and Marketing at BMW, said the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car due to be introduced in mid-2014 has sold out for its first year of availability. Robertson did not say how many the company will sell in that first year.
We learned from unofficial sources that around 300 units of the i8 will be sold this year in the U.S., but a few thousand more will be available in 2015.
In Germany, the BMW i8 starts at €126,000, while in the UK it will cost £ 99,125. The U.S. market will also get the BMW i8 in 2014 at a base price of $135,700.
BMW i8 uses a plug-in hybrid system consisting of a turbocharged three-cylinder BMW TwinPower Turbo petrol engine and BMW eDrive technology in the form of an electric drive system. The 1.5-liter combustion engine develops 170 kW/231 hp and drives the rear wheels of the BMW i8, while the 96 kW/131 hp electric drive sends its power to the front wheels and allows an all-electric range of up to 35 kilometers (22 miles) and a top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph).
We have recently test drove the BMW i8 and you can read our first driving impressions.
