Crossing the Blues

BMW prepares Megacity EV sports car

As you know BMW is working on a Megacity electric four-seater that will go on sale in 2013. In a recent interview with AutoCar, BMW sales and marketing boss Ian Robertson said the car will be offered in more variants, including a sports car version. According to him this could be inspired by the Vision ED sports car concept unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but not a duplication of it.
Megacity EV sports car

We imagine that the engine from the Vision EfficientDynamics will be used if not a version of it. The Vision ED sportscar is powered by a three-cylinder turbodiesel engine combined with two electric motors. These motors produce 356 hp and a peak torque of 590 lb-ft. It hits a top speed of 155mph and makes the 0-60mph sprint in 4.8 seconds. Fuel consumption is reduced to 75.1 mpg imp, while CO2 emissions is just 99 grams/km.

Despite previous rumors, Ian confirmed that the new model will wear the BMW badge and will not be sold under a separate brand: "We’re in the final stages of picking a name, but we want it to become a strong sub-brand like we have with M."

The main focus with the future Megacity model will be weight saving and to do that BMW will build it principally from carbon fiber. Using carbon fiber will allow for about a 30% reduction in weight from that of an aluminum car. However, if you were hoping for an inexpensive model, you can pretty much forget about it.