BMWi

When a major automaker launches a new sub-brand, it reflects — and impacts — driving trends worldwide. So the announcement in February of BMW i, which the German company says will focus on “developing sustainable mobility solutions,” suggests that low-emission vehicles are here to stay.

BMW will be showing off concept versions of its initial brace of “i cars” — the all-electric i3 “megacity vehicle” and plug-in hybrid i8 supercar — for the first time in North America at the L.A. Auto Show. 

“[The i3 and i8] are both sort of bookends in terms of the ‘Born Electric’ concept,” said Rich Steinberg, manager of electric vehicle operations and strategy at BMW of North America. “The i3 is … a relatively small platform: four doors, four seats, pure-electric drive, lithium-ion battery technology. The i8 is on the other end of the spectrum … extremely high performance yet at the same time having an extremely low carbon footprint.”

The i3 and i8 are the most visible manifestations to date of  “Project i,” which got underway in 2007. Since then, BMW has been leasing limited quantities of all-electric concept cars to private drivers in a series of comprehensive field tests. Input from these amateur “test pilots” will ultimately impact the production versions of the i3 and i8, which are due in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

Both the i3 and i8 use aluminum sandwich frames and carbon-fiber bodies to keep weight (and cost) down, thus improving range without impacting performance. The airy and agile i3 and the exotic, low-slung i8 (which can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds) should finally slay the stereotype of green vehicles as glorified golf carts.