BMW i8 Hybrid Sports Coupe Spied Testing on the Snow [with Videos]

With BMW having already announced to the world the creation of its new �i� sub-brand, through which the Bavarians intend to market a line of stand-alone hybrid, range-extended and full-electric plug-in vehicles, the company is now concentrating on the development of the first cars to wear the i logo.

In this series of spy videos, we see the test driver sub-brand�s halo car, the i8 hybrid sports coupe, which is based on the 2009�s Vision Efficient Dynamics concept model, undergoing cold weather tests in Northern Europe.

Up until now, it was believed that the i8 would keep the concept model�s mechanical hardware with a 163HP 1.5-liter three-cylinder diesel engine located behind the back seats, and two electric motors, one positioned between the diesel engine and the six-speed double clutch transmission, and the other in the front of the vehicle.

But while the electric motors will remain, in a recent interview with Autocar, BMW R&D chief Klaus Draeger revealed that the diesel unit will be replaced with a gasoline engine in the production model. �We want to sell it all over the world. Diesel is only really relevant to Europe,� Draeger was quoted as saying.

The i8 plug-in hybrid sports car is scheduled to arrive in the market along with the i3 small hatchback (previously known as the Megacity) in 2013.

Source: Bimmerpost

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French Hybrid Design Study Uses Wind Turbines To Recharge Batteries

Remember a few years ago when every wannabe gangsta was buying those awful �spinner� alloys for their beat up old Chevys and Oldsmobiles? Well, French artist and teacher Thierry Dumaine (who sounds like a character from a historical romance) has taken the concept of the spinner and applied it to an imaginary hydrid he calls the Ventile.

It�s all very simple. You know those bicycles that have pedal powered lights? Same principle, though in this case the fans are turned by the circular motion of the wheels and not by being affixed to the wheels themselves.

The fans power a generator that helps recharge the Ventile�s batteries. I don�t know how well this would work in the real world, mostly due to the Law of Conservation of Energy, but really who cares.

The Ventile is a sweet looking ride; sort of like the result of a 1930�s Ford being reinvented by MINI. There�s also a large underbody fan that is turned by air rushing over the vehicle�s underside; a far more realistic prospect for energy production. It�s not unlike that wind turbine car those two Germans used to cross Australia a few weeks back.

Dumaine�s creation was an entrant in the 2011 Michelin�s Challenge Design showcase, an annual exhibition of new automotive design talent on the web. You can check out our gallery below.

By Tristan Hankins

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