New Concept Cars from BMW, See-Through Glass Exterior Electric Cars, Hybrid Cars

Car Auto Online | New Concept Cars from BMW, See-Through Glass Exterior Electric Cars, Hybrid Cars | BMW has unveiled a pair of concept cars Wednesday, including a hybrid and an electric cars, made of lightweight carbon fiber and see through glass exterior .

The cars will come into production over the next two to three years.

Carbon fiber I3 city cars and I8 sports cars significantly reduces vehicle weight and size of the frame, giving designers more flexibility and to create more space for passengers, said Richard Kim, who has designed for outdoor use both vehicles.

The material used in the aviation industry and also for high-end bicycles, is valued for its strength to weight ratio. Its aim is to develop, however, and engineers are designing all camping equipment for billiard cues.

For the German manufacturer, it allowed more of glass, which is traditionally made of metal, said Kim. The doors in the two cars are mostly made of glass, along with many of their roofs and tailends .

BMW says the car has "an excellent safety in case of collision."

The final product may not appear so dramatic, but it's the same feeling of a concept car, Kim said.

"You can not see the glass so much, but you could see the light come through," Kim said at an event Wednesday in New York preview. The cars will be officially launched next week at the Auto Show Los Angeles.

The I3 should go into production in 2013, the production of I8 in the next years later. Car prices have yet to be determined, although carbon fiber is not cheap.

A four-door i3 is designed for city driving, and the wheels out of corners of the frame stability. And 'the coach-style doors, with front and rear doors swing open in the middle of the vehicle.

The additional stability of carbon fiber allowed designers to remove the pillar of support traditionally found between the front and rear doors, which makes it easier to get in and out of the vehicle, said Kim.

The i3 comes in an all-electric version that can go from 80 to 100 miles on a single charge, but buyers have the option of adding a small gasoline engine will recharge the battery if necessary. It takes about six hours to fully charge the battery.

The sporty I8 has two-wings door made of glass and elegant silhouette. The exterior is designed to help the car cut through the air more efficiently.

AWD car has a battery and gas engine work together with the battery powering the front wheels and a gasoline engine to turn the rear wheels. Without the gas engine, the car has a range of about 20 miles, but the charges completely in less than two hours.

Source: id.berita.yahoo.com