BMW shows i8 Roadster being built in new tease

By CARSIFU | 15 November 2017


MUNICH: It has always been expected that the BMW i8 Coupe will sooner or later spin off an open-top variant.

BMW on Tuesday issued another set of photos and a video clip showing the roadster under construction at the company's plant in Leipzig.

The car is set for a reveal at the Dec 1-10 LA Auto Show, three years after the introduction of the original coupe, which opened the door to creating the i sub-brand under the BMW Group.



BMW is not releasing the full specifications of the roadster just yet but has announced preliminary energy consumption figures for the car, which it described as a plug-in hybrid BMW with an eDrive powertrain. The combined energy consumption is listed as 15.4 kWh/100 km; combined fuel consumption at 2.0l/100 km, combined CO2 emissions at 46 g/km.

The roadster is likely to get a new more powerful battery pack, which should give it a longer range. Rumours of a fully electric i8 has been floating around for some time but it will likely happen only after 2018.

BMW started the i8 Roadster tease in July, showing the car undergoing aerodynamic testing. The following month, it showed a series of the roadsters in camouflage being driven on a mountain road.

Lightweight carbon fibre is heavily used in the i8 body and structure and the technology has filtered across to the 7 Series through its Carbon Core framework.

P90285289_highRes_the-bmw-i8-11-2017

P90285293_highRes_the-bmw-i8-roadster-

P90285294_highRes_the-bmw-i8-roadster-

P90285295_highRes_the-bmw-i8-roadster-

Keywords