BMW stand at Frankfurt Motor Show is pretty busy these days considering that the German brand has brought its latest technological achievements including “the most progressive sportscar,” BMW i8 and its futuristic MegaCity concept, the i3, which will be the first vehicle produced under the i brand when it arrives next year.
Both the BMW i3 Concept and the BMW i8 Concept feature the LifeDrive architecture, but the geometric implementation of the concept differs in the two models, having been adapted to suit their different usages.
Here, the Drive module provides the solid foundations for the Life cell, which is simply mounted on top. The reason for this functional rendition of the LifeDrive architecture is the large battery.
The Life part contains the driver and passengers, reason for which the platforms have been individually developed for each model. The i3 comes with a lightweight body structure made up of a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber-reinforced plastics, with the Drive module mounted underneath, obviating the need for a transmission tunnel and allowing BMW to install two bench seats for four occupants in the front and back while providing 200 liters (7.06 cubic-feet) of storage.
Also both the BMW i3 Concept and the BMW i8 Concept comes with ECO PRO mode. This allows the driver to increase the electric driving range of the vehicle and reduce power consumption at the press of a button. BMW claims that you can charge the battery back to full in six hours using a standard power socket and the i3′s batteries can get to 80 percent in one hour using a high-speed charger.
Of course, if battery power isn’t enough for you, the i3 will be available with a range-extending internal combustion engine.
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Photo credit: Original image created by autoevolution
