we all know the future of automobile is going to be all-out electric, but between now and then, reducing your carbon footprint while still keeping up with your passion for cars would be by the way of plug-in hybrid. hybrid, being a close relative to all-electric vehicle, need not to look tame as proven by the BMW i8 Plug-in Hybrid Coupe. in all seriousness, this is a production that your hard earned dough can buy and speaking of which, it will be heading to US dealership in Spring 2014 with a price tag of $135,925. the i8 has come a long since its first debut as a concept two years ago at the Frankfurt Motor Show. two years on, at the same show, it is a ready for the road vehicle, albeit being on the luxury territory.

the driving force behind this uber sporty coupe is a 1.5-liter turbocharged, three-pod unit that turns out a healthy 231 horses (170 kW) and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque; sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic gearbox. joining the IC engine is an electric motor with 131 hp (96 kW) and 250 Nm (184 lb-ft) of torque, channeled to the front wheels through a two-stage automatic transmission – thereby blessing it with an unique all-wheel drive system. all told, total system power comes in at 362 hp (266 kW) with 520 Nm (420 lb-ft) of torque, which allows the 1,490 kilograms (3,285 lbs) i8 to make the century sprint in just 4.4 seconds – a figure that clearly puts the vehicle in the high-performance sports car domain. the best part of the equation is, it does all that with a fuel consumption of 2.5 liters per 100 km or 113 US mpg. it can do 35 kilometers (22 miles) on pure electric power with a stop speed of 120 km/h (75 mph).

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other key features include an aluminum chassis with CFRP and CFRP-aluminum elements, five driving modes, Dynamic Damper Control, 20-inch light allow wheels, full-LED headlights, a fully digital instrumentation, BMW iDrive with freestanding Control Display, a range of BMW ConnectedDrive features, and leather sport seats – all wrapped up in a hard to resist package, including a set of graceful upwards opening doors. as always, good looking cars always deserve a few more look, which you can find in the image gallery below. enjoy (cos’ we did).

Published by Mike

Avid tech enthusiast, gadget lover, marketing critic and most importantly, love to reason and talk.

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