We'd already told you that the BMW i8 hybrid sports car will be launched in India in February this year and now the Bavarian car manufacturer has said that the car will be launched on the 18th of February. The car was showcased in India first at the 2014 Delhi Auto Expo.
We also told you that the company has already imported two cars at their Chennai facility and we expect BMW to start bookings soon. After the production version of the i8 was launched at the 2013 Frankfurt Motorshow, the deliveries started from August 2014 and the the company has already managed to sell 1741 units of the car till December of the same year.
The i8 will come with a 1.5-litre inline 3 petrol engine and a 7.1kWh lithium-ion battery which gives it the tag of a hybrid. Power from the gasoline engine stands at 228bhp, while the electric motor punches out 129bhp, while the combined tally stands at a massive 357bhp.
In all-electric mode the BMW i8 boasts of a top speed of 120 km/h. In Sport mode the i8 delivers a mid-range acceleration from 80 to 120 km/h in 2.6 seconds. The electronically controlled top speed stands at 250 km/h.
The i8 will see the addition of a new dimension to BMW in India and with the i3 in the offing soon, we hope to see infrastructure for hybrids grow before any more such cars come into the market.
