The Vision EfficientDynamics concept showcases the Munich carmaker's innovations towards producing electric and hybrid vehicles. It is powered by a 3-cylinder turbodiesel and two electric motors, and can do the 100km/h sprint in 4.8 seconds. This is as fast as a BMW M3, but the car has emissions of only 99g/km, the same as a Toyota Prius.
The concept has a number of technologies and design features which will be used in the i8 production sports car in 2013, the second vehicle in BMW's 'i' sub-brand announced yesterday. The first is the i3, a fully electric city car.
Along with the presentation in the Aviva Stadium was one of the concept's designers, Felix Baerlin. He noted particularly the carbon fibre reinforced plastic structure of the car, which compensates for the extra weight of the hybrid powertrain.
BMW Ireland MD John Ives said much had been learned from the Mini-E electric car prototypes, the most surprising being that users quickly adapt to the electric vehicle being the preferred one in a 2-car family. The ActiveE concept to be shown in Geneva next week will be the forerunner of of the i3.
Also at the event was Paul Mulvaney, MD of the ESB's eCars division. He said the rolling out of the charging infrastructure in Ireland is on target to have 1,500 on-street charging posts in place by the end of this year. There will also be 30 fast-charge units spread over all major inter-urban routes, one every 60kms.
