At an event in Mumbai, BMW has launched their new i8 in the Indian market at an all-India ex-showroom price of Rs 2.28 Crores. Present at the occasion was the cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar.
With this, the Germans have officially introduced the BMW ‘i’ sub-brand in India which will see some new cars in the future. i8 is a modern take on sports cars and was unveiled at the 2014 Auto Expo in Delhi. It looks ominous and has a phenomenal fuel efficiency of 47.45 kmpl!
The new BMW i8 is the first plug-in hybrid car from BMW’s ‘i’ brand and is brought to India as a CBU (completely built unit) and will be available at BMW’s ‘i’ dealerships in Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai.
The new i8 comes with an electric motor mated to a petrol engine and BMW promises fantastic drive experience and high fuel efficiency. i8 gets a 131 hp lithium-ion battery which is located on the front axle. The rear axle is powered by a TwinPower Turbocharged 1.5 liter 3 cylinder petrol engine which produces 231 hp of power and takes the total power output of the car at 362 hp combined.
BMW promises a 0 to 100 kmph whack in 4.4 seconds. In electric-only mode, the new i8 has a range of 35 kilometers and a top speed of 120kmph. Along with the petrol engine, the i8 has the capability to reach a top speed of 250kmph and a maximum range of upto 600 kilometers. And when you factor in the insane fuel efficiency of 47.45 kmpl and CO2 Emissions of 50.36 g/km, you begin to understand that i8 is indeed a very futuristic car.
i8 comes with 5 different driving modes. It starts in the COMFORT mode and has an eDRIVE mode for all-electric driving. There is a SPORT mode for all your involved high-speed driving instincts!
In terms of connectivity options i8 comes with iDrive (onboard Driver Information System) with touch controller and hand-writing recognition, 8.8 inch display with BMW Navigation Professional, 3D Maps, bluetooth and Harman Kardon Surround Sound system.